Gulalai Ismail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gulalai Ismail
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| ګلالۍ اسماعیل | |
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| Born | 30 October 1986 Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
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| Education | Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver Quaid-i-Azam University |
| Occupation | Human rights activist |
| Organization | Aware Girls Humanists International |
| Movement | Pashtun Tahafuz Movement |
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| Relatives | Saba Ismail (sister) |
| Family | Saba Ismail (sister) |
| Awards | International Humanist of the Year Award (2014) Commonwealth Youth Award for Asia (2015) Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention (2016) Anna Politkovskaya Award (2017) |
Gulalai Ismail (Pashto: ګلالۍ اسماعیل; born 30 October 1986) is a brave human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She works to make the world a better place, especially for women and young people.
Gulalai is the leader of an organization called Aware Girls. She is also a special ambassador for Humanists International. She is a key member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). She travels around the world to talk about how important it is to have peace and to help women become strong and independent. She has won many important awards for her work, like the International Humanist of the Year Award and the Anna Politkovskaya Award. In March 2021, she became a global ambassador for Humanists International.
Contents
Early Life and Starting Activism
Gulalai Ismail was born in Swabi District and grew up in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Her father, Muhammad Ismail, was a teacher and also a human rights activist. Because of him, Gulalai learned about fairness and women's rights from a young age. She studied biotechnology at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, finishing in 2012.
Founding Aware Girls
In 2002, when Gulalai was just 16 years old, she started an organization called Aware Girls. Her 15-year-old sister, Saba Ismail, joined her. Their goal was to fight against violence and unfair treatment of women in their area. Gulalai wanted to bring together people who believed in peace. She hoped they could find ways to peacefully stand up to groups like the Pakistani Taliban. She also wanted more women to get involved in politics.
Malala Yousafzai, who later won the Nobel Prize, was part of Aware Girls in 2011. Malala was shot by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 because she spoke up for girls' education.
Helping Women and Promoting Peace
Gulalai and her sister Saba have also given advice to the United Nations and the US government about peace and women's rights. In 2013, Gulalai started the Marastyal Helpline. This service helps women who are in danger or have been hurt by violence. It offers advice on legal help, medical care, and emotional support.
Gulalai also started the Seeds of Peace Network in 2010. This group teaches young people about human rights and how to be leaders. It encourages women to join politics in Pakistan and helps people from different religions get along. Gulalai created Seeds of Peace because she saw more young people being influenced by militant groups. Her work focuses on peace, challenging extreme ideas, and helping young women get involved in their communities.
Facing Dangers for Her Work
Because of their important work, Aware Girls often has to hold meetings in secret. They meet in hotel rooms with armed guards to stay safe. They believe Pakistan's intelligence agency might be watching them.
Gulalai has faced threats and had to leave her home before because of her activism. In May 2014, four armed men tried to break into her family home in Peshawar. They were looking for Gulalai, but luckily, she wasn't home. The men made threats and shot guns into the air when her father wouldn't open the door. Gulalai said, "I thought that sooner or later I’d be attacked, but I never thought it would happen to my family." She didn't know if the attackers were the Taliban, security forces, or criminals.
Challenges and Difficulties
Gulalai Ismail has faced many challenges because of her activism.
False Accusations
In November 2017, a person falsely accused Gulalai of blasphemy. In Pakistan, this charge can lead to the death penalty. Gulalai denied the accusation and later took legal action against the accuser, who was then arrested. Gulalai said she was fighting for herself and for others who are falsely accused. She believes that the education system in Pakistan needs to change to prevent such false accusations.
Speaking Out and Detentions
In August 2018, Gulalai gave a speech at a public gathering organized by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). She and 18 other activists were accused of making "anti-state" comments.
In October 2018, when she returned to Pakistan from a conference, airport officials stopped her. They took her passport and told her she couldn't leave Pakistan. She was later released on bail. It was found that Pakistan's intelligence agency had put her name on a list to prevent her from traveling. In November 2018, she was taken to the agency's headquarters. Gulalai said, "They told my father that if you do not make sure that your daughter is silenced, we are going to kill her." In March 2019, a court ordered her passport to be returned.
In January 2019, a video showed a 13-year-old boy saying his father and brother were arrested by security forces. Gulalai spoke about how the conflict affects women's mental health in tribal areas. She said, "the mental health of women from the tribal areas has deteriorated so much that they cannot endure another day of war.”
In February 2019, Gulalai was arrested in Islamabad during a protest. She was held in a cold, dirty room for two days without food or water. Many people around the world criticized her arrest.
Going into Hiding
After another incident in May 2019, the government increased its efforts against the PTM. Gulalai received death threats and was accused of treason. She decided to go into hiding to stay safe. Police searched for her, raiding her family's home and questioning her friends. She managed to escape Pakistan and found safety in New York City in September 2019. She said, "if I had ended up in prison and tortured for many years, my voice would have been silenced. The last few months have been awful. I have been threatened, harassed, and I am lucky to be alive."
After she went into hiding, Gulalai's parents were accused of "terrorism financing." Their home was raided multiple times. In July 2020, a court dismissed the case against them, but authorities refiled it with new accusations. Gulalai's family denied these charges.
Her father, Muhammad Ismail, was also accused of sharing "anti-state content" online. In January 2021, a judge told him to stop sharing such content. He said he would stop using social media. In February 2021, he was arrested again on terrorism charges. He was released on bail in April 2021 after more than two months in jail. Gulalai said his release was a relief, but his health was fragile.
Awards and Recognition
Gulalai Ismail has received many awards for her important work:
- In 2009, she won the YouthActionNet Fellowship.
- In 2010, she won the Paragon Fellowship.
- The British High Commission in Islamabad recognized her as an "Agent of Change."
- In 2013, she received the Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy. Foreign Policy magazine also named her one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2013."
- In August 2014, she won the International Humanist of the Year Award from Humanists International at the World Humanist Congress in England. In 2021, she became Humanists International's first ever Ambassador.
- In 2015, she received the Asia Region Commonwealth Youth Award for her efforts to help women become more independent.
- In 2016, her organization, Aware Girls, won the Fondation Chirac Peace Prize for preventing conflict. The French president at the time, Francois Hollande, presented the award to Gulalai.
- In 2017, Gulalai shared the Anna Politkovskaya Award with Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh. They both won for speaking out against religious extremism.
See also
- Malala Yousafzai
- Sanna Ejaz
- Bushra Gohar
- Asma Jahangir
- Fouzia Saeed
