Sultan M Hali
GULALAI Ismail is a dissident and fugitive from justice in Pakistan. After registration of two FIRs on the charges of Anti-Terrorism Act, provocation with intent to cause riot and defamation under PPC Sections 6/7 ATA, 124-A,153,500 against her, instead of defending herself in a court of law she went into hiding. Resultantly her name was placed on Exit Control List by the Government of Pakistan. Despite being cognizant of the fact that her departure from Pakistan was prohibited by law, she illegally crossed over to Afghanistan with support of RAW and NDS through fake identity. She was harbored by NDS operatives and received Afghan visa for 5 days by Afghan Ministry of Interior, which clearly indicates involvement of Afghan Government in her escape. She was further facilitated by combined effort of NDS and RAW in her travel to Kathmandu (Nepal) via Sharjah on Air Arabia flight G-9721 (Kabul to Sharjah) and G-9537 (Sharjah to Kathmandu). She stayed two nights in Kathmandu, Nepal at Radisson hotel under arrangements of RAW (Kathmandu is the same place from where Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Zahir Habib was abducted by RAW), where she held meetings with RAW officials and was given visa to USA from Nepal and travelled to USA through Doha via Qatar Airways Flight QR-647 on 27 Jun 2019.
Gulalai Ismail has vociferously advocated against forced marriages, gang rapes and crushed dreams. Her groundbreaking work has carried her around the world, winning her awards and audiences with high-powered women such as Michelle Obama and Queen Elizabeth II. Despite the accolades showered upon her by the West, her actions against the State of Pakistan cannot be condoned. Instead of defending herself in the court of law, she has absconded from justice, giving credence to her culpability. There are also serious financial embezzlement charges against her. Reportedly, Gulalai Ismail received millions in foreign remittances from dubious individuals, NGOs and INGOs based in India, USA, Spain and Denmark for covert objectives against the state of Pakistan and institutions. While portraying herself to be financially weak, she along with her family used millions of NGO funds for her personal use and lavish life style in the garb of collecting it for women empowerment and awareness. Her frequent visits (29 in all) in the past three years augment the above-mentioned charges. She had also been found guilty in a case of financial fraud and punitive action was taken against her by the imposition of a fine by Civil Courts of Pakistan. Transactions in her personal, mother and father’s accounts from NGO funds also validate the embezzlement. Furthermore, FIR (under Section 11 ATA-Terror Financing) were registered against her for receiving the funds from foreign donors for welfare works but using them for terror financing instead.
The details of the financial embezzlement she is accused of include a total turnover of Rs 73 Million in last 3 years including USD 5,970 from HFDC Bank Limited, Mumbai, India in Aware Girls NGO account. Secondly, she transferred Rs 4.55 Million into her personal account, Rs 11.25 Million to Uzlifat Ismail (mother of Gulalai Ismail) and Rs 0.70 Million transferred to Professor Ismail (Father of Gulalai Ismail) account. The dossier of charges against Gulalai Ismail also include playing the victim card. While staying in the US, she continuously blames Pakistan state for trying to kill her in order to get her asylum case strengthened. However, she purposefully evaded the legal procedures and after completing her mission on behest of Hostile Intelligence Agencies (RAW & NDS), she was facilitated in her escape and became an absconder. After landing in USA, she immediately turned up outside UN Headquarters with a handful of people when Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan’s address was taking place, clearly depicting her assigned mission by hostile elements. Moreover, she avoided any comments on Kashmir or Human rights abuses by India, allegedly as directed by her RAW handlers, which evidently expose her real face.
Social Media Campaign by Gulalai Ismail have also raised numerous eyebrows. She was working on a covert agenda to oppose any operations against Terrorist elements in Tribal Districts. Her venomous anti state campaign through social media is manifest of above. By falsifying the ground realities of war, she endeavored to demoralize as well as misguide the general public and protected Terrorist networks in tribal areas. In a recent development, a Pakistani court has granted bail to Gulalai Ismail’s father. A Pakistani lawyer has stated formally that the court has granted bail to the father of the prominent activist. Mohammad Ismail has been held for over a month. His daughter, Gulalai Ismail, fled the country in September to avoid ‘harassment’ by security agencies. She surfaced last month in the U.S. seeking asylum. The family supports a rights movement among Pakistan’s minority Pashtun movement that is critical of the army’s war on terror. Gulalai Ismail’s parents are facing charges of financing terrorism, which they deny. Human rights activists in Pakistan are often arrested on suspicion of links with so-called anti-state elements. Ironically, while the courts in Pakistan are accused of being partisan, the above news is enough to prove that in Pakistan the courts are not dictated or pressurized by the government or the armed forces. The Pakistani officials have maintained that they had no issue with Ms. Ismail’s advocacy for women. But they believe that she had crossed a line in recent months by spreading divisive messages at unlawful rallies held by a dissident organization like the PTM.
—The writer is retired PAF Group Captain and a TV talk show host.
