Climbing up a flight of stairs to a newly-opened eatery in the upscale University Town neighbourhood of Peshawar, an aura of elegance welcomes visitors. No sooner did I and my guide take up seats in a cozy corner in the café, where a small number of books decorate the shelves, two little girls came, grabbed books from a shelf, occupied chairs and started reading them, as other visitors savoured a variety of local as well as foreign cuisines to satisfy their taste buds. As I started to feel the aura of the place, food lovers from a cross section of society, particularly local gentry, continued to arrive there.

The person behind this venture is an enterprising business woman, Aasia Khan. Aasia comes from a political and bureaucratic background from Bannu district in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After receiving her graduation degree from Bannu, she earned Master’s degree in political science from the Peshawar University in the year 2000. She is married into a business family of Charsadda district and her husband, Jehangir Khan, looks after his family business abroad. She lived in various European countries, including France and Germany for several years. During this time, she received a diploma in professional skincare treatment from the London School of Fashion to pursue a career in professional skin care solutions. She also earned a number of certificates in professional skincare courses from China and South Korea and set up a skincare clinic in Peshawar.

She was appointed advisor on social welfare and women development affairs to caretaker chief minister Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad Khan shortly before the 2018 general elections. Aasia Khan is also a member of the board of governors of Medical Teaching Institution (MTI) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, entrusted with the responsibility to look for and hire health professionals in the province under the signature project of PTI government to improve functioning of public sector hospitals. Aasia is also senior vice president of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa women chamber of commerce, where she also drew undeclared resistance from fellow businesswomen on a host of issues, but “I had to overcome pressure and put down attempts to undermine my efforts for a thriving corporate sector and healthy economic activity”.

Although her appointment to the job raised many an eyebrow among local political intelligentsia, she proved her worth for the job and made an effort to streamline affairs and activities of her department during a brief stint.

Soon the lady appeared from an office cabin and led us in. We sat down to start talking over a host of social and political issues.

“I am so pleased to see these small souls reading books. I made sure there’s a book corner in the café which attracts visitors and leads to revive the culture of book reading,” she said.

Prior to her selection as the caretaker minister-in-charge of social welfare and women development department, her passion for social welfare work drove Aasia to set up a welfare organisation, Hope Welfare Foundation, in Peshawar which launched welfare schemes for improving the life of the downtrodden and less privileged class of the society, particularly women.

“When I launched the clinic and installed state-of-the-art machines there, I faced pressure from some doctors. They even threatened me that they would go to any lengths to force closure of the clinic,” she said, adding in the same breath: “Today, those doctors now come to my clinic to use those machines and they appreciate its operations.”

“When I launched the clinic project, I hired women, mostly from weak financial backgrounds who were not educated or had very little education. I trained them in professional skincare solutions and turned them into earning hands. Now, they are making a decent income and look after their families with honour and dignity,” said Ms Khan. “I have trained at least 400 women in skincare treatment since the launch of the clinic in 2008. At present, nearly a dozen women work in the clinic,” she said.

She had made it a habit during the brief stint in the government to personally oversee the department’s affairs.

“When I was the advisor, certain elements in the political and bureaucratic arena made attempts to frustrate my efforts, but I did not give in to their designs. I had to cross every discriminatory barrier to reach out to the poor and the homeless. So, I made friends with inmates of the Shelter Home, a project of the provincial government for the homeless people. I wanted to keep myself abreast with their needs and do something worthwhile for improving their lot,” she added.

“Operating from a decision-making platform was a fantastic experience as it provided me with an insight to the government’s working and policy-framing for the welfare of the people,” explained Aasia.

Prior to her joining the caretaker setup, Aasia was also a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women, where she closely followed its working and always raised her voice for the rights of women.

Aasia is now planning to set up a silk production unit in the provincial capital, for which she aims to hire women from weak financial backgrounds and less or uneducated women and train them for silk production.

“The silk unit outline is now in final stages. I am planning to hire women and train them in silk production.”

Asked about her political ambitions, she said that she closely observes the political culture prevailing in the country. “As of now, I have not made up my mind to join a political party but I may do so in future to fight for the betterment of the downtrodden and needy.”