Begum Waqar Al-Nisa: 'Merciful Mother' who linked her life and death to her homeland by associating with a Pakistani

 

Memorable photo of Begum Waqar Al-Nisa and Yasser Arafat

This is what happened on September 9, 1958. A Pakistani Prime Minister arrived in India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. 

He was just getting off the plane when a shoe in the shape of his wife's slipper slipped from his feet and fell down the stairs. Before they reached the bottom of the stairs, Pandit Nehru picked up the sleeper and when they came down, placed it in front of them in such a way that it would not be difficult to wear it. 

  

This good-natured attitude did not make any difference to Nehru's justification, but only increased it to some extent. He was the Prime Minister of Pakistan Feroz Khan Noon and his wife Begum Waqar Nisa Noon. 

  

Waqar al-Nisa Noon's real name was Victoria Rekhi and she was born on July 23, 1920, to a Jewish family in Austria who, fed up with Nazi persecution, settled in England. 

  

His first meeting with Feroz Khan was when he was the High Commissioner of India in London. The meeting ended in marriage in 1942 when Feroze Khan Noon was a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council in Delhi. Feroz Khan Noon was 49 years old and Victoria was 22 at the time. The marriage took place in Bombay. 

  

Feroz Khan Naw, Jawaharlal Nehru and Begum Waqar Nisa

For this marriage, Victoria not only converted to Islam but also adapted herself to a completely Oriental lifestyle. His Islamic name was Waqar-ul-Nisa, so his nickname Vicky remained. 

  

Feroz Khan Noon arranged his meeting with Quaid-e-Azam after which Waqar Al-Nisa Noon made himself a part of this great struggle to understand the demand of Muslims for a separate homeland and the ideology of Pakistan. Feroze Khan Noon later became the Minister of Defense of India but in 1945 he resigned from the post to work for the Muslim League and came to Lahore where Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon took part in the struggle for Pakistan. 

  

She played an important role in awakening the political consciousness of women and creating enthusiasm in them. She started participating in women's rallies and processions in Punjab on the orders of the Muslim League High Command, during which she fought tear gas, baton charges and police repression. 

  

Feroz Khan Noon wrote in his autobiography 'Chashm Deed' that 'no memory of those days can be complete unless I include the mention of my wife Waqar Al-Nisa Noon. They led women's protests against our arrests in violation of Article 144. Gatherings of more than five people were prohibited under this section. 

  

"He was jailed several times for breaking the law. After each procession, they were taken to jail along with a few other women and then released. One day the police put him in a bus with some other women and took him seven or eight miles away from the city. They were told to get out of the car. Closed. She and some other women fainted. 

  

He writes, “Some women in Lahore used to guard the main gate of the jail day and night and some women walked along with the protesters. They had cars, so when a police car filled with protesters and drove off, the women activists would immediately chase them and when the police took them away from the city, they would put them in cars. Used to come Waqar Al-Nisa and his companions were brought back to my eldest son Noor Hayat Kar. 

  

Noor-ul-Sabah Begum has written in her book 'Tehreek-e-Pakistan and Women' that in 1947, Feroz Khan Noon bought a beautiful bungalow in Kangra district for his wife. Little did anyone know in those days that people would have to leave their ancestral properties and that these properties would either be destroyed or taken over by the local government. 

  

So the house that was bought for Begum Noon was set on fire and she barely escaped from the place along with a few servants passing by the bare swords of the Sikhs. Her husband's friend Raja Sahib of Mandi, who was the Raja of a small state nearby, sheltered her in his house for three weeks and in mid-September 1947 I took her to Sialkot. 

  

After the formation of Pakistan, Feroze Khan Noon became the Governor of East Pakistan and the Chief Minister of Punjab. Meanwhile, Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon continued to shake his hand with great diligence and sincerity. When Pakistan came into being in 1947, the biggest problem was the resettlement of homeless refugees. 

  

Begum Noon herself had faced these hardships so she started her own Red Cross work in Pakistan which she was doing in Delhi during the Second World War. In 1948, when Rana Liaquat Ali Khan established APWA, she became its founding member. 

  

When Feroz Khan Noon became the Governor of East Pakistan, Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon also organized APWA in East Pakistan. He also established two schools in Dhaka and Rawalpindi. The Rawalpindi school was converted into a college in 1966. 

  

  

Waqar Al-Nisa launched a strong campaign in the British government and parliamentary circles for Pakistan's right to Gwadar.

In 1953, when Feroze Khan Noon became the Chief Minister of Punjab and visited Lahore, Lahore became the center of Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon's tireless and sincere activities. That same year, she was elected president of the Red Cross Society and the St. John's Ambulance Association. 

  

Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon represented Pakistan at the International Conference on Social Work in Toronto in 1954 and the Pacific Relations Conference in Kyoto. 

