Satnam Mahmood (16 October 1921 – October 1995), also referred to as Satnam Mahmood Kaur and Nama, was a Pakistani radio broadcaster, public administrator, women's rights activist, and educationist.

Biography

Satnam Mahmood was born Satnam Kaur in the city of

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1921 to Charan Singh, a novelist and journalist, and Sakina Singh. She was married to

Mahmood Ali Khan Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood *Mahmood Ali (1928� ...

, a progressive independence activist. Her husband was the uncle of writer

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (;; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and co ...

. After the establishment of Pakistan as an independent country, Mahmood became one of the first women to join the newly formed Pakistani civil service. The service sent her to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

as part of her training, where she received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in education. Mahmood Ali Khan died in 1961. Shehla Zia, Mahmood's daughter, and Maliha Zia Lari, one of her granddaughters, are also prominent

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activists. Mahmood began working as a

radio broadcaster Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

in 1941, working in

All-India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and is one of the two divisions of Prasar Bharati. Headquar ...

’s studio in Lahore. She became known for her broadcasts in

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

. As a broadcaster, she was referred to by the nickname "Nama". She also worked for the government, in areas related to women's education. She wrote multiple books on public administration. She taught in the Administrative Staff College, and also gave lectures elsewhere. After her husband's death, Mahmood moved away from broadcasting, and focused on women's rights activism. She played a role in setting up an organisation called the "Women’s Action Forum". She died of heart failure in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

in October 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmood, Satnam Pakistani women's rights activists Pakistani academics All India Radio people 20th-century Pakistani civil servants Pakistani women academics 1921 births 1995 deaths All India Radio women Pakistani radio presenters Pakistani women radio presenters Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni