Gulalai Ismail, 32, got international attention after she fled Pakistan in September and sought asylum in the US. The Pakistani military had charged her with sedition and treason, and for defaming Pakistan’s institutions. A vocal supporter of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, Gulalai began working for women’s rights at the age of 16, and heads the NGOs Aware Girls and the Seeds of Peace network. A prominent spokesperson for Pashtun women, who claim to have been oppressed and harassed by Pakistan, Gulalai spoke exclusively to THE WEEK from Brooklyn. Excerpts from an interview:
How difficult is it for a woman to raise her voice against human rights violations, especially in Pakistan?
As a woman, it is much more challenging because I have to fight at multiple levels. It is true that the life of women is getting better with new legislations, but at the community level there is still lack of acceptability for women leaders, especially if you do not appease patriarchy and are secular in your politics. Religious extremism has also made lives of women much more difficult in Pakistan. I am fighting patriarchal culture, religious extremism and a militarised state all at once.
Do you feel the establishment is more perturbed because a woman is standing against it?
Yes, they are scared. I think it is the office-bearers in Pakistan security agencies who are scared of me; they try to intimidate me. Their ego is hurt because they claim to be the best agencies in the world. They are afraid of strong women who refuse to stop their struggle for democracy and peace.
Your father was recently arrested and is in custody.
The authorities are harassing my father, Professor [Muhammad] Ismail, as they could not lay their hands on me. He was abducted just outside the Peshawar high court and later, only under international pressure, was presented before the magistrate. He has been accused of hate speech and of speaking against government institutions.
In July, both my parents were booked in another case, under the anti-terrorism laws of Pakistan, for taking money from India to distribute it among terror organisations in Pakistan. When the state failed to convict my parents in that case, a fake and malicious case was made against my father.
When we work in Pakistan for democracy and women’s rights, we are accused of working for the Research and Analysis Wing, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Directorate of Security (Afghanistan). The most painful thing is when you work for human rights of your own country and you are accused of working for the vested interest of other countries.
By “they” you mean the Pakistan government or the military?
Pakistan’s military establishment is deep state. They control resources, politics and the government, [but] have failed miserably in fighting terrorism. Targeted killings and abductions are rising. The security situation is deteriorating in the erstwhile tribal areas, but Pakistan security agencies, instead of fighting the Taliban, are fighting human rights activists.
It is clear that stronger democracy will mean less interference of the Pakistan military in politics. This will be detrimental to their control over resources and for their proxy war in the region. That is why they are after every voice that supports democracy, including my elderly father.
