Dhaka taught me to be brave, to believe that change is possible

In the mofussil towns, my begetter would beryllium allotted authorities bungalows. Mostly, they would beryllium successful mixed neighbourhoods. I grew up with Hindu and Buddhist neighbours, my champion person successful schoolhouse was a Hindu girl. There was always, what we accidental successful Bengali, sampradayik sampriti, a goodwill among neighbours and communities. People looked retired for each other, stood by each different successful times of need.

The aforesaid couldn’t beryllium said for sex equality successful these places. Cities successful the Subcontinent are unfriendly to women — beryllium it successful Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka oregon Nepal. When I look backmost astatine my puerility and teenage years, I tin ne'er accidental that I grew up similar a boy. I person 2 brothers but their memories of these cities and towns are bound to beryllium vastly antithetic from mine. They grew up with state and autonomy, retired and astir till late. The metropolis treated them differently. I was brought up and treated similar a miss — loved and cherished, but besides eve-teased connected the streets, harassed during my little moving beingness successful the media, heckled by men who thought they were entitled to opinions astir the lives of each woman. Societies successful our countries thrive connected a peculiar marque of patriarchy and misogyny that does not permission women unsocial nary substance wherever they turn up oregon how.

I americium a parent to a girl present and I support warring connected her behalf astir the load of obligations and restrictions that our cities spot connected women. Dhaka for my girl and I volition look to beryllium 2 antithetic cities. My parents were conservative, I was brought up with blimpish values and nine mirrored that backmost to me. The Dhaka my girl is simply a portion of is insulated due to the fact that of maine — some my fame and the values I effort to bring her up with. I archer her to ne'er undermine herself due to the fact that of her gender, to judge successful herself and usage her voice. It’s a portion of who I americium — I judge determination should beryllium sex parity — that things specified arsenic our inheritance taxation volition dainty sons and daughters equally, irrespective of religion, caste, oregon class. But that remains a longer battle.

My narration with Dhaka has been curious. One ever feels a peculiar propulsion towards the spot of one’s birth. But Dhaka, wherever I returned aboriginal successful my teens — we moved present erstwhile I was successful Class X, I went to aesculapian schoolhouse present — made maine consciousness unsafe for a agelong time. It was chiefly due to the fact that it was tied up successful memories of my matrimony gone wrong, of my erstwhile husband’s threats and abuse. It took maine implicit a decennary to unrecorded that fearfulness down, to consciousness astatine easiness again successful this city. Now, I question a batch crossed the world, it is thing I profoundly enjoy, but aft a fewer days, my location — basha — keeps calling retired to me. I don’t ever consciousness similar surviving anyplace else.

In the past fewer months, Dhaka has inspired maine to judge that alteration is possible. The mode the students rallied to bring down a authorities that was becoming progressively autocratic has been marvellous. It gives maine hope. It has besides travel astatine a clip erstwhile my narration with Dhaka has been forged anew. In hindsight, the symptom this metropolis caused maine has besides made maine stronger, much mature. There was a clip erstwhile I was an anonymous idiosyncratic successful Dhaka, surviving retired her beingness to a acquainted script. But past the metropolis pushed maine to instrumentality risks. Those decisions led to my acting career, to my movie going to Cannes, to uncovering occurrence overseas. I person shared each my highs and lows with this metropolis and its people. Dhaka is wherever my girl was born, the metropolis wherever I earned respect. It means thing to me, makes maine consciousness responsible, duty-bound, to basal up for what is right. Which is why, erstwhile the clip came, I stood with the students against the (Sheikh Hasina) government.

This question was phenomenal — I don’t deliberation anyone has seen thing similar this before. I wasn’t calved astatine the clip of Mukti Juddho (Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971), and, truthful I can’t comparison it with that. But this was a combat for justice, a combat for equality. The constabulary firing successful August that killed students was a shock. But past watching young radical unite crossed the state and emergence up successful peaceful protestation has been 1 of the astir uplifting episodes of my life. I believed successful the justness of their cause. That is wherefore I joined them successful their protests, stood with them successful solidarity. I gleaned spot from the students, learning from them, 1 time astatine a time, however to beryllium brave. Can thing beryllium a greater acquisition oregon honour?

The writer is simply a Bangladeshi actor