Dr. Fatima Burnad, an extraordinary woman who has been fighting for the rights of minorities since she was 11 years old. Her journey till now has not been an easy one, from making her own way in this man’s world, to being kidnapped and threatened for fighting for rights of minorities, she has fought against all odds. Her dedication, determination and will to create an equal world for all is inspiring.
In 1979, she established Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED) that works for the rights of people and supports people’s movements. Along with SRED, she is responsible for establishing multiple forums and platforms that promote women’s rights, worker’s rights, and various other people’s movements. She has always voiced a strong resistance against the trade and agricultural policies of the government and has been critical of their impact on the lives of women farmers. Besides being one of the key activist of women and Dalit’s rights in India, Fatima Burnad has a very strong international presence. She brought the issues of Dalit women on international forums.
Through this conversation, I intend to share the interesting and inspiring journey of Dr. Burnad Fatima.
She has always voiced a strong resistance against the trade and agricultural policies of the government and has been critical of their impact on the lives of women farmers. Besides being one of the key activist of women and Dalit’s rights in India, she has a very strong international presence.
I believe that your passion for advocating human rights and women’s rights began at a very young age. At 11, you filed a petition to save a girl who was being abused and tortured by her employers. Can you tell us more about how your journey began and what has been your motivation for working in this field for so long?
Fatima Burnad: Yes, it’s a wonderful feeling to think about how I was moved to rescue an 11-year domestic worker who was of my age at that time. I continue to live in a Dalit village. I studied at an elementary school in Perumuchi village, Arakonam which is my native village, and I am still staying there at my parent’s house.
Four people have played an important role in my childhood. They have been my constant motivation and their values have shaped my entire life. My teacher in class 1st Mr. Agan, who later became my brother-in-law after he married my sister. My teacher in third class, my own father, Mr. M. P. Natesan. I still carry his name as a suffix. I am proud of him and I follow his teachings. I learned about patriarchal norms in my childhood itself from his behavior towards us sometimes. Then came my 5th class teacher, Mrs. Premavathy, a very religious person.
Later, I used to walk 5 to 6 km every day to go to a higher secondary school in Arakonam. Here, I had the opportunity of volunteering for various activities and I was appreciated and motivated by my teachers. After standard 8th, I moved to Chennai to Northwick girls’ higher secondary school where the principal was my inspiration in every way. I admired the way she dressed in cotton sarees, the way she walked and talked, and her style of communicative English motivated and encouraged me to speak in English. All of the people I have mentioned, played an important role in my life and have been my motivation from childhood to school days.
In the hostel, I was called “Lady with the Lamp” for taking care of the students who were kept in the sick room while no one dared to go near that room. It was very dark and at the far end of the dormitory. At college too, I had very good friends, teachers, from all departments I was helping and supporting.
Despite the prominent presence of caste in India, there is a common belief that caste doesn’t exist in today’s world as it did earlier. How would you respond to that?
Fatima Burnad: When I addressed students at – Brooklyn – US, the same question was posed: Where is caste? The organizer asked them, who is cleaning your toilets back home in India? Caste identity is hidden but it is visible in the way it’s practiced. It is practiced everywhere: segregated living, divided works, eating, drinking separately. Caste is ingrained, it is a mindset and unless one uproots the whole tree and not the branches of caste it will not die.
When I addressed students at – Brooklyn – US, the same question was posed: Where is caste? The organizer asked them, who is cleaning your toilets back home in India? Caste identity is hidden but it is visible in the way it’s practiced. It is practiced everywhere: segregated living, divided works, eating, drinking separately.
You run an organization called Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED) and also have established multiple forums for advocating rights of the marginalized community. Could you shed some light on the work of the organization and forums?
Fatima Burnad: After college, in 1972, I started working on my own in a village near Pondicherry called Agasampet. I stayed in the village, leaving the comfortable stay at the convent, refusing to accept the terms and conditions of a Catholic sister at Ravathakuppam Leprosy Hospital. I then joined a group called Action for Political and Cultural Change that worked in and around Chitamoor in the Chengalpet district. The group later changed its name to Rural Community Development Association (RCDA) that promoted Rural Harijan Agricultural Development Association (RHADA).
As I was the only woman working with five men I constantly faced discrimination. I was asked only to work on tailoring training that I refused. I fought men to get equal positions, an equal number of workers, an equal budget, and equal number of villages like them even equal share in the budget allocation. I became the first woman to go by cycle and later drove Bobby scooter, a two-wheeler vehicle. I had to fight to get a two-wheeler too.
By having two-wheeler, I enjoyed traveling to many villages. I would travel post-midnight to far-away villages to deliver news of death that generally shocked the villagers. I even helped carry a child with burnt injuries with his mother at the middle of the night on my two-wheeler. However, the hard part of it was waking up the d