A Conversation with Civil Rights Activist, Fatima Gul

Fatima Gul Sindhi-American Human Rights Activist and Executive Director of the Sindhi American Political Action Committee (SAPAC).  She has made it her life’s mission to raise awareness about the pressing human rights issues in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. As the Executive Director of SAPAC, Gul has been instrumental in carrying forth the organization’s mission to improve the socio-economic and political rights of Sindhis via political advocacy and education.  Born and raised in Sindh, Gul spent the first ten years of her career as a teacher and counselor helping orphans at schools throughout Sindh, Pakistan. During her time in the education sector, Gul saw firsthand how the country’s school system was struggling to adequately prepare Sindhi youth for future opportunities. Later on, Gul worked in various fields including event management, where she gained substantial experience working with Sindhi media and witnessed the severe and prevalent censorship of human rights abuses faced by Sindhis in both domestic and international mainstream media. Both of these respective roles furthered Gul’s conviction and awareness about issues impacting the Sindhi people and cemented her resolve to pursue a career as a Sindhi-American human rights activist. Gul’s overarching aim of her work is to educate and foster awareness throughout the U.S. about the critical human rights violations occurring in Sindh, including: violence against women and children, religious persecution and enforced disappearances.   Gul’s tenure as SAPAC's Executive Director for over a decade has enabled her to pursue this work. At SAPAC, Gul has conducted hundreds of meetings with United States Representatives and Senators about the situation in Sindh, overseen the successful implementation of numerous community outreach events and aided in the research of developments in Sindh that are often not covered by international media and documenting it in SAPAC’s public newsletter, Sindh Guardian. Moreover, in 2017 Gul gave a presentation at the University of Florida’s Human Rights and Genocide Symposium. In October 2019 Gul was invited to speak before members of the United States Congress during a Human Rights hearing. During her statement, Gul highlighted a number of egregious human rights abuses occurring in Pakistan and how it acutely impacts minority communities, including Sindhis, in the country. A few months later in March 2020, Gul addressed members of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, Geneva, during a special session celebrating International Women’s Day. In her ninety second intervention, Gul brought attention to the abduction and forced conversion of Sindhi girls. In April 2021, Gul collaborated with the Sindhi Foundation, to organize and participate in a 350-mile walk from New York to DC to highlight the intersectionality of climate change and human rights abuses occurring in Sindh and the world. The event attracted support from a number of high profile individuals, such as Noam Chomsky. A short film covering the Long Walk is currently in post-production. Gul looks forward to continuing her work and hopes that her efforts will showcase the strength of the Sindhi people and their rich history as people living together in peace and tolerance.  See https://www.sindhifoundation.org/.