Renowned veteran politician, Begum Nasim Wali Khan, known as Mor Bibi and the iron lady, who was also the former provincial president of the Awami National Party (ANP), passed away on Sunday in Charsadda. She was laid down next to her husband, Khan Abdul Wali Khan’s grave according to her wishes in Wali Bagh.
She suffered from many diseases; such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems and died after a prolonged fight with her diseases at the age of 85.
A three-day mourning was announced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the death as to pay her respect. Her funeral prayers were led by Maulana Mohsinuddin Sabehaq a well-known religious scholar and attended by many followers. Asfandyar Wali Khan, the ANP President, did not attend her funeral as he was ill but expressed that her death is a great loss to the party. However, many ANP senior leaders, former senators and National assembly members were present during her funeral prayers.
Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that, ‘She will be remembered for her struggle for democracy in Pakistan. President Alvi also expressed his condolences while highlighting her hard work in politics.
General Qamar Javed, Chief of Army Staff also expressed his sorrow for Begum Nasim Wali Khan’s death as he tweeted, “May Allah Almighty bless the departed soul in eternal peace and give solace to the bereaved family, Ameen.”
Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan President also offered his condolences on Begum Naseem’s death, as stated by ANP.
Born in 1936 in the house of the grandfather of the vice president of ANP Ameer Hadier Khan Hoti she could not finish her education. As in 1954, at the age of 18 she married her late husband.
Mor Bibi came into politics in 1975 when her husband and a few of the members were arrested and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto banned the Awami National Party. This iron lady did not stop at anything to have her husband and her people released from jail during Zia’s reign.
This iron lady broke stereotypes and became the first woman to be elected from KP in the general elections 1977. She was provincial and a parliamentary leader for the party, and was elected to the provincial assembly three times. It was under her term that Bacha Khan Markaz was built in Peshawar.
Begum Nasim was a firm believer of women participation in politics and has been stated saying that, “Women must take part in politics as they are a major part of society. Ignoring women means ignoring the majority of society”.
It was in 2012 when she announced that she will join politics again after a break of seven years.
In 2017, Begum Nasim and Asfandyar Wali Khan joined forces and announced that they will merge and work together. This news came as a shock as they had differences in opinions about leadership which was the part of the reason Begum Nasim left and started her own party in 2014 by the name of Awami National Party (Wali). She was the first Pakhtun that launched a separate party from Charsadda region.
Begum Nasim is known as a hardworking Iron lady because of her commendable work for politics in the time and age when women were not allowed to do anything.