Gulalai Ismail - Timeline of Legal Persecution and State Oppression

Gulalai Ismail - Timeline of Legal Persecution and State Oppression

Gulalai Ismail is a human rights activist from Pakistan associated with the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). Gulalai got involved in advocacy already at the age of 16 when she founded “Aware Girls”, an NGO dedicated to women empowerment in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was attended by Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousufzai back in 2011. Despite the international recognition for her services, Gulalai's relationship with the Pakistani state remains tumultuous. Frequently accused by terrorists and military alike for being a “western agent” working in anti-national interests, she was forced to flee Pakistan and seek asylum in New York in 2019.

2002

• 2002: Gulalai founded an NGO Aware Girls, aiming to challenge the culture of violence and oppression of women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

2010

• 2010: Gulalai sets up the Youth Peace Network, which supports young people in becoming peace activists in their communities.

2013

• January 2013: Gulalai sets up the Marastyal Helpline to advise and assist women at risk and victims of gender-based violence.

• July 17, 2013: Gulalai receives the Democracy Award from National Endowment for Democracy.

2014

• May 16, 2014: Armed gunmen break into Gulalai’s home and accuse her of being a “western agent”.

• August 2014: Gulalai is awarded the International Humanist of the Year Award by the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

2015

• March 11, 2015: Gulalai received the 2015 Asia Region Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development

• 2015: Gulalai extends the Youth Peace Network to Afghanistan to work with the youth of Afghanistan on countering violence and working on conflict resolution.

2016

• November, 2016: Gulalai’s organization, Aware Girls, was awarded the Fondation Chirac Peace Prize for the Prevention of Conflict, by then French president Francois Hollande.

2017

• October 7, 2017: Gulalai receives Anna Politkovskaya Award by Raw in War, a human rights organization, for her courage to speak out and defy violence and armed conflict in Pakistan.

2018

• February 3, 2018: Gulalai participates in the Pashtun Long March, following the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud.

• May 5, 2018: Gulalai’s Facebook account is suspended after being reported as “fake”. The account is later restored.

• August 13, 2018: An FIR is registered against 19 PTM leaders, including Gulalai following Manzoor Pashteen’s address in Swabi.

• October 12, 2018: Gulalai is detained at the airport by the FIA following her return from the UK. She is later placed on the ECL and her travel documents, including her passport, are confiscated.

• December 3, 2018: Gulalai deactivates her Twitter account after several hacking attempts.

• December 28, 2018: Gulalai is summoned by the counter-terrorism wing of the FIA for questioning.

2019

• January 20, 2019: Gulalai writes an open letter extending support to women of Kheshor about the outrageous attack upon the dignity of women of Khesor-Waziristan.

• February 5, 2019: Gulalai participates in protests against Armaan Loni’s murder.

Gulalai is arrested alongside other workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement for holding a demonstration.

• February 7, 2019: Gulalai is released from jail, however her phone was seized.

• March 14, 2019: Gulalai’s name is removed from the Exit Control List.

• May 1, 2019: Gulalai accuses security personnel of breaking into her home at night.

• May 31, 2019: As a result of her speech at a protest, the police files a complaint against Gulalai accusing her of defamation, promoting enmity, and sedition.

• September 19, 2019: It comes to light that Gulalai escaped to New York where she applied for political asylum.

• October 2, 2019: A Non-bailable arrest warrant is issued for Gulalai for “maligning state institutions”.

• October 17, 2019: Gulalai’s home in Islamabad is visited by armed persons. Her father says he refused to open the door.

• November 4, 2019: Gulalai calls for [signatures on a letter]28 to the US Congress against the witchhunt of her family members.

• November 5, 2019: Gulalai’s father is mistreated in prison and denied medical treatment.

• November 6, 2019: Amnesty International calls upon the Government of Pakistan to drop charges against Gulalai’s father Professor Muhammad Ismail. He was charged with hate speech and cyber terrorism.

• November 22, 2019: Gulalai’s Facebook account is suspended for “security reasons”.

• November 23, 2019: Gulalai’s Facebook account is suspended. She did not receive any communication from Facebook.

2020

• July 2020: A terrorism case is registered against Gulalai’s father and mother Uzlifat. Gulalai was accused of funneling weapons to terrorists who carried out a 2013 suicide attack on a Sunday service at Peshawar’s All Saints Church.

• December 22, 2020: Gulalai is threatened on Twitter. The hateful post is deleted later on.

2021

• January 28, 2021: Gulalai’s parents face judicial harassment. She says they are summoned to the courts on a daily basis.

• January 29, 2021: Gulalai’s parents are granted bail in different cases.

• February 3, 2021: Gulalai’s father is arbitrarily detained.

• February 5, 2021: There is another hacking attempt against Gulalai. This time on Gulalai's Yahoo account is targeted.

Police raids her parents’ house without a search warrant and confiscates documents.

February 15, 2021: Gulalai’s father is denied bail.