Chowdhury, Jharna Dhara
Chowdhury, Jharna Dhara (1938–2019) a Gandhian social worker in Bangladesh and secretary of the ‘Gandhi Ashram Trust’ at Jayage in Sonaimuri upazila, Noakhali district. She was born on 15 October 1938 in Kalupur village of Chandipur union in Ramganj upazila of Laxmipur district. Her father’s name is Pramath Chowdhury and mother’s name is Ashalata Chowdhury. She is the tenth of eleven siblings. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury received her secondary education from Khastgir Girls High School, Chittagong, Higher Secondary from Comilla Victoria College and BA from Dhaka College. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence, she devoted her entire life to promoting peace, communal harmony and social justice.
In 1946, Jharna Dhara Chowdhury’s family fell victim to the Muslim-Hindu communal riots in Noakhali. Their houses were burnt and many close relatives were killed. She saw with her own eyes the scenes of innocent people being thrown into the fire, the horrors of arson and murder. Then her family was forced to flee to Assam, India. They returned to the village after the violence subsided but the communal riots left a deep impression on the minds of children. The brutality of the riots shocked even Mahatma Gandhi, moved by the events, he He rushed to the region and for about four months campaigned the ideals of communal harmony and non-violence around the village barefooted. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violence, self-reliance and communal harmony at an early age. She never met Mahatma Gandhi, but she lived her life in harmony with Gandhian beliefs, following Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and perseverance.
She saw the sufferings of the poor especially the underprivileged women. She observed that due to illiteracy, the women of the society are extremely neglected and ill-treated. It was from this realization that she and her elder sister Kavita Dutta started a school called ‘Kalyani Shikshayatana’ in 1954 for the education of women and that time, she was only 16. The two sisters used to fast two days a week and saved money to buy books and other materials for the children. But the school was closed down due to the conspiracy of the opponents of women’s education.
Jharna’s father died in 1954an of in 1996, she joined the Ambika Kaliganga Charitable Trust (now known as the ‘Gandhi Ashram Trust’). Along with social services, she also continued her studies.
In 1960, Jharna Dhara Chowdhury left her home and voluntarily joined the Amber Charka Institute founded by the Managing Director of Dhakeshwari Cotton Mill Sarbshri Sunil Basu and Charu Chowdhury in Bautbhog village of Bikrampur district and took training in spinning and bee keeping. In 1960, she stood by the destitute people loosing their homes in cyclone that swept through the sub-tropical region of Chittagong. In association with the volunteers of the ‘Prabatak Sangha’ established for the welfare of people, they rendered services and relief works for the helpless people for a long time. She then joined the Pravartak Sangha’s Vidyapith as a trainer in implementing the spinning wheel and bee keeping program. Prabartak used to take care of the children of the Shishu Sadan of the Sangha, teach the students and organize various programs for the welfare of the children. This is how she got directly engaged in humanitarian service as a Sangha teacher and orphanage supervisor. Almost all Gandhians were in jail during the Pakistan period. At that time, there was none Jharna Dhara Chowdhury to look after them. She used to visit various jails regularly for those Gandhians. Back then, it was very difficult for a young woman to do so much work alone. But she continued to perform this duty with pleasure.
During the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971, ‘Prabartak Sangha’ was a strong base for Freedom Fighters. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury volunteered there for the Liberation War. She served a nurse for the Freedom Fighters. During the Liberation War, all the organizers (who were followers of Mastarda Surya Sen) including the secretary of Prabartak Sangha were brutally killed by the Pakistani occupation army. At that time, Jharna Dhara Chowdhury took away about 500 children including girls of Prabartak Sangha to India with the help of the Catholic Mission and thus saved them from the future and killing by the Pakistani army. There she actively participated in a special relief camp in Surya Mani Nagar, Tripura. On her return to independent Bangladesh, she worked tirelessly to rebuild the ruined Prabartak Sangha, Prabartak Vidyapeeth and Prabartak Shishu Sadan.
In 1979, Jharna Dhara Chowdhury returned to the ‘Gandhi Ashram Trust’. She committed herself to women development, handicrafts training and promotion, food processing and preservation, agriculture, livestock and poultry rearing, housing, water and sanitation, increasing income for the poor, promoting peace and communal harmony and improving the quality of life of Dalits. She undertook various developmental activities to assist local government institutions in their efforts in their efforts in human development. After the death of Charu Chowdhury on 13 June 1990, she assumed the responsibility of the Secretary of the Gandhi Ashram Trust and employed all her energy in upscaling this public welfare institution. Returning home after attending the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing in 1995, she set up cottage industry in gandhi ashram with renewed enthusiasm and worked tirelessly for its development and expansion. Thanks to her quiet but relentless work the ‘Gandhi Ashram Trust’ earned national and international recognition. She took initiatives to revive ‘Abhay Ashram’ in Comilla district and ‘Khadi Institution’ in Feni district.
Gandhian Jharna Dhara Chowdhury received various awards and honors at home and abroad in recognition of her social works. These included, International Bajaj Award (1998); Peace Prize by Old Westbury University (2000), New York, USA; Ananya Award for Women Entrepreneurship (2002); Naripakkha Durbar Network for Social Service (2003); Peace Award (2006) by the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Dhaka University in recognition of her role in promoting peace, harmony and non-violence; the title simple Minded Human by Noakhali District Administration (2007); Sri Chaitanya Medal (2010); Women of Achievement Award by Channel i and Square (2010); Ranveer Singh Gandhi Smriti Shanti Sadbhavna Award by Haryana (2011); Padma Shri Award by Government of India (2013); Begum Rokeya Medal by Bangladesh Government (2013); Ekushey Padak (2015); and Medal of Honor (2016) by Daily Star.
Jharna Dhara Chowdhury was single in personal life. She sacrificed herself as a Brahmacharini in the service of humanity. She has shown by her actions how sensitive a person can be to the humanity beyond religious identity. From ordinary people to colleagues, she was the beloved ‘Didi’ of all.
She died on 27 June 2019 at Square Hospital in Dhaka due to old age. She donated her body to the services of human beings. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury is a shining example of self-sacrifice in social service and public welfare. [Ashrafun Nahar Mala]
