Our History
From local activities in 1980 to the formation of the National Federation in 2022 — the journey of GIO.
Activities on the local level were being conducted for girls under the banner of GIO.
When some girls from Kerala attended an all-India event of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, efforts to officially form GIO started. Initially, girls had their activities and events alongside women.
GIO was officially formed — separate from women — in Kerala.
GIO was established in states like Bihar & Rajasthan.
Various states started holding GIO programs independently — like Punjab (est. 2005) and Telangana (est. 2007). Most weren't structured until July 2007, when the Markazi Shoora created a committee — led by Jb. Syed Sadatullah Hussaini Sb. — to organise GIO activities across states, give structure at the zonal level, and draft a model By Laws for GIO of all states. Atiya Siddiqua sahiba was a special invitee. The committee suggested organising GIO at the zonal level, interconnecting these zones, and forming a national federation at a later stage.
GIO was established in Goa, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, then South Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
In 2018, JIH organised a 3-day Tarbiyah Camp at its Headquarters, inviting three GIO leaders from each state. GIO was established in Delhi (2018), Madhya Pradesh (2018), Uttar Pradesh East (2019) and Uttar Pradesh West (2021).
Mrs. Rahmathunnisa Sahiba suggested GIO had become organised in almost every zone. The Shoora created a committee, led by her, to decide the structure of a national-level organisation.
The committee decided a national federation would be more suitable than an all-India Tanzeem, with representatives from each zone while zones retained their autonomy and identity. In March 2022, all Umara-e-Halqa were instructed to facilitate the election of GIO representatives from their zones. From 29–31 July 2022, the National Federation of GIO met for the first time at Markaz, JIH Headquarters, to elect its first President and General Secretary.