Tahira Mazhar Ali

Tahira Mazhar Ali (née Hayat; 5 January 1924 – 23 March 2005) was a Pakistani women's rights campaigner, political activist, and a mentor to Benazir Bhutto. Her children include British Pakistani political activist Tariq Ali, Tauseef Hyat, and Australian journalist Mahir Ali.

Early life She was born on 5 January 1924 in Lahore, British India

Ali finished her basic education at Queen Mary School in Lahore. She married at the age of 17 to her cousin, Mazhar Ali Khan

Career She was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP)

Ali was jailed for vigorously opposing General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship. She was the first person in Pakistan to pair the fight for workers' rights with the fight for women's rights, resisting Zia's assault on the rights of women. Although she was born in an affluent family, she remained an activist for labour and women's rights for over 60 years. In 1950, she was one of the founders of the Democratic Women's Association (DWA), considered the country's first independent women's rights organisation.

In her later years, before she suffered a series of debilitating strokes that left her partially paralysed, she served as a mentor to many prominent Pakistani women. Veteran Pakistani journalist and human rights activist I. A. Rehman paid tribute to her in the Dawn newspaper, saying that she was "a true activist" and mentioned her work for women's rights and peace-making efforts between India and Pakistan.