Fatima Begum (politician)

Fatima Begum (11 February 1890 – 1958) is one of the revered ladies of the Pakistan Movement. She was born to a noble family of Lahore. She was the daughter of Munshi Maulvi Mehboob Alam (Mahbub Alam (journalist)), who owned a newspaper named [Paisa Akhbar], famed and named for costing just one paisa.

Begum received her early education at home and later went on to complete her master's degree from Punjab University. She then became a teacher at Lady Maclagan School.

In 1908, the Islamic Association of Women was established. Begum Shafi was its first president and Fatima Begum was appointed as its general secretary. In 1921, she was married in respectable and noble family of Hazara. But after only a few years of marriage, her husband died, and she returned to her father's house in Lahore. She was appointed as an honorary Inspector of Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Soon after that, upon advice from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, she visited Lahore to raise the status of All-India Muslim League's logo. She was already working for the Ladies Wing of All-India Muslim League, Mumbai. She also used to publish a newspaper named KHATOON. She used it to publish the true ideology of Muslim League and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

As far as her activities are concerned she was very active in the re-awakening of Indian Muslims.She was the founder Principal of the Jinnah Islamia College for Girls at Lahore.^[1] Jinnah College was the primal center of her activities, and the main point for Women of Muslim League to confer upon. Every morning, Begum would go and address the girls about their responsibilities in Pakistan Movement.

In 1940, she arranged the annual All-India Muslim League convocation. After doing all this work in Lahore she decided to go to the North-West Frontier Province. In 1943, she went to Peshawar and started gathering Muslim women under the flag of All-India Muslim League. When there was famine and very poor health conditions in Bengal, she took to action with some of her companions to distribute food and medicines to the afflicted. In 1946, when there was wide-scale slaughter of Muslims, she went to consolidate the affected families and help the widows and children. 1n 1947, after the formation of Pakistan, she did a lot of work for people coming from India. After that she became the provincial president of Muslim League.

After a lifelong struggle she died in 1958.

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