fatima jinnah

Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah
Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, sister of the founder of Pakistan Born: 30 July 1893 in Karachi, Sindh, British India Died: July 8, 1967 (aged 73)Karachi, Pakistan
Political party (1) Muslim League (2) Pakistan movement Religion: Shia Khoja Islam Fatima Jinnah (July 30, 1893 — July 8, 1967) was the sister of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and an active political figure in movement for independence from the British Raj. She is commonly known in Pakistan as Khatoon-e-Pakistan (Urdu: — "Lady of Pakistan") and Madar-e-Millat ("Mother of the Nation.") She was born in Karachi, Pakistan, then a part of British India. She was admitted to the Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College in the University of Calcutta in 1919 and went on to open her dental clinic in Bombay in 1923. She was an instrumental figure in the Pakistan movement and the primary organiser of All India Muslim Women Students Federation. After the formation of Pakistan and the death of her brother, she remained an active member of the nation's politics. In 1965, Miss Fatima Jinnah ran for President as a candidate of the Combined Opposition Party (COP); widely belived to win the election, her loss came as a shock to the world community. The elecction is still regarded as rigged by most historians.
Early life:Fatima Jinnah was born in Karachi Pakistan on July 30, 1893. Jinnah's parents, Poonja Jinnahbhai and Mithibai Jinnahbhai, had seven children: Muhammad Ali, Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, Rahmat Ali, Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Of a family of seven brothers and sisters, she was the closest to Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Her illustrious brother became her guardian upon the death of their father in 1901. She joined the Bandra Convent in Bombay in 1902. In 1919 she got admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she attended the Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College. After she graduated, she opened a dental clinic in Bombay in 1923.
Quaid's companion: Upon Rattanbai's death in February 1929, Jinnah closed her clinic, moved into her brother Muhammad Ali Jinnah's bungalow, and took charge of his house. This began the life-long companionship that lasted until her brother's death on September 11, 1948.
Paying tribute to her sister, the Quaid 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".
Political life:During the transfer of power in 1947, Jinnah formed the Women's Relief Committee, which later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA). She also played a significant role in the settlement of Muhajirs in the new state of Pakistan.
In the 1960s, Jinnah returned to the forefront of political life when she ran for the presidency of Pakistan. She described her opponent, Ayub Khan, as a dictator. Her early rallies nearly 250,000 people turned out to see her in Dhaka, and a million lined the 293 mile route from there to Chittagong. Her train, called the Freedom Special, was 22 hours late because men at each station pulled the emergency cord, and begged her to speak. The crowds hailed her as the mother of the nation.
In her rallies Jinnah argued that, by coming to terms with India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers to India. Jinnah lost the election, but only narrowly, winning a majority in some provinces. The election did not conform to international standards and journalists, as well as subsequent historians, have often suggested it was rigged in favour of Ayub Khan.
Biography of Jinnah:My Brother (book) Fatima Jinnah's unfinished biography of the Quaid, "My Brother", was published by the Quaid-i-Azam Academy in 1987. Quotes:The following are excerpts from some of her statements.
1963 - Madar-i-Millat's Message to the Nation on Quaid-i-Azam's Birthday: "The movement of Pakistan which the Quaid-i-Azam launched was ethical in inspiration and ideological in content. The story of this movement is a story of the ideals of equality, fraternity and social and economic justice struggling against the forces of domination, exploitation, intolerance and tyranny".
1965 - Madar-i-Millat's Message to the Nation on Eid ul-Adha: "Let us sink all our differences and stand united together under the same banner under which we truly achieved Pakistan and let us demonstrate once again that we can, united, face all dangers in the cause of glory of Pakistan, the glory that the Quaid-i-Azam envisaged for Pakistan."
1967 - Madar-i-Millat's Message to the Nation on Eid ul-Adha: "The immediate task before you is to face the problem and bring the country back on the right path with the bugles of Quaid-i-Azam's message. March forward under the banner of star and the crescent with unity in your ranks, faith in your mission and discipline. Fulfill your mission and a great sublime future awaits your enthusiasm and action. Remember: 'cowards die many times before death; the valiant never taste death but once.' This is the only course of action which suits any self-respecting people and certainly the Muslim Nation."
The youngest sister of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, I adoringly called by the Nation 'Madar-e-Millat', Later she studied dentistry at Calcutta and practiced there for a year.
