An Enigmatic Life

The Begum is a captivating, invigorating biography of a glamorous, gutsy, spunky woman born as Irene Margaret Pant in Kumaon in early twentieth century. Intellectual, scholarly and a woman full of pluck and fortitude, she taught Economics at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi in the 1930s. It was during her stint at Indraprastha College that she met Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, a member of the Muslim League, later to become the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. She married him in April 1933, converted to Islam, adopted the name Gul-i-Ra’ana and came to be known as Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan, recognized and honoured as Madar-e-Pakistan or ‘Mother of Pakistan’. Ardently supportive of her husband’s politics, she left with him and her two sons for Pakistan in August 1947. In 1951 notwithstanding the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, she continued to be an activist and stood firmly for the cause of women’s empowerment in Pakistan. She was the first woman diplomat of Pakistan and the first and only woman Governor of Sindh. She encountered opposition at times for her resolute voice against religious conservatism, growing political corruption in Pakistan and her fearless criticism of what went wrong after 1947. But she remained undaunted and indefatigable—a spirit that she may have imbibed from Indraprastha College, a hub of strong women activists and the freedom struggle—till her death on 13 June 1990. Her legacy continues with All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) of which she was the founder.