Begum Anees Kidwai: Healing Hearts Amidst Partition's Pain

By Afroz Khan, New Age Islam 17 July 2025 Begum Anees Kidwai (1906–1982), a resilient philanthropist, overcame personal tragedy during India's Partition to serve others. Inspired by Gandhi, she comforted refugees, reunited kidnapped women with families, and fought communal violence. A writer and Rajya Sabha member, her compassionate legacy endures through her impactful books and speeches Key Point: 1. 1.Overcame personal tragedy during Partition, losing her husband in riots. 2. Followed Gandhi’s advice, aiding refugees and reuniting kidnapped women. 3. Elected to Rajya Sabha (1957–1968) and served on Muslim Personal Law committee. 4. Delivered impactful speeches challenging communalism and promoting unity. 5. Authored books like “Azadi Ki Chhaon Mein” documenting Partition’s pain. ---- Begum Anees Kidwai was born in 1906 in a patriotic but conservative family of Barabanki, Awadh, Agra, United Province. Her father's name was Sheikh Vilayat Ali. Her father was a lawyer by profession and also wrote humorous columns in local newspapers. Her father was a supporter of conservative ideology. Begum Anees Kidwai was very fond of education but the family had no provision for women's education; hence, she learnt Urdu and English by listening to the teacher who came to teach her brother. Anees Kidwai married Shafi Ahmad Kidwai in 1920. Her husband was employed in different cities, so Anees Kidwai got the opportunity to live in different cities of India. Anees's brother-in-law Rafi Ahmad Kidwai was a freedom fighter, so her family often had to face political persecution. When India became independent in 1947, Anees Kidwai's husband was working in Mussoorie and Anees Kidwai lived with her family in Lucknow. The partition of the country started changing the situation in India and riots started in many places. Peace was maintained in Lucknow due to the efforts of various peace committees and people, but the situation in Mussoorie started deteriorating. At that time, her husband was in his office in Mussoorie. Anees Kidwai tried to call him back, but her husband wanted to stay there and try to control the situation. In response to one of Anees Kidwai's letters, her husband replied that "No matter how the life is, the death will be more beautiful when we will be martyred while uniting two hearts". Just a week after receiving her husband's last letter, her husband died during the riots. Anees Kidwai was devastated to see his dead body but she did not let the grief overwhelm her. Anees gathered courage and went to Delhi and met Mahatma Gandhi and told him her story. Then Gandhiji said to her, "Anees, your pain is so great that it is difficult to imagine. But you are Anees. You go to those camps where there is a crowd of such disappointed hearts. Go and console them". Following Gandhiji's orders, Anees Kidwai visited those camps where there were many women like her. Seeing the misery spread in these camps, Anees forgot her sorrow and she also found the real purpose of her life. Anees Kidwai used to visit refugee camps regularly, encourage people, heal their pain, and listen to their stories. Anees Kidwai's presence made people feel a sense of belonging. During the Partition, many women and girls were kidnapped in the violence that continued or they got separated from their families for some reason. Then she started the work of finding the women and girls who had disappeared in this tragedy. Anees Kidwai found countless girls from far and wide and reunited them with their families. There were many families who refused to adopt those girls. Anees Kidwai embraced those girls who were rejected by their own families, made arrangements for their stay, took responsibility of those girls herself, her friend Subhadra Joshi supported her in this noble work, for this noble work of Anees Kidwai, people used to lovingly call her Anees Apa. Begum Anees Kidwai was elected to the Bihar Rajya Sabha twice from Congress Party, from 1957 to 1962 and from 1962 to 1968. In 1961, she was the only woman member of the six-member Parliamentary Committee set up by Jawaharlal Nehru to consider possible reforms in Muslim Personal Law. Begum Anees Kidwai was a brilliant speaker. Her speeches used to be impressive and powerful. An example of her speech was seen once when a meeting was organized in a ground in Delhi. A minister standing on the stage was constantly questioning the loyalty and patriotism of the Muslims of the country. He was making the atmosphere provocative by sowing the seeds of hatred among the people present in the meeting. He was repeatedly trying to pressurize the Muslims to speak openly on sensitive issues like Kashmir and Hyderabad. After the speech of that minister, Begum Anees Kidwai was invited to give a speech on the stage. Anees Kidwai came on the stage with a heavy heart but said in a strong voice, 'I have participated in many meetings. Nowadays it has become common that anyone asks for loyalty from Muslims. Everyone is worried about Muslims. However, only the one who is honest himself can demand loyalty from them. Bapu was honest. He could say. Jawaharlal ji or his other nationalist colleagues can ask questions, but what path will they show when they themselves are wrong? When I look inside my own heart, I do not find anyone who can be shown to the world.' After his speech, there was silence in the assembly for some time and the very next moment the entire ground echoed with the sound of applause. Begum Anees Kidwai was also a great writer. She has written many books describing the pain of Partition. The most important among them are "Azadi Ki Chhaon Mein", "Nazare Khush Gujre" and "Zulum. In the book Azadi Ki Chhaon, Anees has given a detailed description of the emotional dilemma and pain she experienced during the rehabilitation of refugees after Partition and the search for kidnapped girls. In her other book Zulum, she has strongly opposed communal violence. Anees Kidwai was honoured by the Sahitya Kala Parishad for her invaluable contribution to literature. Begum Anees Kidwai passed away on 16 July 1982 Begum Anees Kidwai was a woman of strong will and philanthropy. Even after the terrible incident that happened to her, she did not lose her patience but became a support for other broken people and improved the lives of many women. Begum Anees Kidwai worked day and night without any discrimination. She served by pouring cold water on the fire of questions and revenge. She emphasized on creating a place for people to be provoked. She talked about standing up instead of crying. Despite all this, the country will always be indebted to the service that Begum Anees did for the people who came from that side after the partition. ------ Afroz Khan is a teacher by profession. She primarily writes about women and Islam. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Education URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/begum-kidwai-healing-hearts-partition/d/136199 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism