TBT Report

Anjuman Ara Dolly is a successful electric businesswoman, an organizer and a prominent social activist.  She was elected as the director of Bangladesh Electrical Merchandise Manufacturers Association in 2013 by the highest number of votes and drew the footprints of women in the electric sector.  Two years later, she again won by a huge margin.

As a successful female personality she said on International Women’s Day that the path of women is not easy yet.  In the male dominant society, women are still neglected and oppressed due to various adversities and orthodoxy. However, self-sufficiemcy and courage are very much needed.  Going to reminisce, she said she have been inspired to see Indira Gandhi and Mother Teresa in college life.  Also she got inspired by the women who have taken part in various wars of the subcontinent especially our war of independence and for them we got independence. All of this left a mark on her mind.  However, family education, values ​​and mutual empathy-respect make these women indomitable, courageous and worthy of leadership.  She got that opportunity from her family very transparently.  The key to her success was the cooperation of the business family and her husband.  She moved forward on the path of humanity and social responsibility by accumulating various experiences in the course of time.

With the slogan  “Blood donation is not insignificant – life will be saved by my blood” – with this slogan she formed Jagroto Blood Donor’s Club Bangladesh.  This organization has been working in about 58 districts of the country for about 4 years.  This organization is working by donating 100 bags of blood per day and with the aim of donating 1 lakh bags of blood per year.  The Blood Donor’s Club is a part of Jagroto Bebshayi O Jonota organization. Regarding the necessity’s of International Women’s Day, she said, “men and women are equal in the status of rights, the journey of development in gender equality.”  The world will change, new dimensions will be added to the action.  With the development of women, the working life style of villages and cities is changing, we all think together and do something new, build a new world of gender equality. Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day is celebrated.  Women all over the world have been celebrating this day as a major occasion.

Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib was the invisible force behind our independence.  At present, our source of inspiration is our Prime Minister, under whose leadership we are moving towards development.

The history of the struggle for the rights of women workers is behind the celebration of this day.  In 1857, women workers in a yarn factory took to the streets in New York to protest against wage inequality, fixed working hours, and the inhumane working environment.  In that procession the repression of the government lethal forces was going on. The first international women’s conference was held under the leadership of German Socialist leader Clara Jetkin at a women’s rally organized by Social Democrat Women’s Organization in New York on February 28, 1909.

In 1910, the Second International Women’s Conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.  It was attended by 100 women delegates from 16 countries.  At the conference, German socialist leader Clara proposed that March 8 be celebrated as International Women’s Day every year.  Socialists from different countries came forward to celebrate the day.  Since 1914, March 8 has been celebrated as Women’s Day in several countries.  This day has been celebrated in Bangladesh since before independence in 1971.  March 8, 1975 was recognized as International Women’s Day.  The United Nations has called on various nations to observe the day.  Since then, International Women’s Day has been celebrated with due dignity in almost all countries of the world.

In Bangladesh, women constitute 49% of the population.  From that point of view, women represent half of the country’s human resources, that is, half of the labor force.  But in the conventional socio-cultural discipline, women are deprived of various opportunities including education, employment and participation in development process.  The mortality rate of women is also higher than that of men.  It’s time to dump that and move on.