LAHORE: Sonnu Rahman, a beloved teacher, a historian, the founder of parliamentary debates in Pakistan and a mentor to generations of young Lahorites, passed away in Lahore on Sunday.

Her funeral prayers will be offered at the family graveyard in Mardan on Monday( today).

She was always interested in debates and working with younger lot. She loved teaching and encouraged her students for debates.

While giving interview to an English Daily once, late Rahman said, “My aspirations were very humble when I was young. I just wanted to be a good housewife but I was always interested in debates and working with the younger lot. I loved teaching and from there, of course, I began encouraging my students into debates as I felt it would open their minds. I began teaching when I was widowed and that happened in my 60s. So my career began very later on in my life. I couldn’t take up teaching when my husband was alive as he wouldn’t have approved. He was a Pathan and you know what that says. I also never worked when I was unmarried, even though my father was a very liberal and a very educated person. As a person, I was and still am quite vocal, assertive and insisting on butting in. Debates are a very interesting activity and I felt they would be good for children as it would help them argue. There are some things that they don’t believe in but it’s healthy when they see the other side too. I thought it’d be a very good experience for them to go through. I gave them topics that would be challenging for them and it involved boys and girls both”.

She wrote an article in Ravi, (Government College’s magazine) in which she says. “I was amongst those lucky ones whose college years were spent in pre-partition Lahore. For us students, Lahore was where students came first. It was a city where cultural activities were central to its existence, especially those in which students took part. Debates, plays, musical concerts, competitions and athletics filled our lives. But above all was the love and respect we had for our great teachers which made learning and the love of books an ingrained part of our lives.”

She was of the view that she suppose to have achieved the status of being called a liberal, “I help open minds and the fact that I’m worth listening to. The fact that I’m respected is a great achievement. Without even aspiring for it, I ended up being a highly respected person, with children and my old students coming up to me. I love it.”

A year or two after her husband’s passing, she wasn’t doing anything and she just thought it was time she got going. So she went over at Bloomfield as she thought they were the kind of people she could work with. They seemed very happy to have her and so from there she started off. They were liberal and imparted the kind of education I had acquired.

She wanted Pakistan to be a secular state and perhaps become the Lahore of the 1920s which was a remarkably free society.

Neelam Hussain from Simrogh said though Sonnu Rehamn did not teach her but overall she was an excellent teacher and a wonderful human being, who was caring and loving. She said her death has left a great void. Rehman’s friends and family has expressed deep sorrow and grief on her demise.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2025