Shahjahan Apa is a founder of Shakti Shalini, an organization
that fights to win justice for women who have suffered domestic abuse. Her
activism was prompted by the murder of her daughter, burned to death by her
in-laws who escaped justice by bribing the local police.

“I resolved to use the death of my daughter as the impetus
to fight for the rights of others. Noorjahan died on June 17, 1979. Three years
later I began working for Shakti Shalini. In our society, the men get a free
servant when they marry, but I believe that men and women are partners in
marriage and stand on equal footing. Today our own government betrays us. The
police betray us. Everything is in the hands of the police and it all begins
and ends with money. But each day I board the bus that will bring me to our
office so that I can meet with the women who have nowhere else to turn. There
is a saying in Hindi: ‘Meri shakti, meri beti,’ which means, ‘My strength is my
daughter.’”

To hear Fazal Sheikh read a longer portion of Shajahan Apa’s
testimony visit https://mfah.org/visit/audio-for-homelands-and-histories-photographs-by-fazal-sheikh/">mfah.org/fsaudio.