Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan - First Lady

First Lady

Ra'ana was the first First Lady of Pakistan. As First Lady, she initiate reforms for woman and child development, social progress of woman and played a major role for woman's part in Pakistan's politics. After the assassination of her husband Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, Begum Ra'ana continued her services for the social and economic benefit of women of Pakistan till her death in 1990. One of the daunting challenge for her was to organize health services for woman and children migrating from India to Pakistan.

In 1947, as the refugees poured in from across the border, amidst the most pitiable of conditions with cholera, diarrhea and small pox being common sights everywhere, she called upon women to come forward and collect food and medical supplies from government offices. The women came forward despite the resistance they faced from certain sections of society, including certain newspapers where they were attacked in the most vicious manner by elements that did not want women to come out from their "four walls". She firmly believed that for a society to do justice to itself it was pertinent that women played their due role in reforming society alongside the men.

During this point in Pakistan’s history there weren’t many nurses in Karachi, so Begum Liaquat asked the army to train women to give injections and first aid. Women were thus trained in three to six month courses and as such the Para-military forces for women were formed. Pakistan Army quickly established Army Medical Corps and recruited large number of women nurses as army nurses. During this period, girls were also personally encouraged by Begum Liaquat to take up nursing as a profession. They were also taught the rifle drill, to decode ciphers, typing and a host of other duties so they could be useful in times of national crises like the refugee crisis of 1947.