Thatta Kedona

Some people live for others. Three honorable German ladies have been living in Pakistan and working to make the life of others better. People of Pakistan passionately recognize the services of these honorable ladies.

Prof. Dr. Annemarie Schimmel (April 7, 1922 - January 26, 2003) was a well known and very influential German scholar who wrote over 500 books and left deep impression on the people of Pakistan.

Annemarie Schimmel received a doctorate in Islamic languages and civilization from the University of Berlin at the age of nineteen. At twenty-three, she became a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Marburg (Germany), where she earned a second doctorate in the history of religions. A turning point in her life came in 1954 when she was appointed Professor of the History of Religion at the University of Ankara (Turkey). There she spent five years teaching in Turkish and immersing herself in the culture and mystical tradition of the country. She was a faculty member at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992 and became Professor Emeritus upon her retirement. She was also an honorary professor at the University of Bonn. She published more than 50 books on Islamic literature, mysticism and culture, and translated Persian, Urdu, Arabic, Sindhi and Turkish poetry and literature into English and German.


For her work on Islam, sufism or mysticism and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the government of Pakistan honored her with Hilal-e-Imtiaz. She was showered with many other awards from many countries of the world, including the prestigious Peace Prize of the German book trade.

Similarly, Dr. Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau (1929- 2017), commonly known in Pakistan as Leprosy Lady is the founder of the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre Karachi and leprosy adviser to federal government. She has spent more than half of her life helping the leprosy patients in Pakistan, a country that is now her own.

“The intensity with which she has worked towards the alleviation of suffering in the northern areas of Pakistan has not changed since the day it began. Subsequently, she moved her efforts to the northern areas of Pakistan, basing herself in Muzaffarabad. Since the Oct 8 earthquake, she has been focusing all her efforts on providing for those still suffering from the disaster,” reads a citation.

The government of Pakistan has conferred Sitari-e-Quaid-i-Azam upon Dr. Ruth Pfau to recognize her selfless work for people in our country.

Annemarie Schimmel had been working in Pakistan in the field of Literature, Dr Ruth Pfau works in Medicine and the third German lady Dr. Senta Maria Anna Siller is working in rural areas of Pakistan to create additional income through self help projects.

Dr. Senta Maria Anna Siller (89 years) studied Graphic Design at the School of Art in Berlin. She did her MA in Archaeology, Philosophy and Education and received a degree of doctorate in History of Arts from the Technical University of Berlin. She served as lecturer and later as Deputy Head of an Art School in Berlin.

Earlier, she earned her first money with silhouettes and illustrations, which along with design became her passion for life. Besides bringing up four children, she continued various activities as a designer (for exhibitions and fairs, children’s cloths, toys and book illustrations) and ran a textile company before she came to Pakistan for the first time in 1965.

After having left civil service and design consultancy, Dr. Senta Siller became honorary manager of self help project in rural Pakistan in 1993 [also in Cameroon (in 1998) and in Colombia (in 1999)]. Main country of her activities is Pakistan from where she is networking with other projects in different countries.

Dr. Senta Siller has organized over five hundred exhibitions, shows and events for income generation for women in rural areas. The focus of her work is “Income generation as a tool of help for self help, poverty alleviation on grass root’s level by ethnic applied arts, the future is in the rural areas and how income generation is necessary there, production of internationally marketable unique and thematic handicraft, eco technology for the independence from central solutions, and the use of communication and information solutions giving chances and opportunities to the people in the rural areas and promotion of rich traditional culture of Pakistan.”

Civil servant appointed for life, Dr. Senta Siller has been conferred different awards like “Floriade” (the Netherlands), “Gestaltetes Spielgut” (Creative Toys-German Toy Industry), “Bundesverdienstkreuz” (highest civil order of merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) to name a few. Pakistan recognizes her relentless and untiring work in the field of income generation for rural women through self help projects.

Making difference in lives of others is a great accomplishment. I am returning back a part of what life has bestowed upon me,” says Dr. Senta Siller.

