The Begum
Page 16
By 1976, the new and second general elections were announced. Ra’ana’s governorship was technically to end although it was a constitutional post and not a political one. However, she felt it appropriate to resign as she was nominated to this post by the political leadership of the party in power at the time. She once again was offered the choice to stand for the elections by Bhutto’s Peoples Party of Pakistan (PPP) from any seat she wished, but she declined to do so.
Tragically, the second general elections of 1976 under the Bhutto government became the precursor to the end of the first civilian government of Pakistan, just as the first elections of 1970 had led to the breakup of the country. The constitution was abrogated once again and the chief of the army, General Zia-ul-Haq, took over as the martial law administrator of the country. PM Bhutto had been accused of rigging the national election to receive an even heavier mandate than he was going to get. This was followed by charges of instigating the assassination of one of his political opponents which eventually led to a two-year-long trial. At the end of this, he was given a death sentence. In April 1979, he faced the hangman’s noose in the gallows in Rawalpindi, not far from Liaquat Bagh where Liaquat Ali Khan had met his untimely death. (Ironically, many years later in 2007, in the very same park in Rawalpindi, Bhutto’s daughter Benazir was blown up in a terrorist attack by a suicide bomber.)
Begum Ra’ana foresaw that the space for women of Pakistan would shrink and they would face severe restrictions under the rule of the new right-leaning regime of General Zia-ul-Haq. Soon after taking over the reins of the government, he executed through ordinances many ‘Islamic’ laws that were clearly contradictory to the actual Islamic laws and directly detrimental to the interests of the women of the country. Ra’ana and her crusaders in APWA led public demonstrations and attacks in the media against these draconian laws. Around this time, the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) was founded. Ra’ana gave her blessings to the creation of this first-ever platform of women feminists and activists in the country.
The foremost among these new Islamic laws were the Hudood Ordinances which replaced many of the existing clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code regarding the accepted norms of social behaviour. The Hudood by definition implied ‘hudd’ or the limit of acceptable behaviour as defined in Islamic Law. For the first time, this new law brought into purview ‘offences’ of adultery and fornication. The punishment for extramarital sex or Zina was 100 lashes for the unmarried and stoning to death for married persons. The women and human rights groups spilled out on to the streets to protest the imprisonment of thousands of rape victims under the Zina law. To prove the act of rape the testimony of four men was needed which in most cases was impossible. The uncorroborated testimonies of women were inadmissible in ‘hudood crimes’. Under this repressive regime it was declared mandatory for all women to cover their heads in public spaces such as schools, colleges, offices and state television.
These newly imposed social and legal compulsions were strongly criticized by Ra’ana for she had spent her lifetime leading a crusade to win women their freedom and equality, and here was someone taking the clock backwards in front of her very eyes. She was also very public and vocal in her criticism, but it was said that President Haq decided to overlook her aggressive public stance on account of her age and stature. Most critics of his regime met a different fate and were often hauled away. Hundreds of thousands of people were taken prisoners, particularly those who belonged to Bhutto’s People’s Party. The women activists of WAF were not spared either and faced severe repression and brutality.
In the face of all of these developments, Begum Ra’ana for the first time felt something close to despair. She was already suffering from frail physical health due to her second hip surgery which I will describe later in more detail. She was, however, blessed with a positive attitude and strong will of her own. Her family and her close friends as well as her large APWA family helped her greatly in keeping her morale and spirit upbeat through these trying times. During her life in Pakistan, starting in August 1947, she had forged a huge network of enduring friendships.
It was now the summer of 1979 and APWA was commemorating three decades of its existence. At the triennial conference on this occasion, Ra’ana paid a tribute to all those who were no more and had left behind a lasting legacy of their contributions. The names are too many to be mentioned here individually. Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz’s, among the earliest pioneers and one of her close partners, pivotal role was eulogized in the following words by her: ‘The passing away of Begum Shahnawaz removes from our midst a brilliant mind and a selfless and dedicated personality, which has left its mark on varied fields of life in Pakistan. With her is removed one of the last remaining links between pre-Pakistan and post-Pakistan era’.3 Begum Shahnawaz had been the first and in fact the sole woman member of Pakistan’s first legislative assembly.
