Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan

Who was Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan?

Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, DPhil, NI, was one of the leading woman figures in the Pakistan Movement, along with her husband Liaquat Ali Khan, and career economist, and prominent stateswoman from the start of the cold war till the fall and the end of the cold war. Ra'anna was one of the leading woman politicians and nationwide respected woman personalities who started her career in 1940s and witnessed key major events in Pakistan. She was one of the leading and pioneering woman figures in the Pakistan Movement and served as the executive member of Pakistan Movement committee working under Muhammad Ali Jinnah. She also served as economic adviser to Jinnah's Pakistan Movement Committee and later became First Lady of Pakistan when her husband Liaqat Khan Ali became Pakistan's first Prime minister. As First Lady of Pakistan, she launched programs for woman's development in the newly founded country. Later, she would went on to start her career as stateswoman that would last a decade.

In 1970s, she joined hands with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's political movement and joined the socialist government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, elected Prime minister at that time. She was one of the most trusted and close government and economical adviser to Bhutto and his government, and had played influential role and involved with many key economical decisions taken by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto led the appointment of Ra'ana as the Governor of Sindh Province and took the oath in February 15, 1973. Ra'ana was the first woman Governor of Sindh as well as first Chancellor of University of Karachi. In 1977, Ra'ana along with Bhutto and his party, won the parliamentary elections of 1977, but did not take the Gubernatorial office due to Martial law imposed by General Zia-ul-Haq, Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army. Ra'ana went on to work and dedicated her life for the social and economic benefit of women of Pakistan till her death in 1990. She died in 1990 due to cardiac arrest and was buried in Karachi with full state and military honors were given to her in her funeral. Because of her services and efforts for the medical and woman development and woman empowerment, Ra'ana is commonly known as "Māder-e-Pakistan".