Biographies of Speakers

 

Ms. Ghazalah Afghan is a long-time human rights advocate who has spent most of her adult life working with women in Sindh.  At present, Ms. Afghan is working against violence against women in Pakistan, with a special focus on those customs and traditions in Sindh that are tantamount to women’s rights violations. Additionally, since 1992, she has been working with the Women's Action Forum and other women’s organizations including Shirkat Gah, the Aurat Foundation, War Against Rape, and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.  Ms. Afghan offers to her audiences direct, personal accounts from her own life, as well as from those with whom she works.  She is based in Sindh, Pakistan, but travels extensively so is available to speak to audiences around the world. 

 

 

Dr. Gul Agha is a well-known Computer Scientist and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Dr. Agha grew up in, and has traveled extensively throughout Sindh and all of South Asia.  He has written numerous short essays about Sindh and has lectured at many Sindhi gatherings about Sindhi history and culture. He was the Guest of Honor ('Mukhi Mehman') at the Sindhi New Year (Cheti Chand) celebration organized by the Bharti Sindhu Sabha in Thane in 2000 (Mumbai, India).  He has a particular passion for classical Sindhi music and poetry, and for promotion of animal rights and environmentalism.  Dr. Agha is an outstanding speaker whose expertise and personal experience enables him to speak extensively on human rights, the water crisis, and international and domestic politics pertaining to Sindh.  Dr. Agha is based in Illinois but travels extensively both in the US and abroad.

 

 

Mr. Afrasiab Khattak joined the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in 1989, and served as the Vice Chairman of HRCP/Frontier Province, for thtree years. During this period he pleaded in court several cases involving human rights violations. In April 1999, he was threatened by extremist factions for demonstrating against “honor” killing in Peshawar. On May 2, 1999, he was unanimously elected Chairperson of HRCP for a three-year-term. Mr. Khattak is a strong promoter of peace between Pakistan and India and is a member of Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, an NGO that works in both Pakistan and India. Mr. Khattak speaks to audiences around the world, and is available to present on any of his various experiences in Pakistan.

 

 

Mr. Munawar Laghari, Executive Director of the World Sindhi Institute (WSI) and International Representative of SINDH WATCH, a quarterly magazine published by WSI, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Mehran University in Jamshro, Sindh.  Born in 1964, he has spent most of his life advocating for human rights and humanitarian causes.  In the process of his struggles, he sacrificed his academic career, family relations and ties to his land.  As retribution for his advocacy work in Sindh in the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistani forces held Laghari captive and tortured him.  Due to threats of continuous persecution, Laghari escaped Sindh – leaving behind his parents, brother, cousins and friends – and sought asylum in the United States , where he has lived since 1994.

 

Mr. Laghari is a founding member of The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC).  Laghari is also a member of the United Nation Association - National Capital Area (UNA-NCA).  On behalf of the World Sindhi Institute, Laghari received the1999 Blue Ribbon Award presented by the UNA-NCA.  In recognition of Laghari’s dedication and devotion to the cause of human rights, The Washington Times ran a story on him on June 26, 2000 , the International Day for the Support of Torture Victims. 

 

Mr. Laghari has testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the International Day in Support of Torture Victims (1999).  He has also testified before the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs and the House Committee on Appropriations (2000), as well as to the World Summit in Durban , South Africa (2001).  He has been interviewed by newspapers, radio and television programs around the world, including the Washington Times, Voice of America, BBC, SABC, Times of India, and ANI.

 

Laghari travels frequently fundraising and networking for, and speaking on the cause of his homeland, Sindh.

 

 

Mr. Zahid Makhdoom, President of the World Sindhi Institute's Board of Directors from 2002 to present, was born in Sindh in 1954 and moved to Canada in 1984, where he continues to reside today.  During persistent struggles for human rights for the people of Sindh, Makhdoom was arrested and imprisoned for ten months in 1971-2.  He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada with his wife and works as a Sitting Justice at the Provincial Court of British Columbia.  Mr. Makhdoom is an extremely engaging and dynamic speaker, with extensive knowledge of the politics and culture of Sindh, Pakistan, and the various political relations between and with both.  

 

 

Ms. Lata Parwani, a native Sindhi, presently lives with her family in Massachusetts where she studies and teaches at Harvard University. Her present academic research is focused on the cultural manifestations of Sufism in South Asia, particularly in Sindh, as explicated through cultural expressions of devotion including poetry, narratives, rituals and visual arts. She is especially interested in those cultural practices that are shared by people across religious boundaries. Parwani holds a BA degree in Economics, Psychology and Political Science from Karachi University in Pakistan.  She is available to speak throughout the US, and brings to her audience a unique academic expertise that she makes readily accessible to diverse gatherings through her soulful, poetic, and extremely eloquent presentations.

 

 

Humaira Rahman is a director of the World Sindhi Institute. A former practicing architect and lecturer, she is an environmental and human rights activist. Currently, she resides in Canada.