A journey of sacrifice and love
She has fought for women’s rights and has been a strong advocate for
Human Rights over the years. A woman who has been praised for her
unrelenting spirit and will, she has committed herself to achieving
social justice and has been a voice for those who have no voice. A lady
who believes in living a righteous life, she always has an ear for those
who have been wronged. In fact there is many an activist in Jezima
Ismail.
Jezima Ismail |
“I was born in the village of Sainthamaruthu, which is about two and
half miles from Kalmune. It is in the Ampara district. My father was an
irrigation engineer. My grandfather was a trustee of the mosque and my
father was brought up in a very conservative set up. And my father was
very much interested in education. By the time he was 11 or 12 he came
to Colombo and became a qualified engineer. He took the injunction of
the Koran ‘Seek Knowledge and education’ quite literally. The focus of
the Koran is very much on knowledge. It is only when you are educated
that you can interpret the Koran and manifest it in action. My father
gave me a lot of freedom and it was difficult for some people to believe
that I come from a conservative Muslim background,” said Jezima.
Village life
“On my mother’s side it was a kind of feudal aristocracy and her
family was very much involved in politics and the local leaders of the
area came from this Kariapper family. M. H. M. Ashraff also belonged to
the same family. My mother was not a typical Muslim housewife. During
the election times our house was turned into an election office and my
mother worked as a polling agent. And strangely enough my father had
been warned that the wife of a government servant should not be involved
in politics. So he wrote back and told them that in Islam a woman
marries a man but will marry on a contract; she has her freedom if she
wants to get into politics; I have no say in it and there is no question
of my divorcing her; she is allowed to lead her own life and she is
allowed to keep her own name, so there is perfect equality where our
contract is concerned. So they had to keep quiet.
But she obeyed my father, brought his cup of tea to him, never sat at
the table but served him. That sort of wife on the one hand but this
sort of an independent woman on the other hand.”
Reminiscing on village life, Jezima said that she loved village life
because the essential passions of the heart are found in the village.
“Every holiday when I went back to the village, I lived the life of a
villager. Their customs, singing, and their culture was an integral part
of my life. We never consciously and deliberately looked at nature.
Nature was a part of our lives and even for protecting nature and
looking after nature we didn’t have to have deliberate rules and there
was no cruelty. In Ampara, we have all the ethnic communities and they
coexisted peacefully. But today I see a totally different kind of
picture.”
Contribution to education
“I wanted to live in the village but my father had different ideas
and brought us all to Colombo. He put us straight into St. Bridget’s
Convent which was a Catholic school. He was a broadminded person and he
wanted to expose us to other religions and their values. I had my
primary as well as secondary education at St. Bridget’s which I enjoyed
very much. I did not have to compromise my religion because I have
complete faith in Islam and it was my guide. But at the same time
Catholicism had this appeal to me, the hymns.”
Jezima entered the University of Peradeniya. She defied the image of
a typical Muslim girl of the 1950s. She participated in many
extracurricular activities. She played Badminton and Tennis and won
University Colours.
After graduation Jessima joined the staff of Devi Balika Maha
Vidyalaya when Dr. Wimala de Silva was its Principal. Recollecting her
days at Devi Balika, Jezima said: “I got a reputation for everything -
English, Singing, Dancing, you name it. I have never gone to a class in
my 30 years of formal teaching without preparation.” She considered Dr.
Wimala de Silva as a ‘model Principal.’ With her husband, Jezima went to
Canada and obtained her Masters degree in education from the McGill
University. Later she completed her postgraduate diploma at the
University of Sydney, Australia. After serving 19 years at Devi Balika
Maha Vidyalaya, she became the Principal of Muslim Ladies’ College (MLC),
Colombo. She held this post for 13 years rendering a yeoman service in
transforming the quality and outlook of the school. She is considered an
eminent educationalist in Sri Lanka. It is interesting to observe that
both Dr. Wimala de Silva and Jezima Ismail were honoured with the title
Deshabandu in recognition of their contribution to the field of
education. Dr. Wimala de Silva became the first woman to be appointed as
the Chancellor of a Sri Lankan University (Sri Jayewardenepura
University). Jezima Ismail became the second woman University Chancellor
(South Eastern University).
Jezima is a person of varied interests. She is the founder president
of Sri Lanka Muslims Women’s Conference (SLMWC) which is an umbrella
organization of Muslim women’s organizations. She was instrumental in
establishing the Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum (MWRAF) in
1978 and she still works with this organization. “We are dealing with
several issues: how to empower women without alienating them culturally;
how do we make them empowered financially? The idea of social justice in
the Koran is very important. Social justice includes both economic
justice and legal justice. We empower Muslim women because they are the
most marginalized. The ideals of the Koran have not been translated into
practice. The concept of equality is very much evident in the Koran. At
the beginning I used to think of Women, Women and Women. Then I thought
this won’t work, especially when it comes to gender-based violence. I am
a free and empowered woman because of my father and husband who believed
totally in the independence of women. We need partnership
strengthening.”
Violent politics
With Jezima’s stature and influence in society, there is no doubt
that she is an attractive candidate for a political position in the
country. Were there any temptations for her to get into politics? “My
mother’s brother was a politician of the East. He wanted me to take his
place but I was not interested in. M.H.M. Ashraff was my cousin. Though
he was much younger than I, we were very good friends.
His wife is also very close to me. About three months before he died,
I went off to the United States and he begged of me not to go because he
wanted me to come into politics. He said that he spoke to the President
and got the assurance of a place for me in the National List.
I declined the offer but he kept insisting on it. My husband was also
not in favour of the idea. I was returning to the island on September 19
and I promised to meet him. He rang me on the 14th and 15th as well. I
came on the 19th but it was too late. He was killed in a mysterious
helicopter crash on the 16th. He had a tremendous vision, tremendous
charisma and leadership backed by education. He had all the positives.
Strangely enough, he also predicted his death. He wrote a poem:
‘I will not die in a bed
I will be in a pool of blood
Mangled body and shattered bones’
Without getting into the whirlpool of violent politics in the
country, Jezima continues to serve the society in her own silent way.
Her journey has been one of sacrifice and love for her fellow men and
woman. The fruits of her selfless endeavours can be seen in the lives of
those she has touched. |