Amjadi Bano Begum
The brave and courageous Amjadi begum was the first Muslim female political leader of British India. She started her political career at a time when women were restricted to their homes and their obligation was to take care of their home and children.
She belonged to a religious family of Rampur. She got her early education at home. Later, she enriched her thirst of knowledge from a large collection of religious books at home. She got married to Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar in 1902 and with the support of her husband and mother-in-law; she broke all the restriction and joined Khilafat Movement. In every journey and meeting of Maulana she went along with him, even she attended the round table conference of London in 1930.
Amjadi Begum was appointed as a member of working committee of Pakistan Muslim League by Quaid-e-Azam. She was the only female member of the committee of 25 members. As a member of committee, she participated in the drafting of that historic resolution of Pakistan on 23 March 1940. Amjadi Begum worked hard and motivated other women as well. She died on 28 March 1947. On her death Quaid-e-Azam said that it was a great loss for the nation.
Fatima Jinnah (Mother of the nation)
The loving and caring sister of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was born in 30 July 1893 in Karachi. She was a qualified dentist but quit her practice after the sad demise of the wife of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1929 and became a close associate and an adviser to her older brother.
She was an active member of the All-India Muslim League, where she served as Vice President of the women's wing. Professor Sharif al Mujahid writes in his article, "an enduring legacy", "People do not realize that just by accompanying Jinnah wherever he went during the 1940s, Fatima Jinnah was teaching Muslim women to stand shoulder to shoulder with men during the freedom struggle. Numerous pictures of the period show Fatima Jinnah walking alongside Jinnah and not behind him. The message was loud and clear and it was one both the brother and sister wished to convey to the nation."
Fatima Jinnah lived with Muhammad Ali Jinnah for 28 years in total, and never left her brother alone in any circumstances. Muhammad Ali Jinnah once said, "My sister was like a bright ray of light and hope whenever I came back home and met her. Anxieties would have been much greater and my health much worse, but for the restraint imposed by her".
During the transfer of power in 1947, she formed the Women's Relief Committee, which later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA) founded by Rana Liaquat Ali Khan. She also played a significant role in the settlement of Muhajirs in the new state of Pakistan. In 1967, Jinnah gave a historical speech to the nation. She warned that 'cowards die many deaths, the valiant never taste death but once'.
Rana Liaquat Ali Khan
The history of Pakistan movement is incomplete without mentioning the services of Begum Raana Liaquat Ali. She was born in Agra. She was educated at the University of Lucknow where she obtained a first class Masters degree with honors in economics in 1929.
She also served as economic adviser to Jinnah's Pakistan Movement Committee and later became First Lady of Pakistan when her husband Liaquat Ali Khan became Pakistan's first Prime Minister. As First Lady of Pakistan, she launched programmes for woman's development in the newly founded country. Later, she started her career as a political leader that lasted a decade.
Begum Raana served as Pakistan's ambassador to the Netherlands in the 1950s and as ambassador to Italy in the 1960s. From 1973 to 1976, she was elected Governor of Sindh. She was the first Muslim woman in a delegate to the UN (1952). She received the Jane Adam's Medal (USA) and Woman of Achievement Medal (USA) in 1950, Mother of Pakistan in 1950 (USA), Nishan-i-Imtiaz in 1959, Grand Cross of Orange Nassau in 1961 (the Netherlands), International Gimbel Award for service to humanity (1961-1962).
Lady Abdullah Haroon
The birthplace of the eminent women leader was Iran. She was born in 1886 and settled in Karachi with her parents. In 1914, she married Sir Abdullah Haroon. She was the founder of a women organisation in Sindh known as Anjuman-e-Khawteen. The key purpose of this organization was to perk up the deteriorating economic and social condition of women of Sindh. She was a big supporter of female education and set a school at her home to educate women of her area.
The political career of lady Abdullah Haroon begun in 1919 when she becomes a zealous follower of Khilafat Movement in Sindh. In 1938, she was nominated to the Women's Central Subcommittee of the All India Muslim League and was elected President of the Sindh Provincial Women's Subcommittee. She worked day and night to bring Muslim women under the banner of the All India Muslim League.
