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.