Jennifer Musa ( Bridget Jennifer Wren; 11 November 1917 – 12 January 2008) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

i nurse, politician, social worker and the second wife of Qazi Musa. She was often nicknamed the "Queen of Baluchistan" and "Mummy Jennifer".

Early life and career

Jennifer Musa was born Bridget Jennifer Wren at Tarmons, County Kerry,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1917. She left Ireland to train as a nurse. In 1939, she met prominent politician Qazi Muhammad Musa, brother of Qazi Muhammad Essa, a prominent activist in the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

while studying at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Qazi Musa was the eldest son of the Prime Minister to the then

Khan of Kalat The Khanate of Kalat ( bal, کلاتءِ ھانات) was a Baloch Khanate that existed from 1512 to 1955 in the centre of the modern-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan. Its rulers were Brahui speakers. Prior to that they were subjects of ...

(present-day

Kalat District Kalat or Qalat ( Balochi and Brahui: ; ur, ) is a district in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of 26 in that province, and encompasses an area of . The population of the district is estimated to be over 400,000 in 2005. The district is governe ...

). Jennifer Musa took the name Jehan Zeba and married Qazi Musa the following year despite the opposition from his Hazara clan. The couple moved to Pakistan in 1948. Jennifer Musa used to say, "We met at his college, at a party – you know what students are like. I was a Catholic, he was a Muslim. I think I became Islamic at the time." She said with a smile, and then further went on to say, "I married into a progressive family and never wore a veil, they never asked. I just came here with my husband because he belonged here." While living in Baluchistan, she often used to wear traditional shalwar kameez and wrap a shawl around her. After Qazi Musa's sudden death in a car accident in 1956, Jennifer Musa decided to settle permanently in her husband's hometown of Pishin. She joined the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

Khan Abdul Wali Khan Khan Abdul Wali Khan ( ps, خان عبدالولي خان; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pakistani secular democratic socialist and Pashtun leader, and served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the prominent Pashtun nat ...

and was elected to Pakistan's first Parliament in 1970 after the

1970 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly. They were the first general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bangla ...

. During that time, she often clashed with Prime Minister

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

. Jennifer Musa thought Bhutto was 'a clever fellow and a strange chap'. She found it difficult to get along with him.

Legacy and social work

She had one child. Her son

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi Ashraf Jehangir Qazi ( ur, اشرف جہانگیر قاضی; born 1942) is a Pakistani diplomat who has held several national and international appointments, including serving with the United Nations. Early life and career In 2004, UN Secreta ...

is a senior Pakistani diplomat. Jennifer Musa, also called "Mummy Jennifer" took up social work after seeing the plight of young girls in this desperately poor region. She went on to found the 'Pishin Women's Association' in her local area. She used to say, "I worked with all the people, even with my bad Urdu. I feel very much like I am at home here, they have always treated me like one of themselves. I couldn't have gone back to Ireland. I know more about this place now than I do about my home." In one of her last interviews, she had said, "Mummy has had her innings." Jennifer Musa lived for 60 years until her death on 12 January 2008 in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

References

External links

An Interview with Jennifer Musa on Dawn (newspaper)
1917 births 2008 deaths People from County Kerry Converts to Sunni Islam from Catholicism Irish emigrants to Pakistan Pakistani people of Irish descent People from Pishin District Politicians from Balochistan, Pakistan Awami National Party politicians Disease-related deaths in Balochistan, Pakistan Pakistani MNAs 1972–1977 Pakistani women's rights activists Irish nurses Irish women's rights activists Pakistani nurses Qazi family 20th-century Pakistani women politicians {{Pakistan-MNA-stub