Books by Malala, Woolf to inspire women of Haryana village

Bibipur (Jind), July 13: In a step towards their empowerment, women of Bibipur village in Haryana will soon be reading Hindi translations of books by Virginia Woolf and Malala Yousafzai besides 2,500 other writings on feminism.

A library for women has been been set up by the panchayat of the Jind district village, situated 100 kms away from the national capital, and will be inaugurated by national volleyball player Poonam Siwach on Wednesday.

The setting up of the library comes as yet another step to bolster women empowerment in the village which is credited for organising the first women's gram panchayat in the country to discuss female foeticide and has a gate at its entry reading 'Welcome to Bibipur, the Women's World'.

Fighting the battle to end the menace of female foeticide and honour killing in the village, the 30-year-old sarpanch Sunil Kumar Jaglan said the library for women was an effort to make them aware about their rights through literature.

"We are in the process of establishing a library in the village, especially for women, so that they get aware about their rights," Jaglan, who is father of two daughters, said.

"If the women want liberation, then they must have the desire in their hearts for freedom and knowledge. To make women free from all kinds of social shackle, they first need to be aware about their problems. Right now, they don't even know themselves," he said.

About 2,500 books on feminism have been ordered for the library which already houses 100 books including Hindi translations of English writer Woolf's 'A room of one's own', Pakistani teenage activist Yousafzai's autobiography 'I am Malala', Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin's 'Aurat Ke Haq Mein' and Mahatama Gandhi's Viwaah Samasya, Arthat Stri Jiwan.

Last year, the Bibipur village panchayat received the National Award for Gaurav Gram Sabha for organising the first women's gram panchayat in the country for stopping female foeticide.

The award carried a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, of which Rs 2 lakh was used to construct the village gate that reads, 'Welcome to Bibipur, the Women's World'. Post graduate in mathematics and working for more transparency and speedy implementation of projects in the village, Jaglan recently got PAN card for his panchayat so that an audit of the fund could be available for villagers.

Jaglan has received several awards for his work in the field of women empowerment and development including Rajiv Gandhi Panchyat Shashaktikaran Abhiyan Puraskar by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

PTI