Ismat Shahjahan

Ismat Raza Shahjahan (Pashto/Urdu: عصمت رضا شاہ جہاں; b. May 6, 1963) is a Socialist-Feminist political leader based in Pakistan. She is serving as the President of Women Democratic Front,[1] Deputy General Secretary of Awami Workers Party,[2] and is also an activist in the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement. She ran for the National Assembly seat NA-54 in the federal capital Islamabad for 2018 Pakistani general election.[3][4][5]

Ismat Shahjahan
عصمت رضا شاہ جہاں
Born
Ismat Raza Shahjahan

(1963-05-06) May 6, 1963
Takht-e-Nasrati, District Karak, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani
Alma materUniversity of Peshawar
International Institute of Social Studies, of Erasmus University Rotterdam
OccupationFeminist, Socialist, Political worker
Years active1983 – present
Known forPresident of Women Democratic Front, Deputy General Secretary of Awami Workers Party
Notable work
Pashto Magazine “Leekwal” published in 1992,
Urdu magazine “Nariwad” published in 2018

Early Life and Education

Shahjahan was born to a poor family in village Takht-e-Nasrati of district Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[6] She was born to Muslim Pashtun father Raza Khan and a converted Muslim mother Janat Bibi. She belonged to a progressive yet politically-aware (Khudai Khidmatgar) family which supported the non-violent ideology of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.[7] Shahjahan got her early education from schools in her village Takht-e-Nasrati (Primary school): Karak, Tank: Wanna and Sanghair: Kohat (secondary school). Later she went to CB college Kohat, did her BA in law and political science from Jinnah College for Women, University of Peshawar. She studied public administration from University of Peshawar. She studied development studies from International Institute of Social Studies, of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Hague, Netherlands. She is retired international finance specialist who worked in Asian Development Bank in Islamabad.[8][9]

In 1989, she also performed in Traffik, a British television mini series about drugs trade.[10] She is mother of Sparlay Rawail who is a lead guitarist in Khumariyaan Pashto band.[11]

Political Beginning

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’s martial law, when there was ban on student unions. In 1986, she joined the communist Democratic Students Federation (DSF).[12] She joined the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) and worked actively with Muttahida Labour Federation (MLF). She worked as a founding member of Democratic Women’s Association (DeWA), a feminist front in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[12]

Ideology

Shahjahan’s entire life revolves around progressive political struggle. She remained part of democtric movements against anti-state oppression, dictatorships and anti-war campaigns.[13] Shahjahan is described as socialist, feminist and anti-imperialist.[14] 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 religious minorities. Throughout her political struggle, she remained on frontline of the feminist struggle, national struggle and class struggle.

Politics

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 Awami Workers Party in November, 2012[15] as a platform to rebuild the political Left. She is now the deputy general secretary[16] 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.[17]

General elections 2018

Shajahan contested for the 2018 Pakistani general election on National assembly seat NA-54 in federal capital Islamabad.[18][3] Her electoral campaign included the vision to ensure katchi abadis or informal settlements get official land titles and to get water for Islamabad. Awami Workers Party 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.”[4]

Women Democratic Front

Shahjahan is involved in building a socialist feminist movement, from the platform of the Women Democratic Front.[12][19] She is serving as president of WDF which was founded after ‘Aurat Azadi March (2018)’,[20] being celebrated on International Women's Day, 2018 when a large number of working women, political workers, students and intellectuals gathered to inaugurate this organization.[21] During the Aurat Azadi March 2018, in Islamabad 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.[22]

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 Aurat Azadi March, 2019 on International Women's Day, 2019.[23]

Shahjahan also took part in organizing Aurat Azadi March 2020 in Islamabad despite facing threats from the right wing parties.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] For Aurat Azadi March 2020, Shahjahan wrote the anthem song “Hum Inquilab Hain” (We are Revolution) which was composed by Ammar Rashid and sung in chorus by Ismat Shahjahan, Ammar Rashid, Shahzadi Hussain, Areej Hussain, Huda Bhurgri and Ayesha Khan.[34][35] Shajahan got hit with a brick during Aurat Azadi March 2020 Islamabad by the religious extremists.[36][37] 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.[38][39][40]

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement 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 KP and tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. Shahjahan was detained on April 21, 2018 for her involvement with the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), which is a socialist movement, along with other leaders Ali Wazir, Bilawal Mandokhel, Muzammil by police in Lahore.[41][42]

PTM emerged at the start of 2018 with marches all over Pakistan, demanding the end of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions committed by security forces against Pashtuns living in tribal areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and along the Afghanistan border.[43]

In May 2018, Shahjahan was nominated as a representative of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement's reconciliatory Jirga for negotiations with the state institutions.[44]

Magazines

She remained a publisher of the well-known progressive revolutionary Pashto journal Leekwal in 1992.[13] 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.[45][46]

Citations/Sources

This article was created during ‘WikiGap’[47] event, in Islamabad, Pakistan on 11,12 October 2019. The event was organized by Swedish Embassy, Pakistan.[48][49][50]

References
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  2. "Leadership". Awami Workers Party, Pakistan. 24 March 2014.
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  5. "Seven unique candidates making the news this election cycle". DAWN.COM. 21 July 2018.
  6. "Profile: Ismat Raza Shahjahan is Not One to Back Out". Media for Transparency. 24 July 2018.
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