Ismat Raza Shahjahan (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

political leader from

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. She is the president of

Women Democratic Front Women Democratic Front (WDF) is an independent socialist-feminist organization based in Pakistan. It was founded in the federal capital Islamabad on March 8, 2018, by hundreds of delegates from Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. ...

(WDF), the deputy general-secretary of the

Awami Workers Party The Awami Workers Party ( ur, عوامی ورکرز پارٹی) is a left-wing socialist political party in Pakistan. The party seeks to unify the struggles of workers, peasants, students, women and ethnic and religious minorities in Pakistan und ...

(AWP), and a leading member of the

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM; ps, پښتون ژغورنې غورځنګ ''Paṣtūn Zhghōrənē Ghōrźang''; ur, , lit=Pashtun Protection Movement) is a social movement for Pashtun human rights based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan ...

(PTM). She ran for the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

seat

NA-54 (Islamabad-III) NA-48 (Islamabad-III) () is a constituency for the National Assembly of Pakistan. Area The constituency consists of a mix of urban and rural areas of Islamabad Capital Territory from Sector G-10 to Tarnol and also includes Sector I-10. During 20 ...

in the

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Wednesday, 25 July 2018 to elect the members of 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

Early life and education

Shahjahan belongs to

Takht-e-Nasrati Takht-e-Nasrati is a town of Karak District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The town is the headquarters of Takht-e-Nasrati Tehsil - an administrative subdivision of the district, as well as a Union Councils of Pakistan, Union Council of the tehsil. Educa ...

Karak District Karak District ( ps, کرک ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Kohat Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is situated to the south of Kohat District and on the north side of Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts on the main I ...

, Pakistan. She did her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Jinnah College for Women Jinnah College for Women, ( ur, ) formerly the University College for Women, is an institute of education for women located in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. History The College came into existence as a constituent College of the Univers ...

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar ( ps, د پېښور پوهنتون; hnd, پشور یونیورسٹی; ur, ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a Public university, public research university located in Peshawar, Khy ...

, and also studied

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

at the University of Peshawar. She studied

development studies Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the e ...

at the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent and international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Neth ...

(ISS) of

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

(EUR) in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. She has worked as an international finance specialist at the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

(ADB) in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

. Shahjahan's son, Sparlay Rawail, is a lead guitarist in

Khumariyaan Khumariyaan (, ) is a Pashto music band from Khyber Pakthunwka province of Pakistan that also plays other styles. The band has represented their Culture abroad in Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Kenya and elsewhere. Members A ...

, a

Pashto music Pashto music ( ps, ) or ''Də ṭang-ṭakór'' is commonly performed in Afghanistan and Pakistan among Pashtun people. Genres Tappa Tappa ( ps, ټپه) is the oldest and most popular genre of the Pashto poetry. The Tappa is a composition of ...

band.

Political beginnings

Shahjahan was born into a

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

family that had supported the Pashtun leader,

Abdul Ghaffar Khan Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...

(Bacha Khan), in his

nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

Khudai Khidmatgar Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

against the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. Shahjahan gained political consciousness since very early in her life. She started revolutionary politics as a university student leader in 1983, during the era of

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

’s martial law, when there was ban on student unions. In 1986, she joined the left-wing

Democratic Students Federation Democratic Students Federation (DSF) is a left-wing student organization in Pakistan. It was first established on 13 January 1951 in Karachi by students of the Dow Medical College, led by Mohammad Sarwar and including MRA Hashmi, Asif Jaffery, Asi ...

(DSF), and then the

Communist Party of Pakistan The Communist Party of Pakistan ( abbr. CPP; ur, کمیونسٹ پارٹی آف پاکستان) is a communist party in Pakistan. History Founding The CPP was founded in Calcutta, India, soon after the establishment of Pakistan on 6 March 1948 ...

(CPP). She worked actively with the Muttahida Labour Federation (MLF). During her time with the CPP, she also established the provincial front of the Democratic Women's Association (DeWA) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then known as the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...

Ideology

Shahjahan’s entire life revolved around progressive political struggle. She has remained part of democratic movements against anti-state oppression, dictatorships and anti-war campaigns. Shahjahan is described as a

and anti-imperialist. Through her political ideologies and organizations, AWP and WDF, she aims to provide aid to the ignored societies of Pakistan by unifying their struggles. This includes the struggles of women, students, workers, peasants, and ethnic and

religious minorities A minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of a country, state, or region. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative co ...

