MALIHA SHARES THREE SNIPPETS OF HER BOOK TO GIVE
YOU A FLAVOUR OF HOW IT CAME TOGETHER.
ANNA MOLKA AHMED
Artist
13 August 1917 – 24 April 1994Anna was born in London. Something
about art attracted her, however,
Anna’s parents discouraged her. Her
heart was set and when she was offered
a scholarship at one of the best art
schools in her country, she forged
her father’s signature and joined the
school. At an artist gathering in London
she met an artist named Ahmed whom
she married and moved to Lahore with.
One morning, she saw an ad in
the newspaper: “Punjab University:
looking for a qualified artist to open
an art department for girls.” She
landed the job and established the
fine art department in 1940. Several
years later, because of the partition
between India and Pakistan, Anna was
left with very few students. She learned
that many people wanted girls to get
married and the funding to be spent on
boys’ programmes. She believed this
was unfair and initiated an annual art
exhibition where artists got a chance to
showcase their talents. Anna ended up
initiating many more art programmes
across Punjab. She went on to receive
the Pride of Pakistan award.ASMA JAHANGIR
Lawyer and activist
27 January 1952 – 11 February 2018In the city of Lahore lived a fearless
girl named Asma. She studied at a
convent. When a new head girl was
supposed to be selected by the nuns,
she went to the nuns and insisted that
the students should be the ones to
choose the head girl. She protested
until the school changed the laws.
Asma went on to study law. Her father
was arrested on many occasions for
opposing the dictatorship in the
country and Asma grew up witnessing
his courage against the flawed system.
Her first act as a lawyer was to advocate
for her father to free him and she rose
victorious. She wanted to fight for
women in distress, struggling religious
minorities, oppressed individuals and
wanted a more inclusive country where
everyone had equal rights. Her efforts
for human rights changed many laws
and the movements she led brought
social change. She also co-founded the
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
She was awarded the Hilal e Imtiaz
award as well as international awards
such as the French Legion of Honour,
UN Human Rights Prize and more.
ANITA GHULAM ALI
Educationist
1938 – 2014Anita was born in Karachi and went to
school riding donkeys. She was known
to be a tomboy and would cut class to
enjoy time with her friends. Her parents
sent her to her grandmother who was
an educationist in India. Anita spent her
school life there and fell in love with the
idea of education. She moved back to
Karachi and completed her degree in
microbiology from Karachi University.
After, she worked at Radio Pakistan as
an English news anchor for decades.
In 1961, Anita became a professor of
microbiology, but soon, she discovered
teachers were not fairly paid or not paid
at all for months. She protested for
nationalisation of colleges. Anita and
her fellow protestors were beaten by
police, but she didn’t budge until her
efforts brought change. Anita’s mission
was to make every child believe that
if they work hard enough, they can
do anything. She saw it as a two-way
street and believed it was up to the
education system to provide the
facilities as well. Anita was awarded
the Pride of Performance award and
Sitara e Imtiaz (Star of Excellence).123