Oral History Project
The women constitution-makers project, spearheaded by IDEAS Research Fellow Dr. Maryam Khan, seeks to discover the political voices and vision of the six women that contributed to the making of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution. These women were appointed to the National Assembly on reserve seats in February 1972, and subsequently participated in the Constituent Assembly Debates held over a four month period (December 1972 to April 1973) that resulted in Pakistan’s enduring Constitution of 1973.
Employing oral history methods, this project retrospectively reflects on the nature and degree of interaction between the six trailblazing women members (‘women constitution-makers’) within and without the assembly against the backdrop of their life histories. The substantive interventions of the six women constitution-makers is provided by the Debates which are in the form of verbatim speeches and dialogue. This primary documentary source is complemented with oral histories on the women constitution-makers with their living colleagues and friends, as well as second and third generation relatives who have intimate knowledge of their life histories.
The objective of the collective reflection is twofold: to provide an interactive mnemonic context for storytelling on the women constitution-makers and their personal and political associations; and to explore the extent to which these six women acted in concert in their constitution-making role on the question of women’s political representation.
Blog Post on Women Constitution-Makers
Women Constitution-Makers
Dr. Ashraf Abbasi
From the Archives:
“She worked as Medical Officer in Civil Hospital, Larkana from 1954 to 1955 and as general practitioner from 1960 to 1973. She was a member of the Divisional Council, Khairpur (1960-63) and was elected member of the Provincial Assembly in 1962 and 1965. She was elected to the National Assembly in 1971 and elected as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly soon afterwards.
She is interested in social work and is a member of Population Planning Council, Sind Social Welfare Council, Nursing Council, Syndicate of the University of Sind and the governing body of Fatima Jinnah Medical College. She was also a Director of National Bank of Pakistan before nationalization.
She attended a seminar on the status of women and family planning held in lndonesia in 1973 and the International Forum on the Role of Women in Development and Population held in New York in 1974. She has also visited Europe and the Middle East.”
Shireen Wahab
“She took active part in Pakistan Movement and is devoted to the improvement of the social conditions of women in Pakistan.”
Mrs. Nargis Naeem Sandhu
Begum Zahida Sultana
She worked as a Research Scholar in the Punjab University for about a year and a half and also edited an English quarterly named ‘Inspirations’. She also did research in Public Finance at the London School of Economics. She has traveled all over the world.
Mrs. Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa
She is the founder member and Vice President of the Baluchistan Branch of the All Pakistan Women Association (APWA). She is also a member of the Social Welfare Council of Baluchistan.
Nasim Jahan
RHS Workshop
IDEAS was awarded a workshop grant by the Royal Historical Society (RHS) for its research project on ‘Collective Reflections on Oral Histories of Pakistan’s Women Constitution Makers,’ led by Research Fellow Maryam S. Khan. In its latest round of funding, the RHS awarded Transactions Workshop Grants to five research projects, of which IDEAS is the only recipient from South Asia.
The Transactions Workshop Grant enables historians to meet for a day to discuss a shared research project. The grant supported IDEAS in hosting the Women Constitution Makers workshop on December 9th, 2023, a collective reflection among oral history narrators on the six Pakistani women that contributed to the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan. The workshop will lead to the publication of an article (e.g. roundtable, research article, special section) on the topic in the Society’s journal. Transactions is the flagship academic journal of the Royal Historical Society.
Founded in 1868, the Royal Historical Society (RHS) is a successful learned society, membership organisation and charity with a 150 year history. Today, the RHS is the UK’s foremost society working for historians and history
RHS Publication