Razia Bhatti first entered professional journalism in 1967 when she joined The Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan after completing her Master's degree in English and Journalism from Karachi University. The lifestyles magazine she joined was later renamed Herald and turned into a monthly publication reporting on current events and political issues. In 1970, Razia Bhatti became the assistant editor of Herald and then became editor in 1976.

Shortly, thereafter, General Zia-ul-Haq took over the country in a military coup. A period of repression and censorship followed as Zia used religious fundamentalist rhetoric to strengthen his grip on power. Not one to be easily intimidated, Razia continued her valiant reporting. "General Zia once got so infuriated that he waved a copy of her article at a press conference and said he would not tolerate such journalism," recalls Beena Sarwar in her article, “Razia Bhatti and Najma Babar: Two Champions of Independent Journalism in Pakistan.”

Since early in her history, Pakistan has had the misfortune of being run, democratically or undemocratically, by corrupt or self seeking politicians and feudals. Little economic progress has been made and the literacy rate remains among the lowest in the world. The result has been an atmosphere where corruption, bigotry, and intimidation of press and human rights activists are the norm. To speak up against injustice and the ruling elites in such an environment is no small achievement. Razia Bhatti did just that.

When pressured to curb her writing and support the policies of General Zia's regime, Razia resigned from the magazine on an ethical stance. Most of her team of journalists resigned with her and together they established a new current affairs magazine called Newsline. In July 1989, the first issue of Newsline was published with an editor’s note written by Razia which began, “Forty-two years down the road from independence, this nation seems to have bartered away the promise of its birth. To a whole generation of Pakistanis, fear, violence, authoritarianism and deceit represent the norm, for they have known no other.”

Newsline which started on a meager budget, under Razia Bhatti’s editorial ship, soon became a competitor to other well known English language publications like the Herald itself. Newsline covered a wide range of stories including drug trade, corruption by politicians and financial institutions, religious persecution, and abuse of women’s rights.

In December 1994, Newsline published a story about then prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s inaction in stopping the rampant riots, killings, and looting which became daily occurrences, terrorizing the population of Karachi, one of Pakistan’s largest cities. Benazir responded to this criticism by banning Newsline from all Pakistan International Airline flights. This action of the government did little to quiet the Newsline journalists and in the months that followed, Razia and her staff continued reporting on the flaws of Benazir’s government including its foreign policy, the methods government used to finally respond to the Karachi violence, its stringent policies designed to weaken the press, and the taxation system which allowed the richest of the population to get away with paying little or no tax while the average working public carried almost the entire burden of taxation.

Even after she received international recognition, the Pakistani politicians did not stop harassing her when she exposed their misuses of power. In August 1995, police raided Razia Bhatti’s home in the early morning hours demanding her appearance at the police station regarding a criminal case filed against her. The case was brought about by then Sindh Governor, Kamal Azfar, in retaliation for a story published about him in Newsline. The news of the raid on Razia’s house resulted in protests from journalists and human rights activists from across the country, following which Kamal Azfar retreated and completely withdrew all charges against Razia and the journalist who wrote the story.

Through her integrity and dedication, Razia Bhatti contributed much to the Pakistani society. She furthered the cause of women's rights by proving that a woman is as capable of earning a respected spot in serious journalism as the toughest of her male counterparts. She also reinforced the importance of free press and journalistic integrity in a country where honesty and free speech are often overrun by corruption and fundamentalist ideals. The examples she left us through her writing, serve as inspiration to speak up against repression and question the leaders whose actions do not follow their rhetoric and who use public service position for personal gain.

Razia's willingness to question powerful government officials without fear is the reason that respected Pakistani philosopher and author, Eqbal Ahmad, wrote in his tribute to Razia Bhatti, "She was always in official disfavor. She understood better than most of us, that the relationship between power and the press must necessarily be adversarial if the latter is to fulfill its professional and moral obligation to the public." It is a lesson which much of the world’s press has yet to learn.

