Thursday 5 October 2017, RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR – <http://www.rawinwar.org) celebrated the courage of Gauri Lankesh, an Indian journalist and human rights campaigner, and Gulalai Ismail, a Pakistani human rights and peace activist by according them the 2017 Anna Politkovskaya Award for their courage to speak out and to defy extremism in the context of violence and armed conflict in their countries, for which they suffered death threats and Gauri paid for it with her life. Gulalai opposes Islamic extremism in Pakistan and Gauri – the Hindu extremism in India. A month ago today, on 5th September 2017, she was murdered when entering her home, in an attempt to silence her voice. For more on the award see: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/anna-politkovskaya-award
On Gulalai Ismail and Gauri Lankesh receiving the 2017 Anna Politkovskaya Award, as well as the special tribute to Jamalida Begum (Myanmar/Bangladesh), Baron Judd of Portsea, a member of the 2017 Award Nominations Committee, said: “Amidst all the disturbing violence and repression, not least of journalists, which is increasingly prevalent, Anna Politkovskaya remains a heroic example of courage and integrity. I am glad to salute Gulalai Ismail and the late Gauri Lankesh together with Jamilida Begum as brave champions of Anna’s cause. In doing this I also salute the countless individuals who are victims of oppression, tyranny, torture, sexual abuse and disappearances, wherever this occurs.”
Gulalai Ismail, at the age of 16 in 2002, founded Aware Girls , with her sister Saba Ismail, aiming to challenge the culture of violence and the oppression of women in the rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area in the north west of Pakistan. Driven by a passion to challenge the inequality, intolerance and extremism, they began running workshops to provide girls and young women with leadership skills to challenge oppression and fight for their rights to an education and equal opportunities. Malala Yousafzai was an attendee of Aware Girls programmes in 2011.
Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh, 55, an outspoken Indian newspaper editor, was shot dead outside her home by unidentified assailants in the southern city of Bengaluru, at a time of rising nationalism and intolerance of dissent in the country. She was a major figure in India, critic of right-wing Hindu extremism, campaigner for women’s rights, fiercely opposed to the caste system, campaigning for rights of Dalits and so on. With mixed feelings, Kavitha Lankesh, Gauri’s sister, told media persons here on Thursday that the Anna Politkovskaya Award was a morale booster for people who want to write and continue to fight against injustice. It was an honour not only for the members of Gauri’s family, but also to “huge family” that loved Gauri for her commitment to the cause of secular ideals, justice, equality and women rights. “In fact, the award honours what Gauri stood for throughout her life… that ‘you cannot silence me’”.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 