Begum

<p>Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan was the wife of Pakistan's first prime minister. She was born<br>Irene Margaret Pant in Kumaon in the early twentieth century. A generation earlier her family<br>had converted to Christianity and Irene grew up in the shadow of the Brahmin community's still<br>active outrage. Always intelligent outgoing and independent she was teaching economics in a<br>Delhi college when she met the dashing Nawazada Liaquat Ali Khan a rising politician in the Muslim<br>League and an ardent champion of the cause for Pakistan.<br>She was immediately inspired by both the man and the idea; they married in 1933 and Irene Pant<br>became Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan. In August 1947 they left for Pakistan-led by Liaquat's mentor<br>and friend Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Ra'ana threw herself into the work of nation building but in<br>1951 Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated and the reasons for his murder are still shrouded in mystery.<br>Ra'ana continued to be active in public life-and her contribution to women's empowerment in<br>Pakistan is felt to this day.<br>Ra'ana's life story embodies all the major tropes of the Indian subcontinent's recent history.<br>Three religions-Hinduism Christianity and Islam-had an immense impact on her life <br>and she participated actively in all the major movements of her time-the freedom struggle <br>the Pakistani movement and the fight for women's empowerment. She could see clearly what went<br>wrong after 1947 and wasn't afraid to say so. She spoke out openly against the rise of religious<br>conservatism in Pakistan and the growing role of corruption. She occasionally met with opposition <br>but she never gave up. It is this spirit that <i>The </i><i>Begum</i> captures.</p>