The vocational centre in Khilluka village in Mewat region will provide sewing and stitching facilities. The Bibi Amtus Salam centre will be managed by local women.
Just 60 km far from the millenium city, Gurugram, exists a village with the lowest literacy rate in the state: 33.6 per cent. This literacy rate includes women who can read the Quran in Arabic, and nothing else. Khilluka village in Mewat region has almost zero participation from women in political matters and recognised workforce, which leaves them on the fringes of social and economic development.
A vocational centre has recently opened in the area, which will provide sewing and stitching facilities to the local women. The Bibi Amtus Salam centre will be managed by the women of the area. "We want to make this area a centre of change. The area has an abysmally poor literacy rate and participation from women," says Faisal Khan of Khudai Khidmatgar, a group that focuses on social reform.
"The biggest responsibility for us is to cultivate community leaders, which is the only weapon to remove injustice and discrimination." Initially, the idea of a vocational centre was discouraged and the inauguration was also difficult as the women adhere to a strict purdah. So far, 40 women have joined the centre. Khan hopes local freedom fighter Bibi Amtus Salam's example will help more women to come forward.
"Bibi Amtus Salam was with Mahatma Gandhi in Noakhali in 1946 when riots took place in Bengal, and Gandhi went on fast-unto-death to bring peace," says Farmeena, who lives in the village. "Bibi stayed back, even when her family left for Pakistan, and she helped the refugees from Bahawalpur to settle down. Muslim women in this region need to learn from her and get more involved in social work."
Bibi founded khadi institutions in Rajpura and also established the Kasturba Seva Mandir. Apart from being a place for women empowerment, Khudai Khidmatgar envisions this centre will become a centre of peace, mass mobilisation, and unity in diversity. Monthly lectures will be conducted by women activists.
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