. Throughout her political struggle, she remained on frontlines of the feminist struggle and

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

Political career

Awami Workers Party

Shajahan played an important role in merger of three smaller leftist outfits ( Labour Party, the Awami Party and the Workers Party) to form a progressive force

in November, 2012 as a platform to rebuild the political Left. She is now the deputy general secretary of the party and aims to promote progressive politics in Pakistan. In 2014, as a feminist from the left wing politics, she, along with other party workers, drafted a document about guiding principles of the party’s position on issues central to the liberation of women. In the document, elimination of all economic, social and administrative structures was demanded, that lead to gender-based exploitation. It asked 33 percent representation of women in all units of the party.

General elections 2018

Shajahan contested for the

on National assembly seat NA-54 in federal capital Islamabad. Her electoral campaign included the vision to ensure katchi abadis (

informal settlements Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the inform ...

) get official land titles and to get water for Islamabad.

is working since a long time on the issue. The party wants to legislate to provide them protection. She said, "Our support base is largely in the katchi abadis. Their women go to the rich houses to work as domestic help. Their children, especially girls, care for the children of the rich. I want these women to be recognised under the purview of the labour law. Their girls suffer a lot of sexual abuse at these big houses and it goes unreported.”

Women Democratic Front

Shahjahan is involved in building a socialist feminist movement, from the platform of the

. She is serving as president of WDF which was founded after ‘

Aurat Azadi March The Aurat Azadi March ( ur, , lit=Women's Emancipation March) was started in 2018 in Pakistan by members of Women Democratic Front (socialist-feminist organization), other organizations like Women's Action Forum (Women's rights organization), Elimi ...

(2018)’, being celebrated on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

, 2018 when a large number of working women, political workers, students and intellectuals gathered to inaugurate this organization. During the Aurat Azadi March 2018, in

which was held from press club to Nazimud Din Road, Shahjahan as president WDF said that the Constitution calls for gender equality but the laws and policies of our country are based on discrimination, gender inequality and violence.

Aurat Azadi March

Shahjahan's feminist organization WDF along with Awami Workers Party (AWP), Women Action Forum, Women’s Collective and Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement, Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist Students Front and other organizations also organized

, 2019 on

, 2019. Shahjahan also took part in organizing

2020 in Islamabad despite facing threats from the right wing parties. For Aurat Azadi March 2020, Shahjahan wrote the anthem song “Hum Inquilab Hain” (We are Revolution). Shajahan got hit with a brick during Aurat Azadi March 2020 Islamabad by the religious extremists. She along with other organizers of the march called press conference after the march and demanded from governemt to take action against those who attacked on march.

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

The

(PTM) emerged at the start of 2018 with marches demanding the end of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances committed by security forces against Pashtuns living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Balochistan along the border with Afghanistan. In May 2018, Shahjahan was nominated as a representative of the PTM's reconciliatory

jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...

for negotiations with the state institutions. On 18 January 2019, a video surfaced in which a 13-year-old boy, Hayat Khan from Khaisor,

North Waziristan North Waziristan District ( ps, شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanist ...

, said Pakistani security forces had arrested his father and brother, and that his family had been facing harassment due to frequent visits by two security personnel to his home when he was the only male among the females present at home. On 27 January, Shahjahan visited Khaisor along with five other female PTM activists,

Gulalai Ismail Gulalai Ismail ( ps, ; ur, گلالئی اسماعیل) is a Pashtun human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She is the chairperson of Aware Girls, a global ambassador for Humanists International, and a leading member of the ...

Bushra Gohar Bushra Gohar ( ps, بشرا ګوهر; ur, بشریٰ گوہر) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician and a senior leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). She has served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013. S ...

Jamila Gilani Jamila Gilani ( ps, ; ur, ; also spelled Jamila Gallani) is a Pashtun nationalist politician who is the spokesperson of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). She served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013. S ...

