They make up almost half of Pakistan's population of 180 million, but are rarely given the space and coverage they deserve. From Fatima Jinnah to Rana Liaquat Ali Khan to Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan has produced some very remarkable women. Today, they are bankers, businesswomen, activists, artists, sport stars. From a pool of almost 350 women, here's our list of the 100 women who matter most.
THE SHAKERS
Roshaneh ZafarInspired by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus's work at Grameen Bank, Roshaneh Zafar, 42, ditched her World Bank career to set up Kashf Foundation, Pakistan's first microfinance institution, in 1996. She started with a $10,000 loan from the Grameen Trust, Rs. 100,000 of her own, and 15 clients. Today, Kashf has more than 306,000 clients, and has disbursed more than $202 million in small loans to poor women. Kashf made Forbes's list of the world's top microfinance institutions in 2007, and U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged her work at the inaugural Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship last year. "The women I meet tell me, 'don't tell us about water sanitation projects, tell us how to earn a living," Zafar says. In setting up Kashf, she moved away from conventional development projects to help women finance their own empowerment.
Fights for the rights of women victimized by violence
Globally renowned Sufi vocalist with over 20 albums
Um-e-HassanShe shows us the Jamia Hafsa still lives
Um-e-Hassan, the wife of Lal Masjid's chief cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, came to national prominence four years ago as head of Jamia Hafsa, the mosque's seminary for women which was leading the charge to have Shariah laws imposed in Pakistan. The protests and actions of the burqa-clad students in Islamabad got the attention of the world—and the Army. At least 84 lives were lost when commandos finally stormed the Lal Masjid compound in July 2007. A native of Rawalpindi, Hassan cites the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and his wives Khadija and Ayesha as inspirations. She began religious instruction for women shortly after her marriage to Aziz in 1985. "Women are very important because they have the most influence on their children," she told Newsweek Pakistan. "For a good society, you need to work hard on the education of women." Hassan says she imparts a positive message to women in her lessons, "Women shouldn't think they have no role in society. They are wives, sisters, mothers, daughters." Hassan says she has never urged any of her followers toward violence, and that the reform of society is the responsibility of religious scholars operating with the authority of the state. One model, she says, is the Saudi religious police, the Mutaween. "When we see injustice and wrong in society," Hassan says, "it is our duty to at least point it out and tell people that this is wrong. This was our position back then, and this is our position now."
Pro-squash player continues the Khan legacy
Fights to eradicate leprosy in Pakistan
Stylish and smart, the fashionista has made a career out of making other people look hot
Doyenne of South Asian English lit is still going strong
Leading software development in Pakistan
South Asia's fastest woman and endorsements' queen
Fashion designer shows modern sensibility with traditional styles
Shazia MarriEnergy czarina
Married at 14 and divorced by 16, Sindh's first ever minister for energy, oil, and gas doesn't show it, but she's had to overcome plenty of challenges. The poised and articulate Marri, 38, was roped into politics by Benazir Bhutto, and has electrified us.
Her plight has inspired thousands to question controversial laws
The power behind Oxford University Press in Pakistan
Helps cancer patients feel normal with low-cost breast prosthetics
Runs Sabaoon to deprogram children brainwashed by the Taliban
Publisher of Pakistan's first independent weekly is also the country's most powerful humorist
Established successful furniture business despite Taliban threat
Tufts professor is top South Asian history scholar
As a founder of Aurat Foundation, she has been key in getting women's voices heard
Nothing scares dictators and demagogues more than this brave, rabble rousing, SCBAP president and human rights activist
Meatless Days author and Yale prof
Sana MirShe raised the bar for cricket
The 25-year-old led the Pakistan women's cricket team that won gold at the Guangzhou Asian Games, and the hearts of a nation craving sporting success. "We will have this medal for the next 4 years, I want to enjoy that," she told Newsweek Pakistan. She is the top rated Pakistani player, and among the top 20 best bowlers in the world.
Astrophysicist imparts her knowledge to new crop at MIT
The first woman to head the State Bank, Akhtar now runs the World Bank's MENA operations
Don't let her low-key demeanor mislead you, President Zardari's political secretary is the one who keeps things moving along
The educator and philanthropist is also the architect of the Benazir Income Support Programme
The youngest of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari's children has been the face of the anti-polio campaign since she was born
Key voice on the powerful Public Accounts Committee
President, First Women Bank
The first woman speaker of Parliament in the Muslim world
The industrious first lady is a political operator and a leading businesswoman
Asiya NasirPakistan woke up to Asiya Nasir after her hard hitting speech in the National Assembly following the assassination on March 2 of minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti. Representing the orthodox Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), the 39-year-old Christian M.P. left teaching to enter politics in 2002. We're glad she did.
