Sophia Khan

Sophia Khan was a freedom fighter and a pioneer of women`s liberation. She was very broad minded and moderate. She trained people during Japans attack on India. Her mission was to infuse a sense of nationalism among the soldiers.

Sophia Khan was born on 1916 in Bombay. She was educated at a convent school in Bombay. As a young girl of 15, she had witnessed women like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Hansa Mehta and Lilavati Munshi defy the unjust salt law by preparing salt from seawater and was highly impressed by their action. As a result she joined the Congress and its volunteer corps. She worked so devotedly and meticulously that she was made the G.OC Sophiaben was married to Saadulla Khan, son of Dr. Khan Saheb and nephew of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.

Sophia Khan was loved and highly respected by all Congressmen. She trained people in self-defence at the time of Japan`s threatened attack on India. As a result, she was arrested along with Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel and was taken to Yervada Jail, Pune. In jail, she worked as a link between prisoners and the jail authorities.

Sophia Khan attended prayers regularly observed fasts during Ramzan and she distributed fruits and other eatables among her fellow-prisoners. She also used to spin daily. She used to look after the younger prisoners like her own children. Sophiaben had to leave Bombay to join her family in Peshawar where her in-laws and children were waiting for her. She breathed her last on March 16, 1961.