Jahanara Shahnawaz

Jahanara Shahnawaz
Born (1896-04-07)April 7, 1896
Lahore, British India
Died 1979
 Pakistan
Nationality  Pakistani
Occupation Politician
Known for Pakistan Movement
Spouse(s) Mian Shah Nawaz
Parent(s)

Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz (1896-1979) was a politician and Muslim League activist.[1][2] She was the daughter of Sir Muhammad Shafi.[3] Her husband was Mian Shah Nawaz.[3] She studied at Queen Mary College.[3]

In 1918 she successfully moved the All India Muslim Women’s Conference to pass a resolution against polygamy.[3] In 1935 she founded the Punjab Provincial Women’s Muslim League.[3] In the Round Table Conference of 1930, she and Radhabai Subbarayan were the only two active members of women's organisations nominated to the conference; they argued unsuccessfully for a 5 per cent reservation for women in the legislatures.[4]

In 1937 she was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Medical Relief and Public Health.[3] In 1938 she became a member of the Women’s Central Subcommittee of the All India Muslim League.[3] In 1942 India's government appointed her as a member of the National Defense Council, but the Muslim League asked League members to resign from the Defense Council.[3] She refused and was thus removed from the Muslim League.[3] However, she rejoined the League in 1946, and in that same year was elected to the Central Constituent Assembly.[1][3] That year she also went along with M. A. H. Isphahani on a goodwill mission to America, to explain the point of view of the Muslim League.[3] She was arrested along with other Muslim League leaders during the civil disobedience movement in Punjab in 1947.[3]

In 1948 she led a protest of thousands of women in the streets of Lahore, protesting against the fact that a bill encouraging better economic opportunities for women had been removed from the agenda.[5] Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan intervened, and the Muslim Personal Law of Shariat of 1948 was passed; it legally recognized a woman's right to inherit property, including agricultural land, which had not been recognized during British rule of Pakistan.[5]

She was president of the provincial branch of the All India Muslim Women’s Conference for seven years, and also served as vice-president of the Central Committee of the All India Muslim Women’s Conference.[3]

She was the first woman in Asia to preside over a legislative session.[6] She attended a Round Table Conference with Radhabai Subbarayan, and they were the only active members of women's organizations who were nominated to the conference.[4]

She was also associated with the education and orphanage committees of the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, in Lahore, and with several hospitals, as well as maternity and child welfare committees.[3] She was a member of the All Indian General Committee of the Red Cross Society.[3]

She wrote a novel titled Husn Ara Begum and her memoirs titled Father and Daughter: a political autobiography.[7][8][9] She also wrote for women's and literary magazines.[7]

Begum Shahnawaz had three children: Ahmad Shahnawaz, a medical doctor, Nasim Shahnawaz (Nasim Jahan), who married General Akbar Khan and later became a politician of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and Mumtaz Shahnawaz, who died in a plane crash in 1948 while on her way to the United Nations.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Aditya Pandey (2005). South Asia: Politics of South Asia. Gyan Publishing House. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-81-8205-303-8.
  2. ↑ Muneeza Shamsie (11 July 2015). And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women. Feminist Press at The City University of New York. pp. 5–. ISBN 978-1-55861-931-9.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 admin. "Begum Shah Nawaz". Story Of Pakistan.
  4. 1 2 Partha S. Ghosh (23 May 2012). The Politics of Personal Law in South Asia: Identity, Nationalism and the Uniform Civil Code. Routledge. pp. 234–. ISBN 978-1-136-70512-0.
  5. 1 2 Shireen Burki (22 August 2013). The Politics of State Intervention: Gender Politics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Lexington Books. pp. 22–. ISBN 978-0-7391-8433-2.
  6. ↑ "Pakistan Day: Women at the forefront".
  7. 1 2 "Most extensive website on the famous Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz with many historical Photographes and press clipping".
  8. ↑ Father and Daughter: a political autobiography. Lahore: Nigarishat, 1971. Also: Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002 0195796462
  9. ↑ Cynthia Nelson; Shahnaz J. Rouse (2000). Situating Globalization: Views from Egypt. Transcript. p. 129. ISBN 978-3-933127-61-7.
  10. ↑ Life & Times, Begum Shahnawaz web site, retrieved 23 June 2018.
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