Razia Sultan Ismail, a pioneering woman journalist of the country and head of communications and deputy country head, UNICEF-India, died Thursday morning at an elder care facility in Noida, where she lived for the last couple of years after suffering a stroke. She was 87. She is survived by an older sister.
An activist on child rights issues, Ismail started the India Alliance for Child Rights after retiring from UNICEF. Before donning the mantle of child rights activist, Ismail taught at the Department of Journalism in Chandigarh University and moved to Delhi to work with The Indian Express in the late Sixties. She wrote well-researched long pieces on development issues for The Indian Express and even covered foreign affairs. Friends recall that after a visit abroad, where Indira Gandhi was expected as the Prime Minister of India, Ismail came back excited because she had been mistaken for her. She was fair-skinned like Mrs Gandhi, had short hair and an aquiline nose.
Ismail wore many hats and was also the President of the global YWCA for a few years. But her life revolved around children. At the UN, she headed many panels that sought to bring the world order to focus on children, especially the poor and the marginalised, and how their lives could be improved. She was one of the first people to create awareness about child sex ratio, sex selection, child marriages and child labour. While working in the Delhi office of UNICEF, she brought attention to the state of street children and their exploitation. Her concern for children went beyond her official responsibilities, and she went out of her way to wean them off the streets, pushing them to education and schools and, where needed, often providing assistance from her pocket. Whether on the streets or in her own office, she encouraged youngsters and made space for them.
As head of the India Alliance for Child Rights, she worked with the government in preparing an alternate report on child rights for submission to the Geneva headquarters. When the National Commission for Child Rights was established in 2007 with Dr Shantha Sinha heading it, she attended all meetings to advise on and support initiatives for children. She also worked closely with the progressive women’s organisations.
A warm-hearted and quick-witted human being, Ismail’s other love was dogs. She lived life on her own terms. Home meant her dogs and caring for them. She had large dogs who sprawled on sofas and were treated like royalty. Once, when one of her dogs died, she brought home a gaddi puppy (shepherd dog from the hills), hoping it would bring solace to the other dogs. But the yappy puppy was too much for the seniors, and knowing that I had just lost my black Labrador, she gave me this lovely golden-brown furry creature. I called him Brandy, and she would keep inquiring about him till he settled in.
For Ismail, the people who looked after her at home were like family members. She looked after them and their children. Her birthday was on Christmas, and she would have an open house that day with food and gifts for all who visited. For friends and colleagues, it was an event marked on their calendars.
My first trip abroad was with Ismail to the Philippines for a conference on child rights. It was a great learning experience for me but what moved both of us most was the true story of a young male journalist from Thailand who practised what the world was preaching by actually adopting a homeless child from the streets of Bangkok. Ismail leaves behind a legacy in the policies she shaped and the lives she transformed.
The writer is a veteran journalist
Media365
