Pakistan's Independence Day in Washington DC (1949)

Pakistan's Independence Day in Washington DC (1949)
Pakistan's first ambassador to the USA, Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani, cuts the cake for Pakistan's second Independence Day in Washington DC.

Next to him is Mrs Ruhafza Hyder, wife of second secretary and future ambassador Sajjad Hyder, who began her career as a columnist and writer with her first letter home to her family in Lahore in December 1948.

On her right is Miss Rifat Rashid, her neighbour from Model Town, visiting from Columbia University, New York. She later became a professor and head of Social Work at Punjab University, and was Brigadier Shami Shaheed's sister.

Ambassador Ispahani decreed that the Pakistani ladies wear ghararas to distinguish themselves from the Indian ladies dressed in saris.

– Rehana Hyder