Jahanara Shahnawaz

2021-07-27T12:24:42Z

39.33.193.25: /* Political career */Added content

{{Short description|Pakistani politician and women's activist}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jahanara Shahnawaz
| image =
| alt = A picture of Jahanara Shahnawaz
| caption =
| office2 = Member of the [[Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]
| termstart2 = 10 August 1947
| termend2 = 24 October 1954
| constituency2 = Lahore District
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1896|04|07}}
| birth_place = [[Lahore]], [[British India]]
| death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|1979|11|27|1896|04|07}}
| death_place = {{PAK}}
| nationality = {{PAK}}i
| other_names =
| known_for = [[Pakistan Movement]]
| occupation = [[Politician]]
| father = [[Muhammad Shafi (politician)|Sir Muhammad Shafi]]
| spouse = [[Mian Shah Nawaz]]
}}

'''Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz''' (7 April 1896 – 27 November 1979) was a politician and [[All India Muslim League|Muslim League]] activist.<ref name="Shamsie2015">{{cite book|author=Muneeza Shamsie|title=And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82NFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|date=11 July 2015|publisher=Feminist Press at The City University of New York|isbn=978-1-55861-931-9|pages=5–}}</ref> She was the daughter of Sir [[Muhammad Shafi (politician)|Muhammad Shafi]].<ref name="admin">{{cite web|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/begum-shah-nawaz|title=Profile of Begum Shah Nawaz|author=admin|work=storyofpakistan.com website|date=1 June 2003|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref> Her husband was [[Mian Shah Nawaz]]. She studied at [[Queen Mary College, Lahore]], [[British India]].<ref name="admin"/>

==Political career==
In 1918, Jahanara shahnawaz successfully moved the All India Muslim Women's Conference to pass a resolution against [[polygamy]].<ref name="admin"/> In 1935, she founded the Punjab Provincial Women's Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> In the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Round Table Conference]] of 1930, she and [[Radhabai Subbarayan]] were the only two active members of women's organisations nominated to the conference; they argued unsuccessfully for a 5 per cent reservation for women in the legislatures.<ref name="Ghosh2012">{{cite book|author=Partha S. Ghosh|title=The Politics of Personal Law in South Asia: Identity, Nationalism and the Uniform Civil Code|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwPgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA234|date=23 May 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-70512-0|pages=234–}}</ref>

In 1937, she was elected to the [[Punjab Legislative Assembly]] and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Medical Relief and Public Health.<ref name="admin"/> In 1938 she became a member of the Women's Central Subcommittee of the All India Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> In 1942 India's government appointed her as a member of the National Defense Council, but the Muslim League asked League members to resign from the Defense Council.<ref name="admin"/> She refused and was thus removed from the Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> However, she rejoined the League in 1946, and in that same year was elected to the Central Constituent Assembly.<ref name="admin"/> That year she also went along with [[M. A. Ispahani]] on a goodwill mission to America, to explain the point of view of the Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> She was arrested along with other Muslim League leaders during the [[Civil disobedience movement]] in Punjab in 1947.<ref name="admin"/>

In 1948, she led a protest of thousands of women in the streets of [[Lahore]], protesting against the fact that a bill encouraging better economic opportunities for women had been removed from the agenda.<ref name="Burki2013">{{cite book|author=Shireen Burki|title=The Politics of State Intervention: Gender Politics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZqaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22|date=22 August 2013|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-8433-2|pages=22–}}</ref> Prime minister [[Liaquat Ali Khan]] intervened, and the Muslim Personal Law of Shariat of 1948 was passed; it legally recognized a woman's right to inherit property, including agricultural land, which had not been recognized during British rule of Pakistan.<ref name="Burki2013"/>

She was president of the provincial branch of the All India Muslim Women's Conference for seven years, and also served as vice-president of the Central Committee of the All India Muslim Women's Conference.<ref name="admin"/>

She was the first woman in Asia to preside over a legislative session.<ref name=Dawn>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/882736/pakistan-day-women-at-the-forefront|title=Pakistan Day: Women at the forefront|newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|date= 21 March 2010|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref>
She was also associated with the education and orphanage committees of the [[Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam]], in Lahore, and with several hospitals, as well as maternity and child welfare committees.<ref name="admin"/> She was a member of the All Indian General Committee of the [[Red Cross Society]].<ref name="admin"/>

==Books==
Jahanara Shahnawaz wrote a novel titled ''Husn Ara Begum'' and her memoirs titled ''Father and Daughter: a political autobiography''.<ref name="begumshahnawaz.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/aboutus.html|title=Most extensive website on the famous Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz with many historical Photographes and press clipping.}}</ref><ref>''Father and Daughter: a political autobiography''. Lahore: Nigarishat, 1971. Also: Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002 0195796462</ref><ref name="NelsonRouse2000">{{cite book|author1=Cynthia Nelson|author2=Shahnaz J. Rouse|title=Situating Globalization: Views from Egypt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DO7sAAAAMAAJ|page=129|year=2000|publisher=Transcript|isbn=978-3-933127-61-7}}</ref> She also wrote for women's and literary magazines.<ref name="begumshahnawaz.com"/>

==Death and legacy==
Jahanara Shahnawaz died on 27 November 1979 at age 83.<ref name="admin"/> She had three children: Ahmad Shahnawaz, a chemical engineer and the first Indian to attend [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), Nasim Shahnawaz (Nasim Jahan), who married General [[Akbar Khan (Pakistani general)|Akbar Khan]] and later became a politician of the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]], and [[Mumtaz Shahnawaz]], who died in a plane crash in 1948 while on her way to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] to represent Pakistan there.<ref name=Dawn/><ref>[http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/life.html Life & Times], Begum Shahnawaz web site, retrieved 23 June 2018.</ref>

Jahanara Shahnawaz worked for the economic independence of Pakistan. She was of the view that the foreign policy of Pakistan should be based on trade among nations and not aid.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.dawn.com/news/771342/economic-freedom-for-pakistan-vital | title=Economic freedom for Pakistan vital | newspaper=Dawn | location=Pakistan | date=14 December 2012 | access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Mian Family Baghbanpura]]
* [[Arain]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/index.html Begumshahnawaz.com]
{{Pakistan Movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahnawaz, Jahanara, Begum}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement activists]]
[[Category:Pakistani politicians]]
[[Category:Mian family]]
[[Category:Queen Mary College, Lahore alumni]]

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Jahanara Shahnawaz