Tehmina Durrani hails from a prominent Pakistani family. She is artist, author, and children’s right activist. Her father, Shahkur Ullah Durrani, held prestigious positions as Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and managing director of Pakistan International Airlines. Her lineage boasts impressive figures as well. Her grandfather, Major Muhammad Zaman Durrani, served in the military, and her mother’s side connects her to Nawab Sir Liaqat Hayat Khan, who once led the princely state of Patiala. Sir Liaqat Hayat Khan’s brother, Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, also held a significant political position as Punjab Premier before 1947.
Early Marriage and Family Life: Tehmina Durrani married at a young age, at seventeen, to Anees Khan. Together they had a daughter. However, their marriage didn’t last, and they divorced in 1976.
Second Marriage and Struggle: Durrani later married a prominent politician, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who had been married several times before. They had four children during their marriage. Unfortunately, the relationship turned abusive, and after enduring this hardship for fourteen years, Durrani ended the marriage through divorce.
My Feudal Lord
The most famous novel, My Feudal Lord by Tehmina Durrani, is about her 2nd marriage with Ghulam Mustafa Khar, a Pakistan Peoples Party leader. In her novel, she highlights how her complexes made her fall for the feudal lord, Mustaf Khar while she was still married to her first husband Anees Khan. Her second marriage turned into an abusive relationship due to her insecure husband, Khar. She tried to get out of it several times but couldn’t because of her children and coercion of her husband. Later, she just compromised to the political cause to continue her marriage. Eventually, leaving her husband when her image of him as an ideal political leader broke into pieces and his low character further hurt her. She took divorce from Khar after fourteen years of marriage.
In the later years, she worked with Abdul Sattar Edhi, a philanthropist. She married Shehbaz Sharif 2003. She is spouse of the Prime Minsiter of Pakistan as the wife of Shehbaz Shairf, sharing the post with Begum Nusrat, the first wife of Shehbaz Sharif. She has previously served this post from 10 April 2022 to 13 August 2023.
Tehmina Durrani Foundation
Founded in 2015, Tehmina Durrani Foundation (www.tehminadurranifoundation.org) officially launched its activities in January, 2017. Tehmina Durrani explains, “We are picking the mission of Edhi, where he left. His duty was to serve the humanity without distinction of caste and creed – and so is ours.”
The core ideas in its Mission and Vision are:
- Establishing Pakistan as a Social Welfare State.
- Teaching the Edhi ideology of humanitarianism, tolerance, and service to others less privileged.
- Women’s empowerment through economic independence.
- Protection and rehabilitation of the children of war.
Books
Her notable published works include My Feudal Lord (1991), A Mirror to the Blind (1996), Blasphemy (1998), Happy Things in Sorrow Times (2013).