Shaheer Ahmed
Women’s day is just around the corner – and because one day is not enough to celebrate women – we decided to have a week dedicated to honoring the contribution of women in Pakistan. And our woman of the day is Ishrat Fatima – the face of PTV, a newscaster, and one brave woman who has surprised and inspired so many of us.
Ishrat Fatima was a newscaster and had a very successful career in the 1980s. She was the face of Urdu news of the 9 PM slot in Khabarnama, and later in 2019 was also awarded one of the most prestigious awards of Pakistan – Sitar-e-Imtiaz.
To sit and draw a comparison between different fields and wonder which of them requires more hard work, and which does not is futile because all the careers out there – or rather every person, both men, and women who get up every day and do their work, be it from the homes or from on fields – are all doing their best and doing something that is their passion, and will help the human race and Pakistan evolve and flourish.
Ishrat Fatima was no less, and her dedication to her field knew no bounds. To sit in front of the camera every day and have to deliver news to the world is not an easy job. There are times that you are not in the right headspace to be able to do something and then there are times when there is a chance of mispronouncing a word or having a slip of tongue. Honestly, there are so many things that can go wrong when news reading but the fact that Ishrat Fatima took pride in her work and made sure that she did her best is something that has to be appreciated.
Maybe it was because of her hard work and passion for her work that to this day, everyone knows of her. Our parents sit down and tell us the stories of what a great newscaster she was. The idea is to do work so memorable that the whole world remembers you even in the years to come.
Ishrat Fatima is the kind of woman who has taught us how to be brave, what passion and hard work means. She is an inspiration to the generation of today, and if people begin to follow her example then there is no doubt that the world today, and the generation of today will learn a thing or two, which will only help them.
In the end, we just want to thank Ishrat Fatima for all her contribution to Pakistan, and for being an icon to so many of us. We remember you and aspire to put the same hard work and dedication into our work that you did.
Ayesha Gul – First Woman AIG OF KPK
