Akleem Akhtar
Akleem Akhtar (also known as General Rani) was the mistress of Army general and future military leader General Yahya Khan and was known as the country's most powerful woman during his regime. 'General Rani' means 'General's Queen' literally. In fact, Rani was Akhtar's alias and General was the title given to her as a joke by people and news media because of her being included in the inner circle of General Yahya Khan during his military rule between 1969 and 1971 in Pakistan. She was perhaps the most powerful woman in Pakistan for that period . Due to her close association with the ruling military dictator, she had considerable influence over him and frequently passed on her advice to him. A number of bureaucrats and politicians approached her when they wanted Yahya's attention. Early life. Akleem Akhtar was born in Gujrat in Punjab, British India in 1931 or 1932 in a conservative middle-class family. In her childhood, she had a reputation of being a tomboy, fond of outdoor sports. She did not complete her 10th grade (matric) examination but came across as intelligent. She was married off by her parents to a Police Officer  Moiz Jee, inhabitant of North Karachi (sector 11-L), much older than herself (twice her age). She was never happy in that marriage, but Akhtar played well the role of a good wife for many years bearing six children with this husband and never left the house without a 'burqa' (covering herself with a face veil and abaya). Until one day in 1963, when on holiday in the cool hills of Murree, Akhtar rebelled against her husband and removed her 'naqab' (face veil) in defiance of her husband's wishes and told him she was going to live her own  life. The marriage ended in a divorce in a dramatic way, where Akhtar also took the couple's six children with her. She sought her parents' help but they insisted that they would only help her if she got back with her husband. In desperation, she started to plan to get close to powerful, rich men. The dramatic collapse of Akhtar's marriage was a turning point in her life. In a May 2002 interview with Newsline (magazine), Akhtar stated: “I was determined to beat men at their own game. Since my husband was in the police, I had been  observing men in positions of power throughout my married life and I had realised that all men in positions of power needed a vent and the vent they require the most is a bedmate provided through a reliable agency. The higher a man’s position, the greater his demand.” Thus Akhtar adopted a motto of ‘miyan ki juti miyan ke sar’ which means to 'beat men at their own game' and started her own prostitution business where she provided girls to men in need. Akhtar had not acquired formal skills or qualifications to support an independent career but she had  come to know many rich and powerful men through frequenting clubs with her former husband. She met General Yahya Khan via these means and a relationship between them developed. Relationship with Yahya Khan. Due to Akhtar's close association with Yahya Khan and power she exercised due to the connection, she was known as General Rani ("General's Queen"). She is said to have lovingly called Yahya Khan 'Agha Jani'. Akhtar held no official position, but she was given a special treatment due to her connection with Yahya Khan. She denied she was ever a Yahya Khan's "mistress" and  claimed that they were merely friends. She revealed in an interview that drinking alcohol and women were Yahya Khan's weaknesses and General Rani exploited both of his weaknesses. She maintained that she was only playing the role of a woman behind the scenes, had always maintained her dignity and saw herself playing the role of a mother figure to the homeless and needy young girls that she provided to the rich and powerful men. Death and legacy. In May 2002, Pakistani media reported that Akhtar was suffering from breast cancer that has metastasised in her liver and kidney. Akleem  Akhtar died of cancer on 1 July 2002, after fighting against cancer for over five years, aged 70, at Shaikh Zayed Hospital in Lahore. Among the survivors are three sons and two daughters. Akleem Akhtar is the mother of famous Pakistani journalist Aroosa Alam and the grandmother of pop star Fakhar-e-Alam.