Published 20:18 IST, October 24th 2019
Father was picked up by men in militia dress: Pak activist Gulalai
Activist Gulalai Ismail said that her father has been picked up by men in militia dress outside Peshawar High Court hours ago she tweeted on October 24.
Pakistani women rights activist Gulalai Ismail claimed on Thursday that her father was picked up by men dressed like militia outside Peshawar High Court. The activist is currently in the US after fleeing from Pakistan, where she was accused of treason, to seek political asylum in the country. Earlier, Gulalai was arrested and released for holding a protest demonstration outside the National Press Club in Islamabad. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had recommended putting her name on Exit Control List (ECL), as informed to Islamabad High Court last November.
Gulalai, her family and friends are under threat and surveillance
US Senator and Democrat Charles Schumer said that he would everything to provide Gulalai political asylum in the country. He said that they know that her life would be in danger in Pakistan. While Gulalai has safely arrived in the US, her parents are facing charges of financing terrorism and are currently under heavy surveillance. The 32-year-old activist was being hunted by security forces who raided many of her friends’ houses.
"I am still worried about my parents back home and the underground network that secretly protected me when I escaped," Gulalai said in an interview last month.
About Gulalai's activism
Gulalai Ismail, the chairperson of Aware Girls, a non-governmental organisation, is a recipient of the International Humanist of the Year Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Gulalai, daughter of human rights activist Muhammad Ismail, co-founded the NGO Aware Girls in 2002 with her sister Saba Ismail. The objective behind setting up the NGO was to challenge the culture of violence and the oppression of women in the rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area in the north-west of Pakistan. In May 2019, Pakistan police had accused her of "seditious speeches and inciting people to attack state institutions”.
Updated 23:02 IST, October 24th 2019