Sanna Ejaz Sanna Ejaz ( ps, ثنا اعجاز) or Sana Ijaz, is a journalist and human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She is a leading member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), as well as a founding member of the Waak Movement, which ...

and Nargis Afsheen Khattak, to express solidarity with Hayat's mother and to also interview the local women about other incidents of sexual harassment. Shahjahan said, " ozens ofwomen came out of their homes when we visited them, pleaded and cried, and asked us to help them bring their

missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras * ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...

sons back. We cried with them." Gulalai Ismail said that due to the bombing of their homes by the armed forces, "the mental health of women from the tribal areas has deteriorated so much that they cannot endure another day of war.”

Detentions

On 21 April 2018, a night before the PTM public gathering in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, the police arrested Shahjahan along with several other leading activists, including AWP president

Fanoos Gujjar Fanoos Gujjar (Urdu: فانوس گجر), (1958 - December 1, 2018) was a left-wing Pakistani politician from Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was the founding chairperson and president of Awami Workers Party. He spent his life in grass root struggle ...

and PTM leader

Ali Wazir Muhammad Ali Wazir (Pashto/Urdu: ) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the co-founder of a human rights movement, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. During his student ...

. As a result of protests in various parts of the country and a social media campaign for them, they were released within hours. The arrests were criticized by the public and notable politicians, including

Maryam Nawaz Maryam Nawaz Sharif ( Punjabi and ; born 28 October 1973), also known as Maryam Safdar, is a Pakistani politician and the daughter of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. She was initially involved in the family's philanthropic orga ...

Pervaiz Rashid Pervaiz Rashid ( ur, ) is a Pakistani politician, and the former Federal Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage (Pakistan), Minister of Information, Broadcasting, and National Heritage and Minister for Law, Justice and Hum ...

, and

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ( ur, بلاول بھٹو زرداری; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan Peopl ...

. On 28 January 2020, Shahjahan and 28 other protesters, including PTM leader

Mohsin Dawar Mohsin Javed Dawar ( ps, ) is a Pakistani politician who is the chairman of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). He has been a member of the National Assembly since August 2018. He is the co-founder of a human rights movement, Pashtun Tahafu ...

and

Ammar Rashid Ammar Rashid (Urdu: عمار رشید; born August 16, 1986) is a Pakistani researcher, academic, political worker and organizer of the left-wing party Awami Workers Party. He has written many columns for Daily Times (Pakistan) and Dawn News. He ...

, were arrested by the police outside the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

, where they had gathered to stage a protest against the arrest of PTM chairman

Manzoor Pashteen Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen (Pashto: منظور احمد پښتين, Urdu: منظور احمد پشتین) is a Pakistani Pashtun human rights activist from South Waziristan. He is the chairman of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). ("Pashtun Protection ...

, who had been arrested in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

a day earlier on allegations of sedition. Shahjahan and Mohsin Dawar were released on 29 January but Ammar Rashid and 22 others were sent to jail on sedition charges. The protesters appealed to the

Islamabad High Court The Islamabad High Court is the senior court of the Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, with appellate jurisdiction over the following district courts: * Islamabad District Court (East) * Islamabad District Court (West) Justice Aamer Far ...

where they were granted bail by chief justice

Athar Minallah Athar Minallah (; born 30 December 1961) is a Pakistani jurist serving as a judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan since 11 November 2022. Prior to that, he served as the 5th Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court from 28 November 2018 to 10 Novembe ...

on 3 February. Minallah summoned the Islamabad City Magistrate and asked an explanation for first placing sedition charges on peaceful protesters and later turning them into terrorism charges in the

first information report __NOTOC__ A first information report (FIR) is a document prepared by police organisations in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan when they receive information about the commissio ...

. The charges were dropped against all 23 of them on 17 February. Manzoor Pashteen was also released from jail on 25 February.

Magazines

She remained a publisher of the well-known progressive revolutionary

journal ''Leekwal'' in 1992. In 2018, she launched her own feminist-socialist magazine named ''Nariwad'', from the platform of WDF, that highlights the importance of rights of women facing oppression and injustice.

Citations/Sources

This article was created during ‘WikiGap’ event, in

, Pakistan on 11 and 12 October 2019. The event was organized by the Swedish Embassy, Pakistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahjahan, Ismat Socialist feminists Living people Pakistani Marxists Awami Workers Party politicians Pakistani socialists Pakistani feminists Feminism in Pakistan Women's rights in Pakistan 1963 births Pashtun Tahafuz Movement politicians Pashtun women People from Karak District International Institute of Social Studies alumni University of Peshawar alumni