Hasina Jalal
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Hasina Jalal | |
|---|---|
| حسینه جلال | |
| Born | |
| Occupation | Human Rights Advocate |
| Parent(s) | Massouda Jalal (mother) Faizullah Jalal (father) |
Hasina Jalal (Dari: حسینه جلال) is a women's rights and pro-democracy advocate, and an exiled scholar from Afghanistan, with over a decade of experience in policy advocacy, civil society engagement, and academic scholarship. In 2014, Jalal was elected by public vote to receive the "N-Peace Award" from the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor on the University for Peace and UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Office.[1] Hasina is a member of the New University in Exile Consortium and a Fellow of the Pittsburgh Network for Threatened Scholars. She has taught political science, economics, and human rights-related courses at political science departments as well as business schools in both the US and Afghanistan.[2] She held several senior positions within the Government of Afghanistan, including serving as the Research Team Lead and Policy Expert at the Presidential Palace and Policy Advisor to the Minister and Director of the Program Design and Donor Coordination Directorate at the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.[3][4][5]
She co-founded and served as the executive director of the National Association of Afghanistan Civil Society (NAACS), and played a key role in establishing the first South Asian alliance focused on women's economic, social, and cultural rights (SAFA) in Sri Lanka. In addition, she has held leadership roles in local and national political campaigns and has led grassroots mobilization efforts in Afghanistan.[6]
Hasina comes from a family invested in state of democracy, human rights, and equality in Afghanistan and beyond. Her mother, Massouda Jalal, Afghanistan's first female Presidential candidate, former Minister of Women's Affairs, and former UN high-level national staff, was imprisoned by the Taliban regime in 1990s for promoting education and employment for women. She was detained after trying to hire 3,000 women for bakery jobs and was released following intervention by the United Nations Headquarters.[7] During her tenure as Minister of Women's Affairs, she traveled extensively across Afghanistan. On an official trip to Takhar province, her convoy was targeted and bombed, resulting in two of her guards being severely injured.[8] In 2010, gunmen attacked two Jalal Foundation women's rights activists in Helmand province when they were on an official trip, killing one and putting the other in a coma. During her third run for the Office of President in 2019, Jalal boldly critiqued extremism and the violations of human rights and women's rights in the national and international media.[9][10] This resulted in several attempted attacks on her and her family members, including her house and office were bombed by the enemies of peace and democracy.[11][12][13]
Her father, Faizullah Jalal's, former professor of Law and Political Science and Vice-Chancellor of Kabul University, political commentator and a long-time activist against authoritarian regimes in Afghanistan. First arrested in 1978 for his role in protests against the communist coup in Afghanistan and was held and tortured in Pul-e-Charkhi prison for 18 months. After his release, he was a lecturer at Kabul University. In 1993, he was appointed vice-chancellor of the university, a position he held until 1996, when the Taliban seized Kabul. In 2001, after the fall of the Taliban, he was appointed deputy minister of education, before returning to academia.[14] By the time he got married at around 32–33 years old, he had lost almost his entire family, making him and his elder sister last surviving members of their family. His father, who was a farmer and eldest brother died of tuberculosis at a young age due to poverty and lack of medical care. Three of his brothers, a cousin and a nephew were killed during the Afghan civil war of the 1970s and by the USSR-backed communist regime.[15]
Hasina was forced to seek asylum in the United States in 2021 following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, while her family, including her parents and siblings, was evacuated to Europe and sought asylum there. Separated from her family and unable to return to Afghanistan she continued to advocate for Afghan women's rights and democracy, using her platform to amplify their voices and influence international policy and discourse. She is a member of the New University in Exile Consortium, representing Afghanistan as an exiled and endangered scholar.[16][17][18]
She is fluent in Persian/Dari, Pashto, English, Turkish, Hindi/Urdu, and has proficiency in Punjabi, Arabic, and Uzbek languages.[19]