Flashback: A letter from Ms Jinnah

My father, a magistrate, sent money for Kashmir Blanket Fund in my mother’s name, as well as a letter to Fatima

My mother used to go for training every day as part of the women’s group - the Pakistan Women’s National Guard - that Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan was putting together after Partition. A truck would go to the homes of these girls every day in Hyderabad to pick them up for rifle training. My mother met her lifelong best friend, Jameela, at these training sessions. When she became pregnant, she had to stop going for training, but she worked with the All Pakistan Women’s Association until 1975 as their joint secretary in the APWA Industrial Homes in Sukkur. My father Mir Mohammed Mahar, a magistrate at that time, sent the money for the Kashmir Blanket Fund in my mother’s name, as well as a letter to Fatima Jinnah.

This August, The Express Tribune will feature photographs from contributions to an open call for images from the struggle for independence and Pakistan’s formative years.

Photo: Ayesha Mahar

Concept: Sanam Maher

Creative: Samra Amir

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th,2014.