Indeed the day belonged to women at the Academy, as the symposium was followed by a mushaira where a large number of women poets, who had come from all provinces, recited their kalam, some of which was written specially for this occasion. It seemed to be a real Pakistani function as, besides Urdu, women-poets recited their Balochi, Sindhi, Pushto, Punjabi and Seraiki poems also.
Education Minister Zobaida Jalal, who presided over the function, said that she considered Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah as a role model for herself and for the coming generations. She said at a time when very few girls from Muslim families would attend schools, the Mohtarma went to the conven, studied dentistry at Dr Ahmad Dental College. Quaid-i-Azam encouraged her so much in her efforts that in 1923 she started practicing dentistry in a Muslim area at Abdur Rehman Street. She wanted to stand on her own feet by making her career in a profession. But when in 1929 Quaid’s sister Ratan Bhai died she said good-bye to her profession and started looking after Quaid’s residence at Malabar Hills in Bombay. She did not merely look after him but also became his close adviser. She took part in the annual session of the Muslim League in 1932 and in 1938 attended its session as the convener of the sub-committee on women.
The minister said the Mohtarma’s speeches were being published and a website containing a lot of material on her, including the text of the book My Brother on Madar-i- Millat, would be launched by the Prime Minister.
Poetess Kishwer Naheed remembered the election campaign against the dictatorial regime of Ayub Khan in 1964. She described a meeting of Madar-i-Millat at Mochi Gate where Habib Jalib recited about tees ruppiah man atta, sadar Ayub zindabad, (She said Habib Jalib would recite a new poem at each of these meetings), and the way the packed ground listened to the speech of the sister of the Quaid-i-Azam in pin-drop silence.
She said that her speeches on Radio Pakistan on December 25 and September 11 every year were heavily censored, and pleaded for the original speeches to be published.
She narrated some of the incidents of Quaid’s personal life that showed his ideas that lead to the awakening of women (like his insisting doing away with “goonghat”, or the traditional mantle covering the face, of his first wife when she was brought before the family). She pleaded for republication of her book My Brother that showed Quaid-i-Azam as a human being.
She said in spite of the opposition to the enhancement of age for marriage of Muslim women from seven to 14 years in 1929 by the Maulvis and the Muslim members of the Parliament, the Quaid defended it. The resolution for enhancing the age was ultimately passed.
Kishwer Naheed said that the age was increased to 16 in 1961, and pleaded that in view of the long years in education the age should now be increased to 18. She said that both the Quaid and his sister had primary education in Gujarati, their mother tongue, and asked the government to make the medium of instruction for primary level in all the provinces in the mother tongue.
Iftikhar Arif, Chairman of the Academy said that programmes in memory of Madar-i-Millat were being held in all the provinces, and the present function was the fifth one in this connection.
He paid tributes to the courage, bravery and straightforwardness of the Madar-i-Millat in fighting the dictatorship.
In her paper, Zaitoon Bano remembered seeing Quaid and her sister at Islamia College Peshawar. She asked for highlighting the role of women of NWFP in the Pakistan Movement, which has not been properly mentioned in the books on the subject.
Prof Sahar Imdad, from Sindh University, Jamshoro, and Mariam Rind from Baluchistan also spoke.
Shabnam Shakil, Kishwer Naheed, and Fahmida Riaz also read their poems before the actual mushaira started.
The Prime Minister’s adviser on women development Nilofar Bakhtiar, who was the chief guest, gave details of programmes being held in the year of Madar-i-Millat.
Others who participated in the mushaira included (taqdeem-o-takhir not followed): Najeeba Arif, Yasmeen Ghazal, Isma Shah, Isma Raja, Dr Sarwat Zehra, Abida Taqi, Rukhsana Nazi, Tabasum Akhlaq, Kausar Samreen, Mahmooda Ghazia, Sehar Imdad, Yasmeen Hameed, Sarwat Mohiuddin, Mariam Rind, Hasina Gul, Shaheen Mufti and Nasreen Anjum Bhatti. Prof Najiba Arif conducted the proceedings.—Mufti Jamiluddin Ahmad