Shirin Fozdar
Shirin Fozdar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 1, 1905 India |
| Died | September 2, 1992 Singapore |
| NSA member | India & Burma ???? - ???? Southeast Asia 1957 - 1964 |
Shirin Behjat Fozdar (March 1, 1905 - September 2, 1992) was an Indian Bahá'í who was, along with her husband Dr. K. M. Fozdar, the first Bahá'í pioneer to Singapore. She was an inaugural member of the National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia. She is also notable for her work for women's rights.
Biography[edit]
Shirin was born to Persian Zoroastrian parents who had converted to the Bahá'í Faith in Bombay in 1905. The family went on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1906 when she was eleven months old, and Shirin took her first steps holding onto ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's cloak. The family made a second Pilgrimage in 1911, and Shirin first met Shoghi Effendi. In 1922 she gave a talk on universal education at the Indian Bahá'í National Convention in Karachi.[1]
In 1925 Shirin married Khodadad Fozdar, a medical doctor, and he became a Bahá'í soon after their marriage. In 1931 she was elected to the Executive Committee of the All-Asian Women's Conference, a non-Bahá'í group, and in 1934 she was a representative of the Asian Women's Conference at the League of Nations. Shirin met Shoghi Effendi again when she went on Pilgrimage a third time with Khodadad in 1935, and the Guardian assured them that they were protected by God.[2]
In January 1938 Shirin and Khodadad visited Colombo, Sri Lanka, with Martha Root for ten days. The Fozdars spoke at a local Parsi club. Shirin then accompanied Martha to Mysore and Bangalore.[3] Shirin also visited Burma in the 1930's, and Khodadad's position as Medical Officer of a Railway Company allowed her to travel across India to give talks on the faith and women's rights.[4]
In 1941 Mahatma Gandhi asked Shirin to visit Ahmedabad on his behalf to speak on unity in response to Hindu Muslim tensions in the city. Her work towards women's rights in the 1940's was acknowledged by both Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
In 1950 Khodadad resigned from his job and the Fozdars pioneered to Singapore.[5] They gave talks on the Faith, and Shirin was able to give talks to notable local women's organisations.[6] The Fozdar's later established a free school which aimed to teach literacy to underprivileged women in Singapore.[7] In 1952 Shirin founded the Singapore Council of Women with 2000 members, and she was appointed as the group's Secretary-General. The group's efforts helped lead to the establishment of the Singapore Women's Charter in 1961.[8] In late 1952 she visited Australia and New Zealand for several months to undertake a teaching tour.[9]
In December 1953 Yankee Leong helped Shirin arrange talks on the Faith in Malacca, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur.[10] He declared during this teaching tour making him the first Bahá'í of Malaya (now Malaysia).[11] In 1954 she visited Saigon, Vietnam, and became the first Bahá’í to visit French Indochina. She also visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia where she was presented with the country's first medal for being a Champion of Women's Rights.
In 1957 both Shirin and her husband were elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia at the first South East Asia Convention held in Djakarta, Indonesia.[12] Khodadad passed away the following year a few days before the second South East Asia Convention.[13] In 1958 she was part of a Singapore Delegation to the Afro-Asian Women's Conference in Colombo, and she was invited to China by the All China Federation of Women in 1959. She was invited to give talks relating to women's rights in the United States by the U.S. State Department after her visit to China.
In 1961 Shirin pioneered to teach the Faith in Bangkok, Thailand, and met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej. She established Santitham Vittayakom School in northeast Thailand. She moved back to Singapore in 1971, and in 1988 she received an award from the Singapore Council of Womens Organisations acknowledging her contribution to the women's movement.[14] She returned to India at some point, where she suffered a heart attack in Bombay, after which she returned to Singapore where she passed due to cancer in 1992.
Family[edit]
The Fozdar's had three sons. Jamshed, John, and Minoo, and two daughters.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ https://sfp.smu.edu.sg/about-shirin-fozdar
- ↑ Baha'i World, Vol. 13, p 892
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:BW_Vol8_Pt1.pdf&page=65
- ↑ Baha'i World, Vol. 13, p 892
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_249.pdf&page=7
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_248.pdf&page=8
- ↑ Baha'i World, Vol. 13, p 893
- ↑ https://sfp.smu.edu.sg/about-shirin-fozdar
- ↑ Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld. : 1909 - 1954) Tue 22 Jul 1952 Page 5
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:MBN_Vol9_Issue4.pdf&page=10
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:MBN_Vol9_Issue4.pdf&page=9
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_319.pdf&page=5
- ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_330.pdf&page=8
- ↑ https://sfp.smu.edu.sg/about-shirin-fozdar
References[edit]
- Manisegaran, A. (2003). Jewel Among Nations - An account of the early days of the Bahá’í Faith in West Malaysia. Malaysia: Splendour Publications.
- Baha'i World, Vol. 20, p 1027-1030
