Few women in the recent history of South Asia have so strenuously carved out their place as Fatima Jinnah (1893-1967). Among others Razia Sultana, Noor Jehan, Hazrat Mahal, Lakshmi Bai, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit and Begums of Bhopal come to mind. The educational institutions and the public space available to the middle class during the British Raj enabled women to play active social and political roles, including leadership roles.

It was during the Khilafat Movement that Muslim women first played an active leadership role. While the movement failed to achieve its stated objectives, the women gained public space on an otherwise conservative social and political landscape.

Fatima Jinnah was the sister of the founder of the sovereign state of Pakistan. She had relentlessly supported her brother throughout his arduous struggle for the emancipation of Muslims of India, who feared that Hindus would always dominate a central legislature due to their numerical strength. The prospect made most Muslims shudder.

Only a few books had been written on Miss Jinnah until 2003, when Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, then prime minister, dedicated the year to her memory. This resulted in more books being written on her role in our history. Some of the more significant books written on the subject are Agha Hussain Hamdani’s Fatima Jinnah: Hayat our Khidmat (1978), Muhammad Ali Chiragh’s Madar-i-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah: Aik Hama Jehat Shakhsiat (2004), Shakar Hussain Shakar’s Madar-i-Millat Fatima Jinnah: Hayat-o-Fikr (2003), Rizwan Malik and Samina Awan’s Women Emancipation in South Asia: A Case Study of Fatima Jinnah (2003), Sarfraz Husain Mirza’s Muslim Women’s Role in the Pakistan Movement, Musarrat Abid’s Quest for Democracy: Role of Fatima Jinnah (2003) and Reza Pirbhai’s Fatima Jinnah: Mother of the Nation (2017).

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a staunch supporter of women’s right to education. He took upon himself the responsibility of educating his younger sister, Fatima. She was enrolled at Bandra Convent School in Bombay and Saint Patrick High School in Bombay before taking her Junior and Senior Cambridge Certificate examinations. She also earned certificates in playing Piano Forte, principles of musical harmony and musical history from Trinity College, England.

Like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Fatima was interested in literature, contemporary politics and world history. In 1923, she obtained a diploma in dentistry and started a practice at Abdur Rehman Street in Bombay. Besides, she would contribute time and effort to Dhobi Tilao Municipal Hospital as a community welfare service.

She was a bold, progressive Muslim woman who believed in professionalism and social welfare. While she cherished her profession, she eventually abandoned it after the death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s wife in 1929. From then on, she dedicated her life and energy to Jinnah’s political pursuits.

Fatima travelled across England and India and managed his household, organised his meetings and played the role of his secretary. Jinnah would seek her opinion on nearly every issue. When he left for England to practice law, she accompanied him. Jinnah had a flourishing practice there and bought a luxurious house in Hampstead where they stayed there till 1935.

The freedom movement and the Pakistan movement had transformed Fatima Jinnah into a highly committed political activist for the democratic rights of the people. She remained relentless in this commitment after an independent country was achieved.

Many important people, including British ministers, members of the All India Muslim League and dignitaries from various courts, had meetings with Jinnah that she attended. She also played a pivotal role in popularising theAll India Muslim League through its Women Cubcommittee when Jinnah revived it following the 1936-37 elections.

After the partition of India, she coordinated relief activities for millions of refugees. This included providing direly needed food support, medicines and shelter to the displaced people. During her social welfare work, she established the Women Relief Committee, which later evolved into the All Pakistan Women Association (APWA).

Another important contribution she made was the establishment of industrial and welfare homes. She inaugurated the Muslim Women Industrial Home in February 1948. These industrial homes proved very effective in honing the skills of teenage girls and prepared them for work enabling them to become economically independent.

Following in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, she took a keen interest in women’s education, particularly modern education and professional training. She inaugurated many educational institutions for women, including the Nazimabad College in Karachi, the Khatoon-i-Pakistan School (upgraded in 1962 to college) and Quaid-i-Azam College of Commerce in Peshawar. She also donated considerable sums to these colleges.

The Freedom Mmovement and the Pakistan Movement had transformed Fatima Jinnah into a highly committed political activist for the democratic rights of the people. She remained relentless in her commitment after an independent country was achieved. Among other things, she was concerned about the inordinate delay in the constitution-making and publicly criticised those considered responsible for the delay.

She was also sensitive to and opposed the theocratic tendencies in Pakistan. Like many other Pakistanis, she was wary of the shortsighted wrangling among politicians and top bureaucrats. Having declared martial law in 1958, Gen Ayub Khan approached Fatima Jinnah. He visited her at the Flag Staff House and pledged to expedite the completion of Quaid-i-Azam’s mausoleum.

Ayub Khan asked her to become in charge of the Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Fund. She declined, saying: “My dear General Ayub, the construction of the Quaid-i-Azam’s memorial has long been overdue, and I very much appreciate your anxiety to attend to this important task. I would have been very glad to do all I could for Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Fund, but I consider that as a sister it is not the right thing for me to undertake this work since it is for the Father of the Nation.”

She was keenly analysing the undemocratic steps Ayub Khan was taking and pointing out the authoritarian and unlawful nature of those measures. She openly criticised the 1962 constitution, dismissing it as a one-man show. When the Combined Opposition Parties (COP) decided to put up a candidate to oppose Ayub Khan at the height of his power, she accepted the offer and challenged the dictator.

Fatima Jinnah personified democracy in Pakistan. She also stood for national integration as she was equally popular in East and West Pakistan. However, the presidential elections, held on January 2, 1965, were massively rigged and Ayub Khan was declared victorious.

Like her brother, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Fatima Jinnah’s services for democracy and constitutionalism in Pakistan will always be cherished and remembered.

The writer has a PhD in history from     Quaid-i-Azam   University, Islamabad, and is head of the History Department at the  University of    Sargodha. He has also worked as a research  fellow at the Royal Holloway College,  University of London. He can be reached at  abrar.zahoor@hotmail.com. He tweets at   @AbrarZahoor1.