ISLAMABAD, June 23: Ninety-Two year-old Janak Jalil Asghar nee Kumari, niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, this week breathed her last, alone, in a tiny room of the house she occupied at Lahore after being ostracised by both her family and that of her husband.

Till the very end, Janak had no regrets about a decision she took few months before the partition of the sub-continent she married Jalil Asghar, an impressive Muslim civil servant she had met at a dinner in Delhi. No one attended her funeral rites.

From a rich, well-known social worker, who was once the talk of Lahore, she was reduced to living on charity herself. Once the owner of a huge mansion, all that belonged to her at the time of her death were two small rooms as the rest of the mansion had been sold to meet financial needs.

Janak's husband, Asghar Jalil, retired as the defence secretary of Pakistan. Her father-in-law, Asghar Ali, a former finance and foreign affairs secretary, was among the members of her husband's family who refused to accept her. On her side of the family nobody, except her immediate family and cousin Indira Gandhi, forgave her for marrying a Muslim.

In an interview a few months before her death, a bed-ridden Janak recalled ``My grandmother and Moti Lal Nehru were siblings. Indira was my cousin. I lost touch with her after my marriage. Her behaviour was different than the rest of the family. She genuinely welcomed me and was extremely happy to see me when I went to attend her son's wedding.''

Janak had, however, never wanted to return to India after she moved to Lahore with her husband in 1952 where his family resided and owned property. However, Lahore was not a new place for her. She had lived there as a student in 1917 at her maternal grandfather's residence. Her father was a lawyer in Allahabad. After coming to Lahore with Asghar Jalil, Janak became involved with a number of social organisations such as Children's Aid Society and worked closely with the government.

She was also awarded a national honour Sitara-e-Khidmat -- by then president Ayub Khan. She strived hard for people displaced by the partition.However, the issueless couple's financial worries started soon after Jalil's retirement. When he fell ill they resorted to selling sections of their property to meet medical bills.

He died soon after, leaving all his assets to his wife and thereby infuriating his relatives even further, who decided to litigate against the frail old woman.

``Once I lived in a huge house which had a garden. Today I live in just two tiny rooms in a corner of the same house. My friends, my husband's relatives all ignore me and avoid me,'' said Janak, in what was to be her last interview.

Bedridden, she lived alone and was looked after by a faithful servant. The person who bought her mansion allowed her to live on without paying rent.Janak never converted to Islam. But that never came between her and Pakistan. She was accepted everywhere she went simply because of her social work. While society never made this an issue, her relatives chose to make it a point of conflict.

``In the ultimate analysis, it was not those she didn't know that let her down but those who were close to her,'' commented a Lahore resident. ``It's sad that while talks between the foreign secretaries was given so much coverage, the woman who showed to the world how it was possible to live in harmony died the same day, unwept,'' he added.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.