Begum Rana, whose ticket sales went to Liaquat Ali Khan

On September 14, 1954, Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, the wife of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, assumed the post of Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands. His appointment was announced on 10 June 1954. Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan was the first woman of Pakistan to be appointed as ambassador.

It will not be out of place to mention here that since Pakistan had not achieved democratic status till then, the appointment of Begum Rana Liaquat Ali in Holland was effected with the signatures of Queen Elizabeth II. Thus, one woman (Queen Elizabeth II) appointed another woman (Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan) as ambassador to the country of the third woman (Queen Juliana of Holland).

Begum Rana Lia Qat Ali Khan was Pakistan’s ambassador to the Netherlands for a long time. During his embassy, ​​he was also given the honor of Dean of Diplomatic Corps.

Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan was born on February 13, 1905 in Almora. Her real name was Irene Ruth Margaret Pant. He passed his MA examinations in Economics and Sociology from Lucknow University and converted to Islam in 1933 to marry Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan. His Islamic name was Gul Rana. Gul Rana renounced Christianity and embraced Islam while his Brahmin grandfather Tara Dutt Pant renounced Hinduism and embraced Christianity.

Many people were surprised by this decision of Tara Dutt Pant because it was a common practice for low caste Hindus to abandon Hinduism, but it was a different thing for an upper caste Brahmin to abandon Hinduism.

Deepa Agarwal, co-author of the book ‘The Begum’ on Rana Liaquat Ali, has written that ‘Irene met Liaquat Ali Khan for the first time when she and her friends organized a program for a flood in Bihar. While doing so, he reached the assembly to sell tickets for a show of the program where he first met Liaquat Ali Khan. Irene asked him to buy two tickets to the show.’

Liaquat Ali Khan said that one ticket is understandable, for whom should I buy another ticket, I don’t know anyone here whom I can bring with me?

‘Irene said I’ll arrange a partner for you and if you can’t find one, I’ll sit with you and watch the show myself.’

Liaquat Ali Khan liked this frank proposal, but he brought his friend Mustafa Raza with him and he watched the show. In those days, when Liaquat Ali Khan was elected as the head of the Legislative Assembly, Irene wrote a congratulatory letter to him. Liaquat Ali Khan in response invited him to drink tea with him. Irene accepted the invitation and their meetings began. Liaquat Ali Khan proposed marriage to Irene. Thus, on April 16, 1933, Irene became Gul Rana by accepting Islam at the hands of the Imam of Jamia Masjid, Delhi, and on the same day, the two got married.

Liaquat Ali Khan was already married and had a son Wilayat Ali Khan. At Liaquat Ali Khan’s wedding, his elder brother Nawab Sajjad Ali Khan represented the family and he also organized a short reception on the occasion which was attended by the elders of the city.

Hector Bolitho wrote in his book ‘Jinnah, the Creator of Pakistan’ that ‘In July 1933, Liaquat Ali Khan and Gul Rana arrived in London for their honeymoon where they met Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was practicing as a lawyer in London in those days and was living a very good life. Liaquat Ali Khan and Gul Rana insisted him to return home and lead Muslims, people need you, you alone can give new life to Muslim League and save it from dying.

One day, after a game of cards, Liaquat Ali Khan dared to mention his loneliness to Jinnah, Jinnah looked at Rana and smiled and said: ‘If I had found another Rana, I might have married him too. would have done it.’

‘Janah did not respond at that time, but after a few days invited him to dinner. Liaquat Ali Khan and Gul Rana’s insistence continued in this meeting as well. Jinnah hesitated a little and said, “Well, you go back and take stock of the political situation.” I trust your understanding, if you still come to the same conclusion that I should go back, then write to me, I will give up my residence here and return to my country.’

Long story short, Jinnah returned to India, where he once again took over the leadership of the Muslim League. Hector Bolitho writes, ‘After returning home, Jinnah’s friendship with Liaquat Ali Khan and Gul Rana had increased greatly and Jinnah seemed very happy with these ceremonies. Sometimes he and his sister Fatima Jinnah would watch cinema with Liaquat and Rana or sit at home and play cards. One day, after a game of cards, Liaquat Ali Khan dared to mention his loneliness to Jinnah. looked at Rana and smiled and said: ‘If I had found another Rana, maybe I would have married too.’