Lady Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah
Sughra Begum was born in 1904 in a feudal family of Shikarpur. The name of this brave and confident woman will always be remembered in the history of Pakistan Movement. During the crucial year of 1947, she took active participation in political processions. In February 1947 she led a grand procession towards the Sindh Secretariat building and hoisted the Muslim League flag on top of the building.
She was an educated Muslim woman and had extensive knowledge of Urdu, English, Sindhi, and religion. The political and social career of Sughra Begum started after she got married with a prominent leader of Sindh Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah. In 1938, she joined All India Muslim League as a political worker and become a member of Women's Central Subcommittee.
She worked day and night to establish branches of the Provincial Subcommittee that were formed in different districts of Sindh such as Hyderabad, Nawabshah and Dadu. She was elected the president of the Women Reception Committee on the annual session of the All India Muslim League held in Karachi in 1943. During the independence riots, she took active participation to relive the refugees and performed services at women refugee relief committee.
Begum Jehan Ara Shah Nawaz
The eminent activist of the movement had a long political journey. She was born in 1896 and got her education at the Queen Mary College Lahore. She had devoted her life for the cause of a separate nation for the Muslims of sub-continent. She was an active member of the All India Muslim Women's Conference and remained president of its provincial branch for seven years. She was vice-president of the Central Committee of the All India Muslim Women's Conference. She also offered her valuable services to many hospitals, maternity and child welfare centers.
She was also associated with the education and orphanage committees of the Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, Lahore. She was the first woman to be elected as vice-president of the Provincial Executive and was a member of the All Indian General Committee of the Red Cross Society. She was a woman delegate to the Round Table Conference. In 1935, she founded the Punjab Provincial Women's Muslim League. In 1937, she was elected as a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Medical Relief and Public Health.
During her struggle, she faced much political turmoil. In 1942, the Government of India appointed her as a member of the National Defense Council. Meanwhile, the Muslim League called upon the League members to resign from the Defense Council. Upon refusing to abide by its decision, she was dismissed from the Muslim League. She played an important role during the Civil Disobedience Movement in Punjab in 1947, and was arrested along with other Muslim League leaders.
It was the year 1946, when she rejoined the League and was elected as a member of the Punjab Assembly. The same year, she was sent along with M. A. H. Isphahani on a goodwill mission to the United States of America. Their mission was to explain the Muslim League's point of view.
Begum Viqar-un-Nisa Noon
Being a wife of a member of viceroy cabinet, she had keen eye awareness of Indian politics. During the independence struggle, she played an active and pivotal role in spreading the message of Quaid-e-Azam to the Muslim Communities of Punjab region. She organized election campaigns and became a member of the Punjab Provincial Women's Subcommittee. She organized a group of girl students and enthusiastic women volunteers and toured other districts of the province for promotion of the cause of the Muslim League. During the civil disobedience movement in Punjab, Begum Noon was one of the leading women leaders responsible for successfully organizing the processions and demonstrations.
Begum Tassaduq Hussain
Salma Mehmoda was born in 1908 in a literary and scholary family. She was a graduate from the University of Punjab. She was a writer, poet, translator and a devoted freedom fighter. She was an active member of the Punjab Provincial Women Subcommittee and in 1940 she was elected as one of its secretaries. In 1941, she was nominated to the Council of the All India Muslim League. In April 1943, she devoted her services to the Central Subcommittee of the All India Muslim League. During the election of 1946, she successfully contested on the Muslim League ticket for the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat from the inner Lahore constituency, winning by an overwhelming majority.
She worked very hard during the Bihar riots, helped the Bihar refugees in their camps, and staying for nearly two months in the affected areas. She brought refugees from Bihar and provided accommodation to many of them at her residence. During the civil disobedience movement, she went to NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) with her colleagues and gave valuable guidance to the local population. During the Partition riots, as a Refugee Relief Secretary in the provincial Muslim League office, she fulfilled the responsibilities of the boarding and lodging of refugees in Walton and other camps.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017