The Begum tells the story of an extraordinary woman whose life has fallen through the cracks of memory. Her name, Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, will ring no bell in India, though it is here – in Delhi, Lucknow and Almora – that she lived for the first 42 years of her life before moving to Pakistan in August 1947 with her husband, Liaquat Ali Khan, the country's first prime minister.
She wasn't known as Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan for much of that time, but as Irene Pant, the academically brilliant daughter of a second-generation Christian convert from Almora. Presumably, she's better known in Pakistan where she made seminal contributions in public life as its first First Lady, as also its first Minister for Minorities and Women's Affairs; as the founder of the All Pakistan Women's Association and one of its most outspoken women's rights activists; as the first woman to serve as ambassador; and then as the governor of a province – Sindh.
Begum Ra'ana, as she was called, was an exceptional character, and this book divided into two distinct parts, penned separately by its two authors – Deepa Agarwal on the Begum's life in India, and Tahmina Aziz Ayub on the Pakistani part of it – does a good job of describing her life and career. But it's curiously silent on two key events in her life – her decision to marry Liaquat Ali Khan, and to stay out of politics after his death.
The Ali Khans' love story must have been quite the grande passion because Ra'ana went against her family to marry Liaquat, who was already married and had a son, converted to Islam and became his helpmeet in his chosen cause – the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state for Muslims. But there are not many details except for the bare-bones of where and how they met.
But it must have been a hard decision considering her parents disowned her, and she never met them again. What did she feel about having to choose love over filial duty? We aren't told, except for one detail – that one of the articles she took to Pakistan with her was a carpet that had been her mother's. The relations with her siblings, though, survived the marriage, and one brother even moved to Pakistan in the 1960s and converted to Islam.
The other silence is even harder to explain. Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in 1951 while he was still in office. His widow was already a public figure in her own right, having worked tirelessly in the refugee camps after Partition. The situation, one would have thought, was tailor-made for Begum Ra'ana's to stake a claim on her husband's political mantle – as happened in both India and Pakistan with the families of Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Bhutto, respectively. But she never joined active politics – even when faced with financial difficulties. What explained this reluctance – prudence or a sense of dignity? It's not clear.
Book: The Begam: A Portrait of Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's Pioneering First Lady
Author: Deepa Agarwal & Tahmina Aziz Ayub
Publisher: Penguin Viking
Pages: 256
Price: Rs 416
—By Gargi Gupta
