Tahira Mazhar Ali (née ''Hayat'') (5 January 1924 – 23 March 2015) was a Pakistani women's rights campaigner and a political activist, and mentor to

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

. Her children include British Pakistani political activist

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and con ...

, Tauseef Hyat, and Australian journalist Mahir Ali.

Early life

She was born on 5 January 1924 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Sikandar Hayat Khan '' Khan Bahadur'' Captain Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, (5 June 1892 – 26 December 1942), also written Sikandar Hyat-Khan or Sikandar Hyat Khan, was an Indian politician and statesman from the Punjab who served as the Premier of the Punjab, amon ...

(1892 – 1942), a politician and former Chief Minister of Punjab, during the British Raj. She was the younger sister of Sardar

Shaukat Hayat Khan Major Shaukat Hayat Khan ( Punjabi, ; 24 September 1915 – 25 September 1998) was an influential politician, military officer, and Pakistan Movement activist who played a major role in the organising of the Muslim League in the British-controlle ...

(1915 – 1998) and

Begum Mahmooda Salim Khan Begum Mahmooda Salim Khan ( ur, بیگم محمودہ سلیم خان; May 1913 – June 2007) was a Pakistani social worker, early political figure and a cabinet minister in West Pakistan for education during President Ayub Khan's regime. Ba ...

(1913 – 2007). Ali finished her basic education at Queen Mary School in Lahore. She married at the age of 17 to her cousin, Mazhar Ali Khan (1917 – 1993) who was a journalist and editor of the ''

Pakistan Times ''Pakistan Times'' (1947–1996) was a Pakistani newspaper, originally established by the leftist Progressive Papers Limited based in Lahore, Pakistan. Historical background It was owned and operated by Mian Iftikharuddin, a Punjabi politici ...

'' newspaper who had socialist leanings.

Career

She was one of the founding members of the

Communist Party of Pakistan The Communist Party of Pakistan ( abbr. CPP; ur, کمیونسٹ پارٹی آف پاکستان) is a communist party in Pakistan. History Founding The CPP was founded in Calcutta, India, soon after the establishment of Pakistan on 6 March 1948 ...

(CPP) and with her husband was also part of the Progressive Papers Ltd (PPL). Ali was jailed for vigorously opposing General

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

's dictatorship. She was the first person in Pakistan to pair the fight for workers' rights with the fight for women's rights, resisting Zia's assault on the rights of women. Although she was born in an affluent family, she remained an activist for labour and women's rights for over 60 years. In 1950, she was one of the founders of the '' Democratic Women's Association'' (DWA), considered the country's first independent women's rights organisation. For the first time in Pakistan,

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

was observed under her leadership where it was openly demanded that women be given equal status and rights. In 1971, she was amongst a small group of people who protested against the war in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

(now Bangladesh). In her later years, before she suffered a series of debilitating

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

s that left her partially paralysed, she served as a mentor to many prominent Pakistani women.

Death and legacy

Ali died on 23 March 2005 in

. Veteran Pakistani journalist and human rights activist

I. A. Rehman Ibn Abdur Rehman, also known as I.A. Rehman (1 September 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a Pakistani peace and human rights advocate, and a veteran communist. A protégé of the great Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, he became chief editor of the ''Pakist ...

paid tribute to her in the ''Dawn'' newspaper, saying that she was "a true activist" and mentioning her work for women's rights and peace-making efforts between India and Pakistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Tahira Mazhar 1924 births 2015 deaths Hayat Khattar family Pakistani women's rights activists Pakistani human rights activists Pakistani political people People from Lahore

Early life

Career

Death and legacy

Further reading

References