Quaid-e-Azam asked Fatima Jinnah to sit beside him at Sibi

Darbar, the grand annual gathering of Baluch and Pakhtun

chiefs and leaders. He was making a point: Muslim women
must take their place in the history of Pakistan. The Sibi Darbar
broke all precedents.“ Akbar S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan and
Islamic Identity, p13., Routledge 1997.
Fatima Jinnah(1893 -1967)

Also known as Madr-e-Millat, mother of the nation, Fatima

Jinnah's name is an important one among the leaders of
Pakistan's independence movement. Though she is most loved
for being an ardent supporter of her brother, Quaid-e-Azam
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of Muslim India, there is
much more to Fatima Jinnah.
Fatima Jinnah was born in 1893. When the Jinnahs lost their
father in 1901, Fatima came under the guardianship of her
older brother. Encouraged by her brother, she completed her
education, living in a hostel while attending Dr Ahmad Dental
College. In 1923, at a time when taking up a profession was
considered inappropriate for girls from Muslim families, Fatima
Jinnah opened her own dental practice in Calcutta. She had the
full support of her brother, yet faced opposition from the rest
of the family. When Quaid-e-Azam’s wife, Rutti Jinnah, passed
away leaving behind a daughter, Fatima Jinnah gave up her
practice and went to live with her brother taking charge of the
house and her young niece.
During the years that followed, Fatima Jinnah accompanied her
brother on many of his official tours. Professor Sharif al
Mujahid writes in his article, An enduring legacy, Dawn, July,
2003, “People do not realize that just by accompanying Jinnah
wherever he went during the 1940s, Fatima Jinnah was
teaching Muslim women to stand shoulder to shoulder with
men during the freedom struggle. Numerous pictures of the
period show Fatima Jinnah walking alongside Jinnah and not
behind him. The message was loud and clear and it was one
both the brother and sister wished to convey to the nation.”
She also joined the All India Muslim League and attended the
annual sessions. She helped form the All India Muslim Women
Students Federation in 941 in Delhi. “Fatima Jinnah's
contribution in the social development sector has, however,
been ignored somewhat. This has largely been overshadowed
by her political role despite the fact that she, along with Begum
Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, made the greatest contribution in the
realm of women's awakening and participation in national
affairs and their empowerment,” wrote professor Sharif al
Mujahid.
The height of her political accomplishments came towards the
end of her life when, in 1965 she defied tradition by
challenging Ayub Khan in a tight race for the office of President
of Pakistan. “Even a conservative party like the Jamaat-i-Islami
accepted her as a woman presidential candidate.” (Story of
Pakistan, Fatima Jinnah 1893-1967).
In the same Dawn article as mentioned above, Professor
Mujahid continues, “Her candidature in the 1965 presidential
elections settled once and for all, all the tricky questions about
whether a woman could be the head of a Muslim state. In the
circumstances it was her candidature alone that could have
induced a favorable fatwa from Maulana Maududi. And once
that was acquired, the controversial issue ceased to exist for all
time to come. This represents a singular contribution towards
women's empowerment and their participation in public life in
Pakistan.”

If Fatima JInnah serves as a role model for Pakistani girls, she

is indeed a fine one for she had a life filled achievements.