She earned a place of great eminence as a freedom fighter of tenacious determination when her illustrious brother, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was in the midst of spearheading the struggle for Pakistan. Throughout those critical years of stresses and strains she looked after her physically ailing brother as a 'great national trust'.
After the death of her great brother in 1948 she devoted the rest of her life to the educational and social uplift of the Muslim women. Her real political worth, sagacity, for the righteousness and unstilted support for democracy came to the fore when she stood firmly behind the opposition parties in the Country trying to stem the tide of undemocratic practices and dictatorship. She inspired hope and gave new lease of life to the people of Pakistan by contesting the Presidential Election against the then President Ayub Khan in 1964. Although she was declared unsuccessful in the elections but she kindled the torch of democracy in Pakistan. “Quaid-e-Azam asked Fatima Jinnah to sit beside him at Sibi Darbar, the grand annual gathering of Baluch and Pakhtun chiefs and leaders. He was making a point: Muslim women must take their place in the history of Pakistan. The Sibi Darbar broke all precedents.“ Akbar S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity, p13., Routledge 1997. Also known as Madr-e-Millat, mother of the nation, Fatima Jinnah's name is an important one among the leaders of Pakistan's independence movement. Though she is most loved for being an ardent supporter of her brother, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of Muslim India, there is much more to Fatima Jinnah. When the Jinnahs lost their father in 1901, Fatima came under the guardianship of her older brother. Encouraged by her brother, she completed her education, living in a hostel while attending Dr Ahmad Dental College. In 1923, at a time when taking up a profession was considered inappropriate for girls from Muslim families, Fatima Jinnah opened her own dental practice in Calcutta. She had the full support of her brother, yet faced opposition from the rest of the family. When Quaid-e-Azam’s wife, Rutti Jinnah, passed away leaving behind a daughter, Fatima Jinnah gave up her practice and went to live with her brother taking charge of the house and her young niece.
During the years that followed, Fatima Jinnah accompanied her brother on many of his official tours. Professor Sharif al Mujahid writes in his article, An enduring legacy, Dawn, July, 2003, “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.”
She also joined the All India Muslim League and attended the annual sessions. She helped form the All India Muslim Women Students Federation in 941 in Delhi. “Fatima Jinnah's contribution in the social development sector has, however, been ignored somewhat. This has largely been overshadowed by her political role despite the fact that she, along with Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, made the greatest contribution in the realm of women's awakening and participation in national affairs and their empowerment,” wrote professor Sharif al Mujahid.
The height of her political accomplishments came towards the end of her life when, in 1965 she defied tradition by challenging Ayub Khan in a tight race for the office of President of Pakistan. “Even a conservative party like the Jamaat-i-Islami accepted her as a woman presidential candidate.” (Story of Pakistan, Fatima Jinnah 1893-1967).
In the same Dawn article as mentioned above, Professor Mujahid continues, “Her candidature in the 1965 presidential elections settled once and for all, all the tricky questions about whether a woman could be the head of a Muslim state. In the circumstances it was her candidature alone that could have induced a favorable fatwa from Maulana Maududi. And once that was acquired, the controversial issue ceased to exist for all time to come. This represents a singular contribution towards women's empowerment and their participation in public life in Pakistan.”
If Fatima JInnah serves as a role model for Pakistani girls, she is indeed a fine one for she had a life filled achievements.
she was the sister, secretary and political advisor of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. She contested the 2 Jan 1965 presidential elections against military president Mohammad Ayub Khan as the main opposition candidate. Ayub Khan took the help of orthodox religious groups to issue a fatwa to delegitimise her on religious grounds that a women cannot become the head of an Islamic state. Despite her widespread popular support she lost the elections amidst accusations that Ayub Khan had rigged the polls. In Dacca (E. Pakistan, now Bangladesh), however, she won th majority of votes. She remained unmarried, and died in 1965.
DeathFatima Jinnah died in Karachi on July 8, 1967 and was buried in the courtyard of the Quaid-e-Azam's Mausoleum, mourned deeply by the Nation.The official cause of death was heart failure, but rumours persist that she was murdered by the same group who killed Liaquat Ali Khan. In 2003, the nephew of the Quaid-i-Azam, Akbar Pirbhai, reignited the controversy by suggesting that she was assassinated