That year, the APWA triennial conference was held in conjunction with the International Year of the Child. The umbrella provided by APWA had helped Begum Ra’ana to pool together a consortium of sixteen NGOs working with child-related issues under the name of Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association (PVHNA). Ra’ana was nominated as its founding president. Soon, financial assistance started pouring in from UNICEF, Ford Foundation and many other international donors. Some of this was diverted to APWA-initiated projects and provided the much needed and timely addition to its shrinking funds. They had not only hit major roadblocks of financial constraints but also faced a slackening in the involvement of volunteers at the grassroots level and they needed to start new initiatives.
The new projects were mainly aimed at mother and child health and nutrition issues and successfully mobilized the much needed volunteer support. The members of APWA were also faced with another pressing issue—that of the growing urban menace of child labour camps (begaar) in cities, specifically in Karachi. They had also discovered that there were many more types of child abuse. In the same year, through immediate action and a systematic campaign, many of these begaar camps were identified and successfully dismantled. The involvement of large criminal networks in the trafficking of women and children also came to the fore. These were also unearthed and most of their members were arrested. APWA left no stone unturned whenever their help was called upon.
Simultaneously, APWA and PVHNA continued their efforts to tackle the menace of poor health and malnutrition among women and children. At the inauguration of PVHNA, Ra’ana pointed out that ‘the task is gigantic and needs the concerted effort of all like-minded NGOs to eradicate the issue of malnutrition from our country . . . A survey carried out in 1970 showed that 88 per cent of our preschool children are below the recommended caloric requirements . . . and we also have a high infant mortality rate. Besides death the tragic consequences of malnutrition impair the mental development of our children’.4
She took personal interest in the setting up of training camps in kitchen gardening and classes in nutrition. Her main concern was that if mothers were malnourished they would give birth to malnourished children. They managed to expand their footprint in this field by linking with Mother and Child Health (MCH) programmes in all government hospitals as well as the family planning or reproductive health centres throughout the country.
In 1979, Begum Ra’ana made her last two ‘official’ overseas tours. She had received an invitation from the People’s Republic of China. As Prof. Ziauddin Ahmad remarked, with regard to this momentous occasion, ‘What an honour! Truly the Begum’s position was unique, not dependent on the official posts she had held in the Government of Pakistan.’5 Besides her extensive tour of China, she also paid a visit to Baghdad, Iraq, to attend a conference organized by the General Federation of Iraqi Women. This visit was specifically made to express her solidarity with the women of the Muslim world and was highly appreciated.
In China, she had an extensive and hectic week-long tour of various cities. She was deeply impressed and inspired by the personality of Madam Soong C. Ling
, the widow of Sun Yat Sen. During one of their joint press conferences, Ra’ana paid tribute to her with the following words: ‘For over fifty years she has been held in high esteem and trusted by her government and her people, as much for her untiring work for the emancipation of China’s women and children, as for her political and business acumen. Now in her eighties, she continues to work ceaselessly.’6 Perhaps in Madam Ling’s life and in her dedication to the cause of social upliftment of her country and its people, particularly women, she was able to glimpse a reflection close to that of her own life .
Upon her return, she organized ‘An Evening in China’ where a tableau choreographed by Mehr Masroor called ‘Lalkaar’ (Cry for Awakening) was performed at the APWA headquarters. Begum Ra’ana expressed her sentiments on her China visit in the following words: ‘It is not possible in the space of a few minutes speech to give you an idea of all that we have seen, enjoyed and learnt from this visit. For that you will need a whole series of lectures to tell you how, within a space of three decades a vast country, with nearly a quarter of the world’s population and a traditional pattern older than 5000 years, has been able to eliminate all the corrupting and destructive elements of the feudalistic system to give that vast populace a new direction and destiny. It is a change to be seen to be believed.’7 Once again her words echoed her own feelings and aspirations for her country.