When Jinnah wrote a letter to Liaquat or his Begum, he would usually end with: ‘My heart is with you both.’

In 1947, Pakistan was established. Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the first Governor General of Pakistan and Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. Zahid Chaudhry in his book ‘Jinah, Liaquat Contradiction and Punjabi Muhajir Contradiction’ has written with reference to Sharifuddin Pirzada and Fatima Jinnah that ‘in a dinner in December 1947, Rana Liaquat Ali Khan was sitting on the seat next to the Quaid-e-Azam. Quaid-e-Azam spoke some honest things to them while speaking frankly.

After this incident, Liaquat Ali Khan wrote a letter to the Quaid-e-Azam in which he protested citing the conversation and offered to resign from the post of Prime Minister. This resignation of Liaquat Ali Khan is included in the book ‘The Begum’ by Deepa Aggarwal and Tehmina Aziz Ayub. Needless to say that Quaid-e-Azam did not accept the resignation of Liaquat Ali Khan.

Quaid-e-Azam left the world on 11 September 1947. Now Ms. Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, who was the first lady of the country, undertook the service of Pakistani women. She had already started the Pakistan Women’s Volunteer Service, on 22 February 1949 she founded the All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) which united women from all walks of life on one platform. Begum Khwaja Nazimuddin and Ms. Fatima Jinnah were declared as patrons of this organization while Begum Rana Liaquat Ali was elected as the first president of this organization. Begum Sahiba remained the lifetime president of this association.

After the assassination of Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan on 16 October 1951, Rana Liaquat Ali Khan never expressed satisfaction over the reports compiled of her assassination. The mysterious death of Inspector General of Police Sahibzada Aitzazuddin, who was assigned to investigate the murder, also added to his suspicions. Ms. Rana Liaquat Ali Khan continued to criticize the government in newspaper statements. To keep him quiet, the government first nominated him to represent Pakistan at the United Nations, then sent him as a royal guest at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

Then it was decided that he should be appointed the ambassador of Pakistan to a European country, so on 14 September 1954 he was appointed the ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands. Later in the 1960s, he was also the ambassador of Pakistan to Italy and Tunisia. She was the first woman ambassador of Pakistan to be appointed to any country.

Tehmina Aziz Ayub writes in ‘The Begum’ that ‘during Ayub Khan’s reign, an attempt was made to make Rana Liaquat Ali participate in the election campaign against Ms. Fatima Jinnah, but she flatly refused.’

Tehmina Aziz Ayub has further written that ‘when General Zia-ul-Haq executed Bhutto, Rana Liaquat Ali Khan led the protest against the government.’

Begum Rana Liaquat has the distinction of being the first lady of Pakistan, the first woman ambassador and the first woman vice chancellor.

13 February 1973 was Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan’s 68th birthday when she received the news that the Government of Pakistan had appointed her as the Governor of Sindh province. She was the first woman of Pakistan to hold the governorship of any province of Pakistan. Along with holding this position, she also became the chancellor of University of Karachi and University of Sindh, making her the first woman chancellor of any university in Pakistan. Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan held this position till February 29, 1976.

Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan also received many honors in Pakistan and outside Pakistan, among which the Human Rights Award given by the United Nations General Assembly is the top. The award was presented to him by United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim on 10 December 1978.

On this occasion, Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan said that I consider this award not only as recognition of my personal efforts in the promotion of human rights, but more as an appreciation of the efforts and goals of the people of Pakistan for this purpose. The Government of Pakistan honored him with Nishan Imtiaz in recognition of his services.

Liaquat Ali Khan and Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan had two sons. The elder son Ashraf Liaquat was born on 3rd October 1936 and the younger son Akbar Liaquat was born on 10th April 1941. Rana Liaquat Ali Khan paid special attention to the education and training of the two sons but kept them away from Pakistani politics.

Despite this, Akbar Liaquat Ali contested for the National Assembly from Liaquatabad, Karachi in 1977 on a Pakistan Peoples Party ticket but was defeated by Professor Ghafoor Ahmed. Rana Liaquat Ali Khan gifted his spacious bungalow Gul Rana in the diplomatic area of ​​Delhi to the Government of Pakistan. The embassy of Pakistan is still established in this bungalow.

Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan left this world on June 13, 1990 after leading an extremely active life. She is buried by her husband’s side in the premises of Quaid-i-Azam’s mausoleum.