Akram Khatoon: Guhar Honay Tak
By Humaira Athar
RB Publishers
127pp.

May God make you the president.”

This is how Akram Khatoon’s father used to bless her. And whenever she told him that it was not to be, he would say, “Nothing is impossible before God Almighty.” Then, one day, Akram Khatoon really became president. In fact, not only did she become the president of First Women Bank Limited, she was also the first woman in Pakistan to hold this position in the banking sector.

Akram Khatoon: Guhar Honay Tak [Until It Becomes A Pearl], penned by Humaira Athar, is the biography of this pioneering woman and also includes her memoirs. It traces her remarkable journey from modest roots to becoming a banker and the founding president of First Women Bank.

Being the eldest of three sisters and not having a brother, Akram Khatoon wanted, from a young age, to be like a son to her parents, to support them. Her parents may not have been highly educated, but they were aware of the importance of education, which they emphasised to their daughters.

After completing her master’s degree, Akram Khatoon began working as a lecturer at a college in Sukkur but, in a few months, lured by the pay and perks, she decided to take up banking. She joined the profession as a trainee officer for the State Bank of Pakistan’s officer training scheme. She was the only woman among the 50 successful candidates out of a total of 1,600 who had applied.

After a year’s training, she was posted to then-state-owned Muslim Commercial Bank, and there was no looking back after that. At the beginning of her career, she was discouraged by others and people told her to her face that she should not have joined the field as it was a man’s domain, but she remained steadfast.

From modest beginnings to the presidency of First Women Bank, Akram Khatoon’s inspiring journey is the subject of a new Urdu biography

The world knows Akram Khatoon as the first president of First Women Bank, but the fact is that she is also the pioneer of women’s banking in Pakistan. When, a year or so into her career, her bank’s deputy president asked her if she would be able to handle it if the bank decided to open a women’s branch, she very confidently replied, “Why not?”. And so, when a year later the ladies’ branch was opened, she was appointed its manager, becoming the first female manager in the country.

She has had the privilege of initiating women’s banking on a global scale by heading the Muslim Commercial Bank’s first all-women branch in the earlier days of her career. She served Muslim Commercial Bank in various senior management positions for 28 years and, in 1989, when the Benazir Bhutto government established the First Women Bank, she was selected as its president. It is worth noting that the concept of women’s banking was introduced to the world by Pakistan. Before that, a couple of units had been functioning in the USA, but they had closed down.

As for the need for a women’s bank, Akram Khatoon says that women were facing problems getting loans from regular banks. Educated women wanted to do business, but it didn’t seem possible because of this constraint. In Pakistan, women often have to work harder to be recognised. Since it was her responsibility to set the bank’s credit policy, she ensured that women from lower classes could also benefit from it.

She further says that, when the bank was founded, she was told not to worry about profits — she just had to provide loans to poor women. However, she was of the opinion that when the government changed, the new one could question the purpose of a bank that was going into a loss and may close it down. So, she organised it on the model of commercial banks, not just as a development bank, and they gave loans on easy terms and showed profits from the first year.

That she had the interests of poor women at heart is evident from her suggestion to the prime minister to also arrange yellow cabs for those women, who may not know how to drive but whose jobless husbands and sons did. That way they could earn a decent living for their household. Earlier, the scheme carried the condition that applicants should drive the cabs themselves, but her suggestion was accepted.

She also mentions an incident in which a branch worker had taken out a loan, and her husband, who was affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party, got an order signed by Benazir Bhutto to write off her loan. Akram Khatoon refused to accept it, saying that she could not let her bank suffer a loss. People warned her that she could face the consequences for her refusal, but she was resolute. She had her bank’s interest at heart and her integrity did not allow her to go against the rules.

Apart from her professional life, the book also provides a peek into Akram Khatoon’s personal life. It is interesting to read about her family background, her wanting to be the son her parents never had and how she took care of her parents, especially her mother, after her father’s passing. She talks of how she wanted to be back in Karachi when she was asked to wait in Islamabad for her appointment letter — her worry for her mother being alone at night was greater than her happiness at being selected as the first president of the First Women Bank.

She advises the younger generation to work hard and with honesty, no matter what profession they choose for themselves. Hard work always pays off, she asserts. She also tells them to expand their knowledge and experience, as it will benefit not just the organisation they work for but also them.

Akram Khatoon served First Women Bank until 2001. Though she was to retire much earlier, she was given an extension despite her wish to leave. She believes that one of the major reasons for so much unemployment in our country is older people sticking to their positions and not giving a chance to the younger ones.

In addition to being the president of First Women Bank, she has held many honorary positions, such as being a council member for the Institute of Bankers in Pakistan, a member of the board of governors for the National Institute of Public Administration, Karachi, a member of the executive committee of Pakistan Banks Association, as well as office bearer and trustee of various NGOs and trusts. Akram Khatoon is also the recipient of many awards and honours, including Wonder Woman Pakistan 2017, the Benazir Bhutto Excellence Award, the Banking Excellence Award and more than 80 other awards in recognition of her extraordinary services in the field of banking.

The author Humaira Athar, a senior journalist and columnist, has also penned two other books and is the recipient of several awards, including an All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) Award. She deserves all the credit for convincing Akram Khatoon to document her memoirs.

Earlier, many friends used to ask Akram Khatoon to pen her memoirs, to which her usual reply would be “What’s the point… who reads books?” Finally, one day, when Humaira asked her again, she relented and told her that she couldn’t do it herself but, if Humaira wanted, she could write it. Humaira then took on the task and arranged meetings with her to look into her life.

The book is written with a reader-friendly and simple narrative, with Akram Khatoon telling her story to Humaira and, through her, to readers. It brings out not just her achievements and the problems that society threw her way, but her personality and the strength of her character, along with her resolve to do what she set her mind to do.

Her life and work are an example for others to follow.

The reviewer is a freelance journalist

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, July 26th, 2026