  

Between 1956 and 1958 when Feroz Khan As Foreign Minister and Prime Minister, Nunn paid official visits to China, Iran, Turkey and Russia. At the same time, as a result of their efforts, the Pakistan Family Planning Association was formed. All these social and welfare services of Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon aside but her real achievement is something else due to which she will always hold an important place in the history of Pakistan. 

  

This was in 1581 when the coastal city of Gwadar in Balochistan was occupied by the Portuguese. In the early seventeenth century, the city was ruled by the Gachki Baloch. In 1736, he handed over Gwadar to Nadir Shah of Iran. Three years later the Gachki tribe came to power again but in 1778 the Khan of Kalat captured Gwadar. 

  

When Prince Saad Sultan of Muscat rebelled against his father and took refuge in Makran in 1784, Khan of Kalat Nasir Khan I visited him and handed over the Gwadar area to him as his guest. ۔ 

  

There is also a tradition that Nasir Khan I married his daughter to Saad Sultan and gave him the area of Gwadar in his daughter's dowry so that Saad Sultan and his family could benefit from the income from this area. Could have passed. In 1792, Saad became the Sultan of Muscat and Oman with the help of Sultan Khan of Kalat, but he kept Gwadar in his administration even though he was no longer in need of Gwadar's income. 

  

Dr. Munir Ahmed Slaich This great woman born in Europe, when she became related to a Pakistani, sacrificed her body and mind for him and his nation.

This situation persisted when the British occupied Kalat. Gwadar was also part of the Sultanate of Oman when Pakistan was formed in 1947. 

  

Immediately after its establishment, Pakistan raised its voice for the recovery of Gwadar. Negotiations were held in 1949 to resolve the issue, which ended without a decision. The emperor of Iran wanted to annex Gwadar to Iran and expand it with the port of Chah-e-Bihar. His wish was backed by the US CIA. 

  

When Feroze Khan Noon became Pakistan's foreign minister in 1956, he revived the issue and decided to resolve it anyway. 

  

He handed over the mission to Waqar Al-Nisa Noon, who worked hard to raise the issue with the British government. He campaigned vigorously in the British government and parliamentary circles for Pakistani rights over Gwadar. 

  

In this regard, he also met with Churchill and lobbied for Pakistan in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom and presented the position that Gwadar was the estate of the Kalat family which is now part of Pakistan. Pakistan's right to inheritance must now be recognized. 

  

Waqar al-Nisa Noon won the war with the help of pen, arguments and negotiations instead of the sword, in which British Prime Minister Herald Macmillan played a key role. On September 8, 1958, the Gwadar area became part of Pakistan. On the same day, Agha Abdul Hameed took charge of Gwadar and its environs as the representative of the President of Pakistan. 

  

A month later, with the imposition of martial law in the country in October 1958, Feroze Khan Noon's prime ministership was abolished, but Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon's social and welfare services continued. 

  

In March 1958, he was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan for his significant role in the struggle for the annexation of Gwadar to Pakistan.

She has long been the Chairperson of the Pakistan Red Cross Society and St. John's Ambulance. She was a member of the Quaid-e-Azam University Syndicate and the Board of Directors of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. In 1978, General Zia-ul-Haq promoted him to the post of Advisor and appointed him Minister of State for Tourism. 

  

In 1979, she became the Chairperson of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. He also played a significant role in the establishment and development of youth hostels in Pakistan. In 1987, he was appointed Pakistan's ambassador to Portugal, a position he held for two years. Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon has also been the lifeblood of many NGOs, including the Senior Citizens Foundation, the Wildlife Fund and the English Speaking Union. 

  

Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon also turned her memoirs of her visit to Russia into a travelogue. He has also received numerous national and international awards. On March 23, 1958, he was honored by the Government of Pakistan for his significant role in the struggle for the annexation of Gwadar to Pakistan. But her greatest honor was the title of 'Mother Merciful' which was given to her by the Pakistani people. 

  

Begum Waqar Al-Nisa established two schools in Dhaka and Rawalpindi which were later given the status of colleges.

Dr. Munir Ahmed Slaich has written in his book 'Loneliness Speaks' that' this great woman born in Europe sacrificed her body and mind for her and her nation when she became related to a Pakistani. She never looked back, and even after Sir Noon's death, she associated her life and death with her husband's homeland. 

  

Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon did not have any children of her own but she loved the sons of Feroze Khan Noon's first wife like real children and she also respected them like real mother. Sir Noon also loved him dearly and in Lahore Muslim Town he named his spacious mansion Al-Waqar. Waqar Al-Nisa Noon made it her lifelong duty to help women, children and the poor. 

  

She used the proceeds of her husband's property income to be used for charity. She also set aside two scholarships for Pakistani students at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. 

  

Begum Waqar Al-Nisa Noon died on January 16, 2000 in Islamabad, where she was buried in the H8 cemetery.