Writer Mod Date & Time PARTITION: Tape 51 255MODEM 255MODEM Mar 26 14:59 TAPE 51 Side A BEGUM AIZAZ RASUL interviewed at her home, 2 Mall Road, Lucknow on 26 March 1997; born 1909 in Lahore; grandfather the Nawab of Malar Kotla in Punjab; initially educated by British governesses, but later went to school - said to be the first scion of the Malar Kotla royal family to do so; married into a UP taluqdar/Nawab family - living in the ancestral home (in purdah) and in Lucknow; came out of purdah to win a seat in UP upper house in 1937 (and member of a state or central legislature from then to 1990); husband a member of ML - she joined only in early 1940s, but became very active; ML member of India;s Constituent Assembly (and attended January's 50th anniv celebrations - one of eight of fifteen surviving members to do so) - was sec of ML group in CA, and moved resoln saying Ms didn't want reserved seats; later active in Congress Party interviewed at her old home (tho not ancestral home in Lucknow, which was in Kaiserbagh); elderly woman, rather rambling memories, but with an engaging laugh; in room - photo of mother taken in London, photo of father looking jaunty in a bowler hat, four children in Lucnowi dress in 1940s, portrait of herself as a young woman, sepia photo of Nehru; wears dupatta, sadened by some of her memories, but very keen to talk; daughter says old Lucknowi/Urdu culture has now 'gone' has four children - two married to Shias (tho own family is Sunni); two of four living in Pakistan (said in chat: 'most of the eligible boys were in Pakistan') provided five-page bio data [interviewed again in Delhi - recorded and noted in Tape 54] 5 > personal history 30 > father in politics, became his secretary 'and that gave me a taste for politics' 45 - got married in 1929, 'a UP-Punjab marriage'; husband a talaqdar; lived in ? Sadila, c35 miles from L'now, a conservative 'qasbah'; in purdah there; 'all the high class ladies in those days, Hs and Ms, were mostly in purdah, but Ms especially observed M; naturally my mother was v strictly in purdah, even men- servants were not allowed in their house ...' 86 - in 1936 'I thought I'd like to stand', and not for a reserved women's seats, for seat in UP upper house; 'so I stood for a man's constituency, it was v enterprising of me, cos my husband even was rather taken aback ... that was the first time I came out of purdah, and there were fatwah ... from the M priest ... and she sd not be voted', but was elected, and became deputy pres of Council (and was only woman member)