In the first issue of Newsline Razia Bhatti wrote, “The press in Pakistan shares the guilt of this nation’s state. It has been silent when it should have spoken, dishonest when it should have been forthright, succumbed when it should have stood fast.” Had she been alive to witness the state of the world today, one wonders what Razia Bhatti would have to say about the role of the press, not just in Pakistan, but in the largest of the Western nations. The volatile state of world politics today demands that the press of every free nation, in the East and West, must carry out its duty and hold accountable the elected and non-elected leaders and remind them again and again that the people of their nations want to live and prosper in peace.

In her efforts to speak to the conscience of those she reprimanded in her articles, Razia did not merely rebuke, she also reminded them of their abilities and laudable qualities. In the same Newsline editorial as mentioned above, Razia continued, “Yes, like this nation, the press retains the strength to rise above its weakness… We can see reality yet refuse to abandon hope.” Perhaps it is this hope which drove her to work passionately for the remainder of her years and which still guides the principles of the magazine she helped form.

Of his first impression of Razia Bhatti, Eqbal Ahmad wrote, "She will crash, I had thought then, or else she will help transform journalism in Pakistan. She did both." Razia Bhatti used her pen to fight oppression and this constant battle eventually took its toll on her. She died of a brain hemorrhage in 1996 leaving behind a husband, two children, and thousands of admirers.

Ambreen made Pakistani history by becoming one of the country’s first female fighter pilots, but on Sunday she was due to swap her flight schedule for an arranged marriage.

“It’s all set and planned, but I haven’t talked to him,” she admits, her face scrubbed clean and wearing a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jumpsuit – a far cry from the make-up and ornate gown she’ll wear for the wedding.

The wedding between Flight Lieutenant Ambreen Gul, 25, and an engineer from Islamabad has been arranged by their families in the best Pakistani tradition.

When she wakes up on Monday – International Women’s Day – she’ll be married to a man she has only seen once before and with whom she has barely exchanged a word.

Pakistan is a conservative Muslim country, where the United Nations says only 40 per cent of adult women are literate. Women are victims of violence and abuse, and the country still lacks a law against domestic violence.

But in 2006, seven women broke into one of Pakistan’s most exclusive male clubs to graduate as fighter pilots – perhaps the most prestigious job in the military and for six decades closed to the fairer sex.

Ambreen’s company manager father was delighted. Ironically it was her housewife mother who initially feared her daughter would bring shame on the family.

“It was because of our eastern culture. She thought people would say, ‘Why are you letting your daughter go out of the home?’

She and 26-year-old Flight Lieutenant Nadia Gul say PAF is a trailblazer for women’s rights. As respected officers with a 60,000-rupee-a-month salary, they are living out their dreams.

“It’s a profession of passion. One has to be extremely motivated. I love flying. I love to fly fighter jets, to do something for my country that is very unique,” smiled Ambreen, her hair stuffed into a pony tail.

Signing up aged 18, only a handful of girls beat homesickness and stiff competition to pass a six-month selection process and graduate after three-and-a-half years of training.

“It was the toughest time we’ve ever faced,” Ambreen remembers.

During a training flight on a Chinese-made F-7, she once blacked out for a few seconds before survival reflexes kicked in.

Nadia, whose army captain husband is serving on the front line of Pakistan’s war against the Taliban in the mountains of Swat, won a prize for academic achievement at PAF’s first women fighter pilot graduation.

“It was the first time. It was history,” she remembers, a bottle-green hijab covering most of her hair and tucked into her padded pilot’s jacket.

“I was just a girl who went to college and came back home, but now I’m in a great profession,” said Nadia.

Commanding male subordinates, they bat aside any question of sexism or men who don’t take kindly to being ordered about by a woman.

They love the respect that comes with official fighter pilot status in the armed.

“Families are very fascinated. Everyone’s very impressed,” says Nadia, describing her husband as “very supportive” and “proud”.

Forbes ranked Pakistan in 2010 as the fourth most dangerous country in the world. Officers say only a tiny elite – and no women – actually fly in combat in Pakistan’s tribal belt, a battleground against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

While PAF is outwardly very proud of its women pilots, some wonder privately whether women are strong enough to reach the top of the profession.

