Begum Zaffar Ali | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1901 |
| Died | 1999 |
| Occupation(s) | Educationist, Women's liberation activist |
| Known for | Women's liberation, first woman matriculate ofKashmir |
| Spouse | Agha Zaffar Ali Qizilbash |
| Children | Agha Nasir Ali,Agha Shaukat Ali, Agha Ashraf Ali |
| Parent | Khan Bahadur Aga Syed Hussain Thakur |
| Relatives | Agha Shahid Ali (grandson),Syed Ahmed Aga (Brother) |
| Awards | Padma Shri |
Begum Zaffar Ali, néeSahibzaadi Syeda Fatima,[1] was an Indianwomen's rights activist and the first woman matriculate of the Indian state ofKashmir and Jammu who went on to become Inspector of Schools inKashmir.[2] She was an educationist, women's liberation activist, deputy director of education and later a legislator in the Indian state ofJammu and Kashmir.[3] She was associated with the activities of theAll India Women's Conference and was its secretary before partition, but a chance meeting withMuhammad Ali Jinnah and his sister,Fatima Jinnah inKashmir, who would later visit the family for banquets, influenced her and she left the conference to concentrate her efforts in women's liberation movements in the pre-independent India.[3][4]
Begum Ali was born in 1901 to Khan Bahadur Aga Syed Hussain Thakur, Home and Judicial Minister during MaharajaHari Singh's rule.[5] She began her career as a teacher in 1925 at the Girls' Mission High School (present dayMallinson Girls School). A staunch believer in women's rights, she went door to door to raise awareness regarding girls' education in the Valley and persevered to empower them through education. Her speeches at Public events inspired adulation among the women who started sending their girls to schools.[4] Begum was married to Agha Zaffar Ali Qizilbash, a scion of an aristocraticAfghan familysettled in theKashmir region of India.[6] The couple had three sons, Agha Nasir Ali-IAS, a civil servant who retired as Labour Secretary of India in 1977,Agha Shaukat Ali, who joined civil services ofPakistan during the partition ofIndia in 1947. Begum's youngest son is Agha Ashraf Ali, an academic who retired as Commissioner of Higher Education inJammu and Kashmir[2]The Veiled Suite: The Collected Poem, an anthology written by her grandsonAgha Shahid Ali, a noted Kashmiri-American poet, features a poem in memory of her.[7] TheGovernment of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour ofPadma Shri in 1987.[8] Later in aDoordarshan interview, she announced to return the award in protest against the undemocratic policies of the Government.[5] She moved to the United States in the 1990s and lived there with her sonAgha Shaukat Ali until her death in 1999.[1]