But bad health forced her to slow down her pace considerably in the coming years. In 1980, she met with a freak accident. It happened when she was in Geneva to attend the committee meeting of ILO of which she had been a member since 1955. She had just entered Hotel de la Paix through the revolving doors when the door hit her from the back with such force that not only did she fall down but also suffered a hip fracture. The hotel took full responsibility and paid for her surgery and treatment but it meant she had to spend several months in Geneva before she could return home.
After several months of convalescing she returned to her home in Bath Island, Karachi, which had been given to her by the government. However, the later government of General Zia-ul-Haq decided to withdraw her monthly financial support of Rs 2000 which had been granted to her with the understanding that it was to be given to her for life. Her lifelong companion Kay Miles had sadly passed away a few years prior to her first hip fracture in 1977. Her younger son Akber did live with her in Bath Island for a few years so she was not always alone. She had also been earlier stricken with a bout of very painful herpes. From this too she never recovered completely. Her lifestyle and pace of involvement in her work had to be drastically overhauled and this left her feeling dispirited, something she had rarely succumbed to in her eventful life.
It was not long after her first hip surgery in Geneva in 1977 that she suffered a fall again, this time in her own home in Karachi. She managed to break her other hip this time and was rushed to the Karachi Jinnah Hospital. The surgeon who performed this surgery unknowingly caused damage to the nerve in her leg. The doctors perhaps also overmedicated her according to her daughter-in-law, Pat Ashraf, which compounded her problem further. She suffered severe pains and became virtually bed-ridden after this surgery. The family decided to take her to Cromwell Hospital in London where she was diagnosed with a ‘dropfoot’ condition caused by weakness or damage to the ‘common fibular nerve’. There was no real treatment for this problem except yet another risky and complicated surgery which she decided not to undergo. She had to resort to the use of painkillers and remained mostly confined to her bed as walking became just too painful.
Her youngest brother, George Pant, who was residing in Karachi, had provided her great moral support. He had migrated from India in the early 1960s. He had later converted to Islam and changed his name to Jamil Parvez. In 1961, while she was still serving as the ambassador in Italy, she was approached by the Government of Pakistan and told that she could put in a claim for property compensation for her sons. However, her sons were too young to handle such matters on their own. He helped his two nephews Ashraf and Akber in the legal paperwork process.
Her older son, Ashraf Liaquat, had moved back to Karachi with his family from Europe in the early 1960s and had taken up a job in Mercantile Bank. As soon as the allotment of land in Lahore came through, he decided to move there. It was a medium-sized tract of agricultural land and it was located about forty kilometres from the main city. He tried his hand at farming for several years and also built a small cottage for his family. However, this arrangement did not last long as the yield was barely sufficient to sustain them. According to his wife, the land allotted to them was not part of the irrigated colonies of Punjab and was therefore infertile. He was supposed to share the income with his younger brother who was a co-owner but since it was not financially feasible to do that, he decided to sell the entire tract, divide the proceeds and move back to Karachi.
He had two more children in the meantime, a daughter, who was named Ra’ana after her grandmother, and a younger son, Kamal. He set up a small travel consulting business which still exists and is managed by his elder son, Rustam. He himself passed away in 2014 from fatal lung cancer. His widow, Pat Liaquat, presently lives with her younger son and his wife in a small apartment in Karachi. Rustam remained unmarried and lives on his own in Sindh Club in Karachi. Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan Jr, a feisty young lady much like her grandmother, lives in Lahore with her two sons and husband.
