Jameela Nishat A Voice for Women's Justice
By Afroz Khan, New Age Islam
12 February 2026
Jameela Nishat, a Hyderabad-born poet and activist, left her government teaching job after the 1992 communal riots to work for riot-affected women. Through Asmita and later Shaheen, she fought domestic violence and child marriage, empowering thousands of Muslim and Dalit women through education, justice, and rehabilitation.
Points:
· Jameela Nishat is a poet and activist from Hyderabad.
· The 1992 riots led her to leave her teaching job for social work.
· She founded Shaheen in 2002 for women’s welfare.
· She stopped 1,000+ child marriages and helped violence survivors.
· She empowers women through education, legal aid, and training.
…
“Every poem is the voice of the victim. I am speaking to the reader. I am the survivor. I am not Jameela, but the one affected.”
Jameela Nishat
In 1992, horrific communal riots broke out in different parts of India. These riots severely affected the lives of lakhs of people, especially women, and deeply shook the conscience and inner being of a poet and teacher, Jameela Nishat.
Before the communal riots, Jameela Nishat was working as a teacher in a government school. However, when she visited the riot-affected areas and felt the pain and helplessness of the affected women, she decided to resign from her government job and dedicate her life to the welfare of those women who were suffering not only from the riots but also from other forms of violence.
Jameela Nishat was born in 1955 in Hyderabad, Telangana. Her father, Syed Bin Mohammed, was a renowned portrait painter. He was an important part of Hyderabad’s art and cultural world and a close friend of the famous artist M.F. Husain. Her mother was a homemaker. During her childhood, the family environment was largely middle-class and in certain ways traditional, where there were social restrictions on girls’ higher education and artistic freedom.
Like her father, she was deeply inclined towards painting. However, due to the social restrictions of that time, she had to give up her passion for painting. She replaced the paintbrush with the pen and began expressing her emotions through poetry.
Jameela Nishat completed her M.A. in English Literature from Osmania University, Hyderabad. She began her career as a teacher and worked in this field for nearly 20 years in different positions.
Some lines from her famous poem “Intesab” beautifully express her inner feelings:
“yah un auraton ke naam,
jo sadiyon se chup hain,
jinakee aavaazen deevaaron mein
daphan hain,
aur jinakee aankhen aasamaan kee talaash mein pathara gaee hain.”
("This is in the name of those women
who have been silent for centuries,
whose voices are buried within walls,
and whose eyes
have turned to stone in search of the sky.")
After the 1992 riots, when Jameela Nishat visited the areas of the Old City of Hyderabad, she saw burnt houses and shops and women deeply traumatised. Witnessing this painful situation, she resolved to create a safe space for women.
She resigned from her government job to improve the condition of women and joined an organisation called “ASMITA,” where she began working for women’s rights and communal harmony. She worked actively with Asmita for nearly five years. During this period, she closely understood the problems of Muslim women in the Old City of Hyderabad. She worked to reduce the distances between Muslim and Hindu women and to rebuild communities after the riots.
A pyre burnt
day and night.
Who was it?
Of what name?
A flood of shadows
swirled around the mind,
the pyre, fed by the oil of infidelity,
burnt on, day after day.
The shadows waved,
were gulped by the fire.
She stood fixed.
Of a sudden
long arms
stretched out
and seized her
and she gave herself
to flames.
Who was it?
Who called?
Jameela Nishat
(This poignant poem was written by Jameela Nishat after the horrific riots of 1992.)
While working with the Asmita organisation, she realised that the problems of Muslim women in the Old City were very specific and deeply rooted, and they could not be resolved only at a superficial level. The women hesitated to speak with outside organisations. Jameela felt that they needed a platform that understood their language (Urdu) and culture.
She says:
“I felt the writing was not enough and that I needed to do something to change the scenario and also to create a public space for myself.”
In 2002, she founded the Shaheen Women Resource and Welfare Association, which began in a small room to provide justice and freedom to women who were victims of domestic violence, sexual harassment, and human trafficking.
Jameela has fought strongly against the “child bride” racket prevalent in the Old City and against the marriages of minor girls to Arab sheikhs. Through her efforts, more than 1,000 child marriages have been stopped so far.
Jameela Nishat believes:
“Women and girls should realize their potential through education, become independent and self-sufficient, the voice of protest should be raised against oppression and injustice… Do not be a victim of fraud, but make yourself powerful economically, physically, mentally, and emotionally.”
She has provided legal, financial, and emotional assistance to more than 7,400 women who are victims of domestic violence. She also helps women come out of abusive relationships through khula.
She says about this:
“I cannot sleep until the victims get justice… I have given place to all the victims in my life and they will live forever in my poetry and poems.”
Through “Shaheen,” Jameela Nishat has reconnected nearly 4,500 school dropout girls with education and provided vocational training to more than 17,000 women, making them economically independent.
For her courageous work, she was honoured with the Martha Farrell Award for Gender Equality in 2021 and received recognition from the Government of Telangana in 2019.
Even today, Jameela Nishat continues to work tirelessly in the Old City of Hyderabad for the development and justice of Muslim and Dalit women. Her organisation “Shaheen” (which symbolises a free and high-flying bird that never accepts defeat and creates its own world) is giving justice and a new life to many women.
Jameela Nishat believes that women, like the Shaheen, should create their own world and never accept defeat from anyone.
…
Afroz Khan is a teacher by profession who writes on women, politics, communal harmony, and Islam. She holds a master’s degree in Education.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/jameela-nishat-voice-for-women-justice/d/138826
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