Begum Abida Ahmed (English: Begum Abida Ahmed Born- 17 July, 1923 – Died: 7 December, 2003) Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the fifth President of India.[1] Was the wife of. She was known as an educated woman with very clear thoughts. Abida Begum also participated in cultural activities with great enthusiasm.
Abida Begum was born on July 17, 1923 in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh. His father’s name was Muhammad Sultan Haider ‘Josh’, who was in the civil service of the British government. Abida Begum graduated from ‘Aligarh Muslim University’ (AMU). He had great interest in fine arts. She also participated enthusiastically in cultural activities.
Begum Abida was married to former President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on November 9, 1945. At the time of marriage, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was much older than her. He was 40 years old, while Abida Begum was only 22 years old. Thus, her husband was 18 years older than her. Despite this age difference, their married life was successful and they were blessed with three children. As their first child, they got a son, who was named Parvez Ahmed. The second child was a daughter, named Sameena and the youngest child, a son, was named Durez Ahmed.
As part of her political journey, Abida Begum won the Lok Sabha by-election from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh seat on Congress ticket and was elected MP in June, 1981. As a Lok Sabha member, she had created a special reputation among the people of Bareilly. For this reason, she again reached the Lok Sabha in 1984 from the same parliamentary seat of Bareilly.