Nation observes 130th birth anniversary of Fatima Jinnah today

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KARACHI, JULY 31 (DNA) — The nation has observed the 130th birth anniversary of Madr-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah on Monday.  She was born on July 31, 1893 in Karachi.

 She was the youngest of her seven siblings. Out of all her siblings, she was the closest to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who became her guardian upon the death of their father in 1901.

She obtained a dental degree from the University of Calcutta in 1923 and practiced as a dentist in Bombay.  Later, she left the profession and worked side by side with her brother, and gathered the women of the subcontinent on one platform which made the struggle for achieving a separate state for Muslims easier.

Fatima Jinnah joined the struggle for a separate Muslim homeland and was able to win respect for her determination and devotion to the aim within and outside the All-India Muslim League.

Fatima Jinnah is revered for her struggle in the Pakistan Movement, her devotion to her brother Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and her determined advocacy for women’s rights. She backed her brother through thick and thin when he decided to lead the Muslims of the subcontinent to achieve a Muslim country.

She was honoured with the title of Madar-e-Millat (Mother of the Nation) due to her dynamic role in the freedom movement.  In the late 1964, she again came in the political field for restoration of democracy in the country.

She contested the 1964 elections at the age of 71 against military dictator Ayub Khan. Two years later, she passed away at the age of 73 years on July 9, 1967. — DNA