But flying transport and cargo planes, ferrying VIPs like cabinet ministers around the country, Nadia feels women’s lot is improving and takes issue with Western perceptions of Pakistan as backward.

“PAF are giving us this chance on an equal basis. It was really a bold step that the Pakistan Air Force has taken in recruiting lady fighter pilots,” she said.

In a country where extended family is important and most middle-class women rely on servants for household work and child-minding, Ambreen and Nadia may be saved some of the problems faced by women in the West.

They believe marriage and – in the future – motherhood can complement, not replace, a career, “provided you have a supportive family.” - Dawn 

Related: Change of Guards and Women at their Best 

Societies pride in different strengths: Some give importance to bravery, some to democracy, and some nations think that freedom of expressions, development and or education are the hallmarks for their long-term sustenance. “The nations should be judged on how they look at their women,” writes Abbas Khan, the author of Urdu novel Mein Aur Umrao Jan Ada, his eleventh, that I have had the chance to read.

There is a famous saying that every thing in fiction is true except dates. But in the novel written by Abbas Khan even dates are true because he has based his novel in the back ground of five very famous women in the history: Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Quratul Ain Tahira (Iran), Mughal Princess Noor Jehan and Umrao Jan Ada.

Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus and Leda and wife of Menelaus, considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Her abduction by Paris caused the Trojan War and made thousand ships drown.

Cleopatra (actually Cleopatra VII) was the last of the Ptolemies, the Macedonian-descended pharaohs who ruled Egypt beginning in 304 B.C. Cleopatra has come down through history less for her administrative skills than for her beguiling ways, which she used in an attempt to keep Egypt free from Roman domination. Among those whom she charmed was Julius Caesar, with whom she had a son, Caesarion. After Caesar’s death, Cleopatra joined forces with Caesar’s colleague Marc Antony; they became lovers and political allies against Antony’s rival Octavian. Octavian’s forces finally defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra in the naval battle of Actium in 31 B.C. The two lovers fled to Alexandria and, faced with defeat by Octavian, committed suicide. Legend has it that Cleopatra died by the self-inflicted bite of a poisonous snake called an asp, though no firm evidence exists to support that claim.

Qura tul Ain Tahira created waves in the history of Iran in 1848. Princess Noor Jehan was a Mughal princess who helped King Jehangir rule Mughal Empire. And Umrao Jan Ada, whose poignant tale of misadventure of a little girl, forced into prostitution; and the saga of 1857 at the center of this tragedy as a testimony are famous in history.

Umrao Jan Ada was a dancer girl of Lakhnow (India) and her fame was at the peak from 1896 to 1899. In 1899, Mirza Hadi Ruswa wrote a novel titled Umrao Jan Ada that was published by Maha Dev Parshad Publishers Lakhnow. In turn, Umrao Jan Ada published a novel titled Fasan-e-Ruswa, which describes the love story of Mirza Hadi Ruswa and a French woman Sophia Augustan.

These women are at the background in which Abbas Khan has set his novel. With the help of today’s characters, the author weaves a web around modern world’s family — a basic unit of the society and tells us how that is being disintegrated.

The theme of the novel has been defined by the first sentence which reads, “Family is the bases of society. Both male and female should refrain from every type of waywardness to save the society.” Abbas Khan portrays nineteenth century character (Umrao Jan Ada) living in twenty first century in his lucid style.

Abbas Khan writes on societal issues in the daily Nawa-e-Waqat and his other published work includes three novels, seven short story books and a compilation of his observation: [Zakham Gawah Hain, Tu Aur Tu (novels), Dharti Binam Akash, Tensikh-e-Insan, Qalam, Kursi Aur Wardi, Us Adalat Men, Jism Ka Johar (short story books), Reza Reza Keenat and Pal Pal (afsancha — shortest storybook) and Din Mein Charagh] and now Mein Aur Umrao Jan Ada (novel).

Books have been bringing changes in human relationships and making difference in the lives of people. The power of worlds has caused people to loose their existence or to better them. This is what his novel is expected to do.