Intikhab-e-Kalam: Zahida Khatoon Sherwaniya

Zahida Khatoon Sherwani (1894-1922), was the younger daughter of Nawab Sir Muzammilullah Khan Sherwani, Rais of Bhikampur in the Aligarh district of Northern India. From the age of ten, Zahida expressed her ambition to become a poet by writing verses and articles and sending them off to women’s magazines and literary periodicals, such as Khatun of Aligarh, ‘Ismat of Delhi, and Sharif Bibi of Lahore, among others. She also became the organizer and ring-leader of her generation of Sherwani cousins, starting a “Young Sherwanis’ League” that met periodically and had a formal list of aims and objectives that included starting schools for the children of Bhikampur and Datauli, and donating money to the drive for a boarding house at Aligarh Girl’s School. She died at the young age of 27 in 1922. Compiler: Dr Fatema Hassan has been committed to the cause of Woman’s Rights ever since she began to write. Holding a PhD in Mass Communications from the University of Karachi, she began her career as Assistant Editor Publications in the Sindh Information Department in 1977. Presently she is serving as Director Public Relations. She has published seven books of poetry, including Behte Huwe Phool, Dastak se Dar ka Fasla, Yadein bhi ab Khwab Hueen, and Yaad ki Barishein (her complete works).