New Delhi: When Tasmida Johar graduated from Delhi University in 2022, she became the first Rohingya woman to do so from an Indian university — a journey riddled with setbacks and threats to her life, and spanning over 2,000 kilometers across three countries. She also picked up five languages along the way.
Johar, who graduated at 25, symbolises grit and perseverance for other residents of the refugee camp in Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj. So much so that women there are naming their daughters after her in the hope that they grow up to be like her.
As to why it took her this long to graduate, Johar says, “I had to restart my education twice…but I give great value to what I have learnt. My family has spent countless days going hungry and years wearing the same torn clothes and slippers so that I could reach here.”
According to the latest government data, there are about 21,000 documented Rohingya Muslim refugees in India. The minority group from Myanmar began their migration in August 2017 when violence broke out in the country against them, forcing about 7 lakh Rohingyas to seek asylum in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Johar has five brothers — three older and two younger than she is. Her elder brothers started working as soon as they moved to India. The eldest among them, who works with initiatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC), facilitated her move to the country and then financed her education.
Speaking about her family, she said, “Due to all the strain, my father took ill when we came to India. Now he runs a small grocery store near our house. While my eldest brother works as a volunteer with the UN, my two younger brothers are still studying.”
With so many mouths to feed, continuing education has been a perpetual problem. “I did not have enough money to fund my school, and then college education in India. Not only did benefactors pay for my education, they also helped me with getting scholarships.”
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The journey
Johar’s journey started when her father Amanullah Johar decided to leave Myanmar in 2005 for Bangladesh after facing several threats to his life, and in search of a better life for his six children.
Johar, who was a class 3 student then, recalls her life at the time, “I had to hide my Rohingya name in Burma (Myanmar) where we were not given equal opportunities to learn and grow. For instance, Buddhist children were allotted roll numbers and given school admissions before us. Merit ranks would be given only to them. In school, we were discriminated against and my father would get detained randomly.”
A year after moving to Bangladesh, the family managed to get Johar admitted in a school again. This time though, she had to start all over again, from class 1.
“My years of elementary education in Myanmar were of no use in Bengali-speaking Bangladesh. My father was working as a daily wager and my mother worked as a house help to make ends meet,” she recalls.
Although the family of eight was living in abject poverty, their only solace was the fact that the children were going to school, she says.
Speaking about her hardships in Bangladesh she said, “There would be days when it rained so hard that my father couldn’t go out to work. We would eat one meal a day. Bogged down by the financial hardships, we often wanted to quit studying but my parents never let us.”
However, this peace did not last long. In June 2012, when Buddhists in Myanmar started a violent ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, its ripples were felt in Bangladesh, too. This forced the family to shift again, when Johar was in class 7.
This time, the family moved to India. Since no school in Haryana was ready to accommodate the refugee teenage students, they decided to settle in Delhi.
Life in Delhi
In India, the family had a refugee card, but Johar couldn’t secure admission to a regular school, forcing her to opt for open school.
Johar and her siblings spent four years attending UN-run workshops and sessions, learning languages and computer skills. She then finished class 10 in 2016 and class 12 in 2018 through the National Institute of Open Schooling.
She went to college supported by financial grants from the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative — a scholarship programme for refugee students.
She has learnt Hindi and English in India, Bengali in Bangladesh, and Rohingya and Burmese in Myanmar.
Johar says she didn’t get support from her community back then. “I used to travel an hour each way to reach the training centre and back. Our neighbours would often taunt my mother for sending me to learn. However, she never let that deter me.”
She wanted to pursue a career in law and made it to Jamia Millia Islamia for an undergraduate degree in the subject but was not given admission by the university. “ In 2019, I got through Jamia [entrance] but they told me to wait. I was informed that since I was the first Rohingya to make it that far, the university would have to inform the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding it.”
Four years on, Johar is yet to hear from the university. While the Indian government has time and again raised the issue of illegal Rohingya immigrants, Johar wonders how a starved population can be a threat at all.
“My people don’t have enough food for two square meals a day, clean water to drink or even a home to call our own. We are indebted to the Indian government for everything it has done for us, (but) how can we be a threat to the same country?”
She says she wants to get over the fear of being deported. “Even now, we worry that the Indian government will crack down on us any time. We continue to live with this insecurity.”
Life ahead – Starting from scratch
When the option of a career in law did not work out, the then 22-year-old decided to complete her education in political science from DU. But now, with a BA under her belt, Johar is again planning to pursue law — this time in Canada.
She says, “I wanted to pursue a masters and during my search, I was introduced to a UNHCR-Duolingo collaborative programme providing scholarships to disadvantaged students. I applied and now I am waiting for an acceptance letter from Wilfred Laurier University in Canada.”
But since the scholarship is only for undergraduate students, Johar will repeat her bachelor’s degree and then pursue law.
Her goal is to advocate for her people. She says, “I want to become an advocate for human rights of the minorities, especially for the Rohingya community, which is in dire need of an international voice advocating their rights.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)