Jalila Haider

Jalila Haider (Urdu/; born 10 December 1988) is a Pakistani human rights attorney and political activist from Quetta in Balochistan, Pakistan. She is known to be the first woman lawyer from Quetta's Hazara minority, and an advocate for the rights of her persecuted community. She is a member of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), leader of the Balochistan chapter of Women Democratic Front (WDF), She founded a non-profit organisation, "We the Humans – Pakistan," which aims to empower local communities in Balochistan by strengthening opportunities for vulnerable women and children.

Early life and education Jalila Haider was born on 10 December 1988, in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. She holds a master's degree in International Relations from the University of Balochistan. She participates and speaks against the atrocities faced by the Pashtuns and believes that their pain is similar as they are all demanding for their right to life guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan. Haider also addressed a meeting of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement in Quetta in March 2018, for which she received criticism and harassment.

After four separate attacks targeting the Hazara community in April 2018, Haider led a peaceful hunger strike camp outside Quetta press club, which lasted for around five days. Haider and other leaders demanded that Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Qamar Javed Bajwa must visit the community and take concrete steps to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure their security. Haider and community elders had inconclusive talks with Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Provincial Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti. Following the hunger strike, on 2 May 2018, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, took suo moto notice of the killings of Hazaras. In the subsequent hearing on May 11, these targeted killings were termed as ethnic cleansing of the Hazara community and Nisar instructed all the security agencies to submit reports on the forces behind these killings.

Apart from her political activism, Haider has been practicing law at the Balochistan Bar Council for years. She specializes in defending women's rights and provides free legal services to people who cannot afford legal counsel on a wide range of issues, including fair justice, extrajudicial killing, domestic violence, marriage disputes, sexual harassment, and property rights.

In 2018, Haider also met Mr. Ihsan Ghani, National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) in Islamabad to put forward the grievances of the Hazara women who are facing social, economic and administrative challenges as the male breadwinners of their households have been killed.

Accomplishments In 2014, she was selected as an Atlantic Council Emerging Leaders of Pakistan Fellow and was a member of the first batch of Pakistan Social Entrepreneurs by Rajeev Circle Fellows in 2015. In 2015, Haider was selected as one of ‘News Women Power 50’ list of Pakistan's most influential and powerful women. She was also a 2016 Swedish Institute Young Connectors of the Future Fellow. She was chosen as an International Woman of Courage in March 2020 by the US Secretary of State.

She received Hum TV Women Leaders Award 2020, for her achievement in the past year.

Threats Haider has received criticism from her society and threats and harassment from state and non-state actors for her activism against human rights excesses. In March 2019, Haider's name was put on Pakistan's Exit Control List (ECL) after her participation in the public gatherings of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.