Fatima Jinnah

Early Life:

Fatima Jinnah was born in Karachi on 30^th July 1893. Jinnah had seven siblings. Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the eldest one in the family, and Fatima Jinnah was the 2^nd last child of the family. In this family of seven siblings, she was the closest one to Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Her well-known and respected brother became her guardian after the death of their father in 1901. Fatima Jinnah joined the Bandara convert in Bombay in 1902 where she remained in hostels as her parents had died. In 1919 she got admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she attended the Dr.R.Ahmad dental college. After she graduated from there, she went with her idea of opening a dental clinic in Bombay in 1923.

Companion of Quaid-e-Azam:

She lived with her elder brother Mohammad Ali Jinnah until 1919. At that time Jinnah married Rattanbai. Latter on Rattenbai died after eleven years in February 1929. Fatima Jinnah then closed her clinic and winded. She took the charge of Jinnah’s house and went to his bungalow. After that, the relation between brother and sister became an example as their companionship lasted until the death of his bro Mohammad Ali Jinnah on 11 September 1948. Quaid-e-Azam once said about his sister, “My sister was like a bright ray of light and hope whenever I came back home and me her. Anxieties would have been much greater and my health much worse, but for the restraint imposed by her.” In all Hazrat Fatima Jinnah lived with her brother for about 28 years. The Quaid would discuss various problems with her sister mostly on the breakfast and dinner table. She didn’t only live with her brother but she also accompanied her brother on numerous tours. She also joined him in London when he remained there after the second round table conference in 1932.

Political life:

She was involved in politics side by side with her brother. When the All India Muslim League was being organized, Mohatrama Fatima Jinnah became a member of the working Committee of Bombay Provincial Muslim League and worked there until 1947. In March 1940 she attended the Lahore resolution of the Muslims League.  It was because of her that the All India Muslim Student Federation was organized in February 1941 at Dehli.  During the transfer of power, Fatima Jinnah formed a women’s relief committee, later on, it was formed as the nucleus for the (APWA) known as All Pakistan Women’s Association founded by Rana Liaqat Ali Khan. She did a lot of job for the settlement o the Mohajirs after the creation of Pakistan. She also returned to political life when she ran for the presidency of Pakistan

Election of 1965:

She returned to the forefront of political life in 1960. Her opponent was Ayub Khan and she addressed him as a dictator. In her early rallies, almost 250,000 people came to see her in Dhaka, and million of the people, then millions of the people lined from there to Chittagong. Her train which was called Freedom Special train was 22 hours late because men at each station pulled the emergency brake and they begged her to speak to them. She was hailed as the mother of the nation. In the rallies of Fatima Jinnah said that by coming to terms with India on the Indus water dispute Ayub surrendered control of the river to India. Fatima Jinnah was popularly acclaimed as “Madar-e-Millat” or mother of the nation, for her role in the freedom movement. Except for her tour to East Pakistan in 1954, she had not participated in politics since Independence Day. Presidential candidates have announced the beginning of basic democracy elections, which was to constitute the Electoral College for the presidential and Assembly elections. Elections were held on 2^nd January 1965. There were four candidates which were taking part in that election. Ayub Khan, Fatima Jinnah, and two other persons which were not affiliated with any other party. It was held for a short period of one month. Ayub Khan had a great advantage over all the candidates. He utilized the state facilities as the head of the state and didn’t hesitate to legislate on electoral matters. Being a political opportunist he brought all the discontented elements together to support him. He also acted another mean action to get victory over Fatima Jinnah by having the support of ulema that were of the view that in Islam women can’t b the head of the state. This was the worst action from Ayub khan. On the other hand, Fatima Jinnah had a great advantage of being the sister of Quaid-e-Azam. The campaign of Fatima Jinnah generated the people of Pakistan’s feelings of hope. Crowds in all cities of East and West Pakistan were enormous. The campaign however suffered from several problems. The poor indirect elections through the basic democracy system, unfair and poor finances were some of the major problems that Fatima Jinnah was facing.

Fatima Jinnah anyhow lost the election because of the unfair means used by Ayub Khan, so he became the president of Pakistan. That was a huge setback for the people of Pakistan. Had the elections been held through the direct ballot, Fatima Jinnah would have won it very easily and she would b the president of Pakistan. The elections were rigged in the favor of Ayub Khan. The Syed race people said that they will support Ayub in the election but Fatima Jinnah said that she can represent them better than Ayub Khan. Both the Quaid and his sister avoided a sectarian label.

Madar-e-Millat:

She was known as Madar-e-Millat or mother of the nation. Fatima Jinnah’s name is an important one among the leaders of the Pakistan Movement. She is the most loved one for being the closest supporter of her brother and founder of Pakistan and the leader of all India Muslims Quaid-e-Azam. But she is much more than that from Fatima Jinnah.  She joined the All India Muslim League and attended the annual sessions of the party. Fatima Jinnah’s contribution to the social development sector has been ignored. She along with Begum Liaqat Ali Khan made the greatest contribution in the realm of women’s awakening and participation in national affairs.