Human rights activists Jalila Haider barred from traveling abroad

F.P. Report

LAHORE: Human rights activist and lawyer Jalila Haider was barred on Monday from boarding the flight to the United Kingdom as her name was on a watch-list of individuals who are under the radar for their alleged involvement in ‘anti-state’ activities, sources told Geo News.

Haider was detained by the officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport for around six hours, sources said. The rights activist was released after she recorded a statement.

The Women Democratic Front president was reportedly going to attend a conference in London.

In October last year, Haider was named among the 100 most influential women of 2019 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). She is a lawyer providing free legal services to women in poverty across the country.

Besides being a vocal activist for the rights of women, she is also the founder of We the Humans, a non-profit organisation working with local communities to provide opportunities for vulnerable women.

According to the British broadcaster, she is the first female lawyer from the Hazara community in Pakistan.

Taking to social networking platform Twitter after the BBC announcement last year, Haider had expressed profound joy at being being named in the list, saying she was honored by the mention.

“Looking back into the past leads to the realisation that the politics of conflict, war and destruction is interconnected with Patriarchy. This is the time now that the world should accept the future as female,” Haider said.

Other woman on the list included Precious Adams from the United States, Parveena Ahanger from Indian-occupied Kashmir, and Jasmine Akter from the Rohingya community.