Safia Akhtar's Feminism (In the Context of "Harf-e-Ashna" and "Zair-e-Lab")

Abstract

Safia Akhtar is the wife of the renowned Urdu poet, Jan Nisar Akhtar. She is a modern Indian woman with progressive and feminist consciousness. This thought is clearly expressed in the collections her letters, "Harf-e-Ashna" and "Zair-e-Lab," which she wrote to her husband. In these letters, we see a new woman of the twentieth century who dares to move forward with the support of her self-confidence. She rejects the unnecessary restrictions imposed by society and breaks the iron chains of age-old and outdated traditions. She knows how to protect her rights. In her feminist consciousness, we see a balance, softness, and harmony with nature. She neither shouts slogans to abolish the concept of gender from society nor demands the rejection of the distinctions of the natural and social positions of men and women. She does not demand that women be treated like men, but rather that she wishes to be given all rights on an equal footing, recognizing and understanding the natural differences between men and women. In her letters, we see a practical picture of a feminist woman who is a follower of "New Age Feminism".