While a number of stories about successful, educated, and privileged women surface social media these days, an uneducated Pakistani woman was praised by several prominent personalities including British High Commissioner Christian Turner for the extraordinary life the lady spent.
The brave and courageous lady, who died of covid-19 last Friday, was the mother of a British diplomat Fauzia Younis.
Fauzia, while narrating the story of her mother, wrote that the lady arrived in UK at a very young age, newly married, and with lots of hopes for her future.
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“Her first home was my aunt’s 2-bed house, sharing it with her 4 children, grandad & ofc dad”, she penned down.
While explaining the complexities of life abroad with no education, Fauzia wrote that her mom was unable to write letters to her family and used to rely on audio cassettes to get in touch with the loved ones back in Pakistan.
“She was never sent to school so could not write letters to her family overseas”.
The reason I was quiet on Twitter: my super mum (62) was fighting covid in ICU for nearly 3 months. She lost her fight last Friday in Ramadan
She is more than a covid statistic.
Her history like many women of colour from her generation needs to be told.
A thread (1/8): pic.twitter.com/v1wLWSRNaS
— Fouzia Younis (@YounisFouzia) April 19, 2021
Being a devoted mother and partner, the lady worked day and night for the welfare of her family.
“Her samosas were the first to go at school fairs and extra money was raised by stitching clothes”, Fauzia explained.
Her mother was never a typical brown mom instead, she gave the confidence and backed the diplomat whenever needed.
“A staunch advocate of girls’ education, she took me to libraries, made me listen to the news, sent me on overnight school trips when many Asian girls were not permitted by families”, she recalled.
“She backed me to drive at 17 & wanted me to make my own choices”.
When Muslims around the world were suffering after 9/11, the lady dauntlessly faced hate and criticism and supported her community members as well.
She was very vocal about women’s rights and raised four successful human beings who are currently serving at well-reputed organizations in the UK.
The post caught the eye of Christian Turner who then retweeted it and a number of prominent personalities commented on it.
Please read this moving thread 👇 from a wonderful colleague about an inspirational mother. https://t.co/xWKpGkYeyN
— Christian Turner (@CTurnerFCDO) April 19, 2021