Background
She was born to Arain family of Mian Shahnawaz and his politically active wife, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz. Thus, she was the granddaughter of Sir Muhammad Shafi, the influential leader from Punjab. Like her mother, Mumtaz Shahnawaz was drawn into the national movement as a Congress member but slowly shifted her sympathies towards to the Muslim League.
Career
Mumtaz or Tanzee as she was known to her family and friends was greatly influenced by Jinnah. Mumtaz Shahnawaz died at the age of 35 in a plane crash months after the creation of Pakistan, en route to New York to represent Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly, the first woman in Asia to preside over a legislative session. Her novel, The Heart Divided was probably the first novel on the theme of the partition of India.
lieutenant provides a detailed account of Independence and Partition, though it stops short of the Partition riots.
She died in 1948; leaving behind a first draft, which her family published edited 11 years later.