Pakistani human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Gulalai Ismail, who had escaped authorities last month, has reached the United States and is seeking political asylum. The law enforcement agencies were looking for Ismail for her alleged involvement in anti-state activities. According to media reports, Ismail is currently staying with her sister in Brooklyn, New York.  "I didn't fly out of any airport," she told an American newspaper claiming that her exit story will put many lives at risk.

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Parents facing charges of financing terrorism

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had recommended putting Ismail’s name on Exit Control List (ECL), as informed to Islamabad High Court last November. Later, the High Court ordered the removal of her name from the ECL after Ismail challenged the government’s decision. However, the court had allowed the government to take appropriate action including confiscation of her passport. While Ismail has safely arrived in the US, her parents are facing charges of financing terrorism and are currently under heavy surveillance. Security services were looking for the 32-year-old activist and raided many of her friends’ houses.

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'Her life would be in danger in Pakistan'

A Pakistani official said that she was not traceable and it was suspected that Ismail had left the country. US Senator and Democrat Charles Schumer said that he would everything to provide Ismail political asylum in the country. “It is clear that her life would be in danger if she were to return to Pakistan,” he said. 

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Ismail's history of 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. Ismail, 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.”

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