PM honours female achievers

Decorating two pioneering female academics with the prestigious 'Rokeya Padak', Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday called upon Bangladeshis to shed their political affiliations and unitedly work for upliftment of women.

"The country and society will not move forward into enlightenment if women are kept backward, in the dark," she told a function to distribute the Rokeya Padak 2002 in Dhaka, an award named after the remarkable Begum Rokeya, that was introduced in 1995.

Khaleda's award for 2002 went to two eminent woman - physician Dr Zohora Begum Kazi and Prof Begum Akhter Imam.

The 90-year-old Dr Zohora Begum Kazi, first Bengali Muslim female physician and medical academic in the subcontinent, was honoured for her contributions, particularly in the field of gynaecology. She served as Head of Gynaecology Department at Dhaka Medical College.

Professor Begum Akhter Imam, the first female teacher of Dhaka College and first provost of Rokeya Hall of Dhaka University, was honoured for her contributions to education.