Pakistan and the Political Awakening of a Muslim ‘New Woman’ 1937–1947

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Although many women participated in the Pakistan Movement (1937–1947) with significant effect, their role is only incidentally considered in major monographs, and virtually unpublished in the realm of articles. This essay seeks to begin the redress of this oversight by focusing on the lives and works of three leading women of the Muslim League, and two who found its message appealing enough to leave India when Pakistan was established in 1947. Placing these women firmly within the theoretical discourse of the ‘New Woman,’ the essay reviews primary literature relevant to women’s social reform in South Asia and the Muslim World more broadly, defines the understanding of womanhood represented by the five women in focus, and outlines their roles in and/or understanding of the Pakistan Movement’s ideals particularly concerning gender. It argues that understanding themselves as ‘New Women’ and the Pakistan Movement as their advocate, coupled with the alienation of South Asian Muslims at the hands of Indian and Hindu nationalist initiatives, most thoroughly explains Pakistan’s appeal among the elite, educated Muslim women of the late colonial era.