Ra’ana’s younger son, Akber Liaquat, who was known to be the apple of her eye, returned to Karachi in 1960 from England and completed his education at Ms Brooks Private School. He lived with his mother in her Bath Island house till his marriage. He moved to his own apartment when he got married in 1970. In 1973, Ra’ana shifted to the governor’s residence and stayed there till 1976. Presently, Akber Liaquat lives in a small but comfortable bungalow, tastefully decorated by his charming Bengali wife, Durre. He is the proud father of two talented daughters. His younger daughter, Samia, gave up a flourishing career and moved back to Pakistan from London a few years ago just to be closer to her family. She was too young to know her illustrious grandmother personally and thus had very few recollections to recount. I was unable to meet the older daughter Dina who resides in Canada and is a lawyer by profession.
Fortunately, Begum Ra’ana had maintained contacts with the rest of her family in India and also visited them in Delhi on a few occasions. She remained particularly close to Muriel who later became Meera Sawhney. Her husband and his brother, Devi Chand Sawhney, had both been residents of Peshawar and their father, Ishwar Sawhney, owned the largest sugar mill of Asia, known as Mardan Sugar Mills, which he had to leave behind at the time of Partition. Sadly, Ra’ana never visited her birthplace and parental home in Almora after 1947. Her younger brother Norman’s son, Jitendra (Jeetu), came to Karachi to attend her funeral in June 1990. He read out a very touching valedictory speech at the gathering in the APWA headquarters and also a small poem he had composed in her memory.8
No one could have imagined that her last years would be fraught with ill health. In his speech at the APWA condolence meeting, her younger son said, ‘Apart from anything else she had suffered many illnesses and underwent many serious operations but it was part of her tenacity that never allowed her to complain . . . and it was the same tenacity that never made her give up; and in her last six months, she would not let go of life.’9
Another person, perhaps second only to Kay Miles, who remained very close to her throughout and who also served as her ‘secretary’ after the demise of Kay, was Yasmine Dastoor, a charming and effusive Parsee lady. I had the pleasure of meeting her during my visit to the APWA head office in Karachi in February 2017. She recounted how soon after college, at the age of eighteen, she joined the volunteer group of people assisting APWA in welfare projects. She described her entire journey with Ra’ana and also spoke of the sad and unfortunate days of her confinement. She recounted how she would spend several hours every single day with her. Ra’ana was virtually running APWA from her bedroom and would c
onvey the necessary instructions to everyone through Yasmine. It was she who remained in charge of supervising the day-to-day affairs of both APWA and Ra’ana’s home. She would stay over and sleep in the anteroom of Ra’ana bedroom if she found her particularly distressed or felt she needed company, even though she had a twenty-four-hour nurse arranged by the family to stay with her.
Yasmine looks after the affairs of APWA to this day, but has never agreed to become its president. She continues to go to the head office in Saddar Town, Karachi, and works with unstinting devotion and dedication. I could still clearly see in her the unswerving devotion to Ra’ana, which has kept her tied and committed to APWA and its mission over the decades.
It was by sheer coincidence that I called her in Karachi in mid-June 2017 to cross-check some important dates and events of Begum Ra’ana’s life. I sensed some distress in her voice, and on asking, she readily shared the reason with me. ‘Tomorrow we are going to pay a visit to her graveside as it is 13 June, the day she passed away and left us all bereft and orphaned in 1990.’ She then went on to say that she felt Ra’ana was always there behind her, watching over her and telling her what must be done in any problem she encountered. Yasmine was like a veritable encyclopedia for all the records and documents kept in the APWA office. This office would not have been the same place without her loving but firm and efficient hand, and her almost daily and regular manning of the office.
At the memorial gathering a few days after the funeral, Yasmine said the following words for Begum Ra’ana, ‘Alas our mentor, philosopher and guide—our Mother figure—our Begum Sahiba is no more. It is the comforting thought of her pious soul riding the rainbow—bright, vivid and beautiful—towards her final abode, a serene and peaceful niche in the Heavens next to her Maker which she herself carved out when alive by her abiding faith in the all Merciful Allah . . . volumes will be written by our peers about her qualities of head and heart, of her kind and human nature, of her dedication to the cause of women, to her singleness of purpose, of her forthrightness but all we can say is that there will be never another Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan. May God rest her soul in serene tranquillity. Ameen.’10