Socialite is a western concept, where people with old money acted as de facto nobility, hobnobbing with those in power. In India, this term and social class gained prominence after the independence. In Bombay, socialites were close to film stars and in Delhi, they were close to politicians. But every once in a while, there were those who stayed in the vicinity of both. One such person was the woman called the ‘glamour girl of Emergency’, with many calling her prettier than most Bollywood divas. But her legacy remains controversial.
Who was the glamour girl of Emergency?
Born Meenu Bimbet, it was by the name of Rukhsana Sultana became known. Rukhsana grew up in Punjab in British India and came to Delhi after the Partition and married Indian Army officer Shivinder Singh Virk. As a political activist, she became a close ally and friend of Sanjay Gandhi by the 1970s. Her claim to fame (or infamy) was her role during the Emergency from 1975-77, when she led Sanjay’s infamous sterilisation campaign in the Muslim areas of Old Delhi. Many sources have accused her of forcibly sterilising thousands of men. The campaign made her, along with Sanjay and PM Indira Gandhi, the most hated and feared person in all of Delhi.
Rukhsana Sultana’s Bollywood connections
Rukhsana was the daughter of Zarina, whose sister Begum Para was one of the leading actresses in Bollywood in the 1950s. Just how Begum Para was called the ‘glamour girl of Bollywood’, Rukhsana earned the moniker ‘glamour girl of Emergency’. In 1958, Rukhsana gave birth to a daughter Amrita Singh, who went on to become one of the top actresses of her generation in the 80s. Rukhsana is the grandmother of actors Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan and was – from 1991-2004 – the mother-in-law of Saif Ali Khan (before Amrita and Saif’s marriage ended).
Rukhsana retired from public life after Sanjay’s untimely death, and later Indira Gandhi’s assassination. By then, Amrita had embarked upon her film career as well. The former political activist currently lives away from the limelight.
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