Right Livelihood

Honoured to be featured in the Swedish newspaper “Dagens Nyheter” alongside my fellow 2026 Right Livelihood Award laureates, Timnit Gebru, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, and the Rural Women’s Assembly. Although we come from different backgrounds and work on different issues, we share a common commitment to human rights, justice, equality, and dignity. @rightlivelihood

A personal note: When I found out that I had been selected for the @rightlivelihood Award, one of the first things I did was visit their website. I wanted to see who had received the award before me, especially people from Pakistan and from our region. Two names immediately caught my attention: Asma Jahangir from Pakistan and Dr. Sima Samar, a Hazara woman from Afghanistan. As children, we used to see Asma Jahangir on television and hear about her in the news. At that time, I did not fully understand her work or how difficult it was for a woman to speak so openly against powerful people and institutions. When I grew up, became a lawyer, and started working in human rights, I understood her courage in a completely different way. She was very clear, straightforward and brave. She did not try to please everyone, and she did not change her position because something was unpopular or difficult. Her work made many things easier for the lawyers and human rights defenders who came after her, especially women. I often think that it may take us many years to develop even a small part of the courage she had. Dr. Sima Samar’s name was also very personal for me. I had heard about her since childhood. She was a well known Hazara woman and someone many people in our community respected. As I grew older, I learned more about her life, her work, women’s movements in Afghanistan, and feminism. As a Hazara woman, she became one of the people who inspired me. She made me understand that feminism was not something far away from our own society and experiences. A Hazara woman from our region could also stand against discrimination, patriarchy and extremism and work for women’s rights and education. Her own life was also very difficult. She was very young when her husband, who was a teacher and intellectual, was forcibly disappeared. She had a young son and had to continue her life under very difficult circumstances. Despite all of that, she continued her work and spent years supporting education, healthcare and the rights of women and girls, especially in Afghanistan. She also faced criticism and attacks from conservative and right wing groups, but she continued. That part of her life always stayed with me because, as a Hazara woman and later as a feminist, I could understand how difficult it is to challenge patriarchy both within inside and outside. So when I saw the names of Asma Jahangir and Sima Samar on the Right Livelihood website, I felt very emotional. These were not just two famous women for me. I had grown up hearing about them. Later, their lives and work became more meaningful to me because of my own work as a lawyer, human rights defender and Hazara woman. Then I saw my own name on the same list. I still find that hard to believe. I feel very proud to be listed among women like them, but I also feel humbled. I do not know if I will ever be like them, and I do not want to compare myself with what they achieved. I only know that their work has influenced the way I understand courage, responsibility and human rights. I hope I can continue my own work with the same honesty and commitment, and I hope that one day another young woman from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or any other country can see these names and feel that she can also do something meaningful with her life. Note: My last picture with the late Asma Jahangir was taken in 2017, when she came to Quetta for the Quetta Lawyers’ Memorial Day. No one could have imagined that she was fighting cancer at the time. She never spoke about how unwell she was, and then one day, she left all of us.