Pakistan’s completion of its 77th year on the map of the world is a stark reminder that the idea of a unified nation had been conceived centuries ago when a Muslim fraternity was constituted on the principles of Islam. While a legal framework was being made and evenings were spent in dimly lit courtrooms regaling the idea of a separate land, the Muslim women of the subcontinent quietly entertained the notion of a future where they would be empowered, liberated, and allowed to live as they pleased. Under the leadership of Fatima Jinnah, the leading ladies of the Pakistan movement educated the masses of an imminent freedom.
This month, let us relive the lives of these masses, who, in their silent way, enforced the two-nation theory. The women who braved the partition along with millions, losing their homes, their relatives, their friends, and the towns they had seen growing up. As the fight for independence hurtled along, a certain peripeteia was thrust at every being that bore witness to it. The struggle of migrating to freedom thrust poverty over the most affluent, making refugees of landlords and proprietors. Thus, the unity that was Quaid-e-Azam’s dream came to a reality, making rehabilitators of the common folk.
At the forefront of the battle of independence was Quaid-e-Azam’s legal team, while the logistics of partition were shouldered by the one’s welcoming refugees. Women who had never set foot outside the comfort of their homes carried gurneys of the elderly and the sick. Women graciously hosted refugees, making space in their homes and hearts. Opening the doors to their pantries, women at home cooked meals that fed the refugees that had been walking for weeks to make it to the other side of the border. As the dearth of medical facilitation arose in the refugee camps, the female doctors volunteered to assist women through various emergencies, including childbirth.
Remembering these heroic women of yore, this Independence Day, let’s revisit the cardinal principles of unity, faith, and discipline and fish out the heroes within ourselves and help Pakistan prosper for many centuries to come.

Amna Sikandar
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