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{{Short description|Pakistani politician and women's activist}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jahanara Shahnawaz
| image =
| alt = A picture of Jahanara Shahnawaz
| caption =
| office2 = Member of the [[Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]
| termstart2 = 10 August 1947
| termend2 = 24 October 1954
| constituency2 = Lahore District
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1896|04|07}}
| birth_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
| death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|1979|11|27|1896|04|07}}
| death_place = Pakistan
| nationality = Pakistani
| other_names =
| known_for = [[Pakistan Movement]]
| occupation = [[Politician]]
| father = [[Muhammad Shafi (politician)|Sir Muhammad Shafi]]
| spouse = [[Mian Shah Nawaz]]
| children = [[Mumtaz Shahnawaz]]<br/>[[Nasim Jahan]]
}}
Begum '''Jahanara Shahnawaz''', also known as ''Jehan Ara Shah Nawaz'' (7 April 1896 – 27 November 1979), was a prominent activist and politician in [[Punjab]], active before and after the [[independence]] of [[Pakistan]].

==Family background and education==
Jahanara Shahnawaz belonged to the prominent [[Arain]] [[Mian family of Baghbanpura]] in Lahore. Her father [[Sir Muhammad Shafi]] was a prominent lawyer and politician.<ref>{{citation |first=Syed Asif Ali |last=Rizvi |title=Mian Muhammad Shafi: An Analytical Study of his Activities and Achievements (1869—1932) |journal=South Asian Studies |publisher=University of Punjab |volume=10 |number=1 |date=January 1993 |pages=87– |id={{ProQuest|1308976142}}}}
</ref>

She was educated at [[Queen Mary College, Lahore]].<ref name=TFT/><ref name="admin">{{cite web|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/begum-shah-nawaz|title=Profile of Begum Shah Nawaz|website=Storyofpakistan.com website|date=1 June 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705042935/https://storyofpakistan.com/begum-shah-nawaz|archive-date=5 July 2019|access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> A dedicated member of the [[All India Muslim League]], she was also a leading advocate for women's rights.<ref name="Shamsie2015">{{cite book |author=Muneeza Shamsie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82NFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |title=And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women |date=11 July 2015 |publisher=Feminist Press at The City University of New York |isbn=978-1-55861-931-9 |pages=5–}}</ref> She was the daughter of Sir [[Muhammad Shafi (politician)|Muhammad Shafi]] and the wife of [[Mian Shah Nawaz|Mian Muhammad Shahnawaz]] whom she married in 1911.<ref name=TFT/><ref name="admin" />

==Political career==
In 1918, Jahanara Shahnawaz successfully moved the All India Muslim Women's Conference to pass a resolution against [[polygamy]].<ref name="admin"/> In 1935, she founded the Punjab Provincial Women's Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> In the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Round Table Conference]] of 1930, she and [[Radhabai Subbarayan]] were the only two active members of women's organisations nominated to the conference; they argued unsuccessfully for a 5 per cent reservation for women in the legislatures.<ref name=TFT/><ref name="Ghosh2012">{{cite book|author=Partha S. Ghosh|title=The Politics of Personal Law in South Asia: Identity, Nationalism and the Uniform Civil Code|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwPgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA234|date=23 May 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-70512-0|pages=234–}}</ref>

In 1937, she was elected to the [[Punjab Legislative Assembly]] and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Medical Relief and Public Health.<ref name="admin"/> In 1938 she became a member of the Women's Central Subcommittee of the All India Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> In 1942 India's government appointed her as a member of the National Defense Council, but the Muslim League asked League members to resign from the Defense Council.<ref name="admin"/> She refused and was thus removed from the Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> However, she rejoined the League in 1946, and in that same year was elected to the Central Constituent Assembly.<ref name="admin"/> That year she also went along with [[M. A. Ispahani]] on a goodwill mission to America, to explain the point of view of the Muslim League.<ref name="admin"/> She was arrested along with other Muslim League leaders during the [[Civil disobedience movement]] in Punjab in 1947.<ref name=TFT/><ref name="admin"/>

