Today, December 9, marks both the birth and death anniversary of Begum Rokeya, a trailblazer in the movement for women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. On this day, the government honors remarkable women with the prestigious Begum Rokeya Padak. As announced earlier, this year’s award has been given to national women’s football star Rituparna Chakma.
Rituparna shared how deeply honored she feels, saying,
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆… 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒚𝒂 𝑷𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒌 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.”
A Journey Filled With Struggles and Triumph
Rituparna, who hails from the serene hills of Rangamati, has faced immense personal hardship on her path to success. She lost her father a decade ago, followed by the tragic death of her younger brother in an accident three years back. Despite these painful setbacks, her contributions to Bangladeshi football have been extraordinary, lifting the nation’s image on the global stage.
Reflecting on the recognition, she added,
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉.”
Recognition for Women in Sports
The Begum Rokeya Award is presented annually, though it rarely goes to athletes. Last year, legendary chess champion Ziaur Rahman Hamid made history as the first sportsperson to receive it. This year, the honor has gone to footballer Rituparna Chakma, who hopes this trend continues.
She expressed optimism, saying that seeing women athletes honored will inspire many others:
“𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚. 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚.”
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