Shahla Ata (October 20, 1959 – March 12, 2015) was an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

politician, congresswoman and one of two female candidates during Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential election. She told DiManno she and her family lived for 18 years in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The Contender Biography published by ''

Pajhwok Afghan News , logo = , image = , image_size = , type = Independent news agency , headquarters = Kabul, Afghanistan , language = English, Dari, Pashto , founded = 2003 , founder = Danish Karokhel , ...

'' has her living in the United States from 1990 to1 1994, and living in Pakistan for the remainder of the period 1986 to 2001, where she administered relief to other Afghan expatriates. David Williams, writing in the '' Sydney Morning Herald'', in 2005, when she first ran for Afghanistan's National Assembly, said her husband had been killed in factional fighting. Rosie DiManno, writing in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' during her presidential campaign, wrote that Ata was the target of a smear campaign alleging the murder of her husband as well as one of her daughters. Ata pointed out to Dimanno that all five of her daughters were still alive. According to DiManno, Ata's husband died in the US in 1992 of natural causes. Dismissing the murder claims, Ata declared: "So, I'm alleged to have killed my husband and my daughter, then I ran back to Afghanistan to avoid American justice? This is what they write in the newspapers. I wish we had a functioning court system so I could sue." All five of Ata's daughters live currently in the United States.

Family and career

A descendant of the Afghan Royal Family she's related to the former

President of Afghanistan The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was constitutionally the head of state and head of government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces. On 15 August 2021, as th ...

, Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, himself, a cousin of

Mohammed Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan ...

, Afghanistan's last Monarch. Ata is a widow and she has five daughters living in the United States. Ata was a Registered Nurse and a trained psychologist, before becoming a

Politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Elected to the upper house of the Afghan National Legislature

Wolesi Jirga The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga ( ps, دَ افغانستان ولسي جرګه), was the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper ...

in 2005, she represented

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and served on the Jirga's commission for counter-narcotics and its monitoring commission. Shahla Ata and

Frozan Fana Frozan Fana (born 1969) was a candidate in the 2009 Afghan presidential election. Her running mate was Mohammad Nasim Darmand. She had never held political office before. However, she is the widow of Abdul Rahman (Afghan minister), Abdul ...

were the only two women candidates in the

2009 Afghan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on 20 August 2009. The election resulted in victory for incumbent Hamid Karzai, who won 49.67% of the vote, while his main rival Abdullah Abdullah finished second with 30.59% of the vote. The e ...

. Ballot results placed her in the fourteenth place in a field of thirty-two with 11412 votes. During the presidential campaign she has said that if elected, she will carry the policies of President

Mohammed Daoud Khan Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...

in the 1970s.

Death

On March 12, 2015, Ata's lifeless body was discovered in her house and an investigation has been opened by Kabul Police Department's Criminal branch.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ata, Shahla Afghan expatriates in Pakistan 2015 deaths 1959 births Members of the House of Elders (Afghanistan) Pashtun women 21st-century Afghan women politicians 21st-century Afghan politicians