The former first lady wowed us all by her courage after her husband's government was overthrown in a coup
Her self-started education empire now sprawls continents
Replaces Nadia Khan as face of GEO TV and Pakistan's Oprah
Painter, curator, gallery owner, she is the face of modern Pakistani art
Her video of a young woman being flogged in Swat turned public opinion firmly against the Taliban
The New York-based modern miniature artist has shown at every major gallery worth in its salt
The former adviser to George W. Bush got Pakistan and India talking again
Telecom's most attractive mascot
Founder of and indefatigable spirit behind Pakistan's SOS Villages
When she's not busy running Packages, one of Pakistan's largest business groups, she's writing poetry
Internationally renowned, her efforts as the U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia have helped stem the disease in the region
The Sindhi activist has gained new popularity after recieving the International Women of Courage Award from Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama
The Lahore-based writer opened an outlet for human rights activisim when she launched Ajoka Theatre under Gen. Zia
Pakistan's first woman to make a two-star general marked a new era in women's rights
The squash wunderkind is making Pakistan proud
One of the founding members of Women's Action Forum, she doubles as a talented filmmaker
Mukhtar MaiShe turned a horrible tragedy into a triumph of the human spirit. Gang raped in 2002 at the orders of a tribal jirga, Mai, 39, has fought a long and tough battle to get those who assaulted her convicted. Along the way, she founded a school and authored the best-selling In the Name of Honour. Today, Mai, who is herself illiterate, is working to ensure every girl in her village gets an education.
Only 13 when she qualified for the Summer Olympics in 2004, Rubab has a bright career ahead of her
Pakistan's first female fighter pilot
The award-winning Independent filmmaker has dedicated herself to social change through film
Freelance journalist who often reports on Pakistan for PBS and ITV
Co-founder of Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness has made it her mission to ensure no one else suffers her affliction
The award-winning author has toured the world, bringing the beauty of Pakistan with her
Food and homemaking guru
Lollywood actress reinvents herself as savvy talk-show host
Veteran columnist still going strong after four decades
Ubiquitous cherub-faced model and actress
With her Luscious Cosmetics, the Estée Lauder of Pakistan
Parliamentarian and twitter queen
Folk and sufi singer sets her own tone
Aide to Hillary Clinton is Pakistani on her mother's side
Tennis pro has been welcomed by Pakistanis as their own
CARE Foundation founder proves that philanthropy can make a difference
The Rural Support Program Network CEO focuses on the grassroots
Leader of the first four female fighter pilots trained by Pakistan's Air Force
Legendary folk singer
The only PPP leader with a safe National Assembly seat from Lahore
Nafisa ShahShe was among 1,000 women nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. Encouraged to enter politics by the late Benazir Bhutto she excelled as the mayor of Sindh's Khairpur district and is currently a Pakistan Peoples Party member of the National Assembly.
The first sister is running the day-to-day of the country's largest party
PMLN pol has nerves of steel, and a sense of humor
No one can put Faiz's verse to song quite like her
Heads the women's wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest religio-political party
Pakistan's original event planner
The U.S. Secretary of State's former classmate is a business mogul in her own right
Farhat HashmiShe established Al-Huda International in 1994. Since then, Hashmi has been the favored proselytizer of the ladies-who-lunch crowd in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi. She has a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Glasgow—and in converting women to Al-Huda's brand of Islamic conservatism. "I just translate the word of God," she told filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy in an interview. So if people have a problem with her, she said, "they have a problem with God."
Founding member of KaraFilm Festival maintains a healthy law practice for entertainment industry
Human rights campaigner
Novelist and playwright was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2010
Maryam BibiSince founding Khwendo Kor, which means "sister's home", a nongovernmental organization, in 1993, she's been struggling for funding. "Big donors like big projects," she told Newsweek Pakistan. They don't seem to find her organization's sharply focused work with internally-displaced women and children headline worthy. But, luckily, Bibi is trucking along just fine. "It is the poorest of the poor women who inspire me to keep working."
Kathak dancer introduced her skill to universities across the world
Printmaker and social activist
Author and activist
South Asia project director at International Crisis Group
Sungi head is working on several development projects
Tech wiz also runs the Special Olympics
Author, rights activist and dynamo
Raises funds for several charities and runs a kidney center
Journalist
Founder of Lotus PR
Veena Malik Spark and Provocateur
She says she is 27. Veena Malik, the actor, comedienne, and cultural lightning rod, says and does a lot of things that prompt a double take and require suspension of disbelief. Pakistanis remember her from such hits as "cricketer Muhammad Asif stole my heart—and my money!"; "Meera should watch her back"; and, of course, last year's Bigg Boss on Indian television that had Pakistan—and India—aghast, more because of her desperate determination to hog the spotlight rather than anything real saucy or salacious. For the finale, after she was voted out of the Bigg Boss house, Malik appeared on Frontline with Kamran Shahid in Pakistan taking on a mullah in a highly scripted, and spirited, performance that had Pakistan's pathetic Internet liberals hailing her as their new hero. The debate surrounding Malik's TV antics have served to further confirm the poverty of the liberal elite and the hypocrisy of the religious right. It has also shown Malik to be a savvy entertainer in this age of guns and Gaga. "I'm not one of those you can malign and get away with it," Malik told Newsweek Pakistan. "If people think they can because I'm a woman, they're mistaken." Malik was last seen on India's World Cup-related show, Bigg Toss. Veena, vidi, vici, indeed.