In 1948, she led a protest of thousands of women in the streets of [[Lahore]], protesting against the fact that a bill encouraging better economic opportunities for women had been removed from the agenda.<ref name="Burki2013">{{cite book|author=Shireen Burki|title=The Politics of State Intervention: Gender Politics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZqaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22|date=22 August 2013|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-8433-2|pages=22–}}</ref> Prime minister [[Liaquat Ali Khan]] intervened, and the Muslim Personal Law of Shariat of 1948 was passed; it legally recognized a woman's right to inherit property, including agricultural land, which had not been recognized during the [[British Raj]].<ref name="Burki2013"/>

She was president of the provincial branch of the All India Muslim Women's Conference for seven years, and also served as vice-president of the Central Committee of the All India Muslim Women's Conference.<ref name="admin"/>

She was the first woman in Asia to preside over a legislative session.<ref name=Dawn>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/882736/pakistan-day-women-at-the-forefront|title=Pakistan Day: Women at the forefront|newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|date= 21 March 2010|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref>
She was also associated with the education and orphanage committees of the [[Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam]], in Lahore, and with several hospitals, as well as maternity and child welfare committees.<ref name="admin"/> She was a member of the All Indian General Committee of the [[Red Cross Society]].<ref name="admin"/>

==Books==
Jahanara Shahnawaz wrote a novel titled ''Husn Ara Begum'' and her memoirs titled ''Father and Daughter: a political autobiography''.<ref name=TFT>{{cite news|url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/leading-from-the-front-march-1947/|title=Leading from the front (March, 1947)|newspaper=The Friday Times newspaper|date=1 June 2018|access-date=23 March 2025|archive-date=17 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617023226/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/leading-from-the-front-march-1947/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>''Father and Daughter: a political autobiography''. Lahore: Nigarishat, 1971. Also: Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002 0195796462</ref><ref name="NelsonRouse2000">{{cite book|author1=Cynthia Nelson|author2=Shahnaz J. Rouse|title=Situating Globalization: Views from Egypt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DO7sAAAAMAAJ&q=Begum+Jahanara+Shahnawaz|page=133 and 156|year=2000|publisher=Transcript|isbn=978-3-933127-61-7}}</ref> She also wrote for women's and literary magazines.<ref name=TFT/>

==Death and legacy==
Jahanara Shahnawaz died on 27 November 1979 at age 83.<ref name="admin"/> She had three children: Ahmad Shahnawaz Sr., a chemical engineer and the first Indian to attend [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), [[Nasim Shahnawaz]] (Nasim Jahan), who married General [[Akbar Khan (Pakistani general)|Akbar Khan]] and later became a politician of the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]], and [[Mumtaz Shahnawaz]], who died in a plane crash in 1948 while on her way to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] to represent Pakistan there.<ref name=Dawn/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/life.html|title= Life & Times of Begum Shahnawaz| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023114540/http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/life.html |archive-date=23 October 2019|access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>

Jahanara Shahnawaz worked for the economic independence of Pakistan. She was of the view that the foreign policy of Pakistan should be based on trade among nations and not aid.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.dawn.com/news/771342/economic-freedom-for-pakistan-vital | title=Economic freedom for Pakistan vital | newspaper=Dawn | location=Pakistan | date=14 December 2012 | access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Mian Family Baghbanpura]]
* [[Arain]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/index.html Begumshahnawaz.com]
Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2025) "Jahanara Shahnawaz: South Asian politician, feminist and writer." Prothom Alo English, 13 Dec 2025. https://en.prothomalo.com/opinion/1rtvo7sv8j

{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128222043/http://www.begumshahnawaz.com/index.html |date=28 November 2019 }}
{{Pakistan Movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahnawaz, Jahanara, Begum}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement activists]]
[[Category:20th-century Pakistani women politicians]]
[[Category:Mian family]]
[[Category:Queen Mary College, Lahore alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lahore]]
[[Category:Activists from Lahore]]
[[Category:People from Punjab Province (British India)]]
[[Category:Arain]]

Jahanara Shahnawaz - Revision history

Rudratree at 09:27, 16 December 2025