Asma Jahangir passes away in Lahore

[AssassinatedDevil]

ISLAMABAD: Renowned lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir passed away in Lahore on Sunday due to a cardiac arrest, a relative confirmed to The Express Tribune.

Jahangir was a human rights lawyer based in Pakistan and was Pakistan’s first woman to serve as the President of Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.

Jahangir was known for her activism on women, minority and human rights issue. She was also the United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights. She served on various national and international bodies as an expert on law and legal affairs.

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She co-chaired South Asia Forum for Human Rights and was the vice president of International Federation for Human Rights.

Jahangir became a democracy activist and was imprisoned in 1983 for participating in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy against the military regime of General Ziaul Haq. In 1986, she moved to Geneva, and became the vice-chair of the Defence for Children International and remained until 1988 when she moved back to Pakistan. In 1987 she co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

In 2007, she was put under house arrest after the imposition of martial law following the lawyers’ movement.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1632167/1/

 

[ExpressPacer]

An amazing definition and representation of what a Pakistani woman is like; fearless, confident, bold, intelligent and most of all, one who stands for the right of others.

 

[Waseem]

Oh no, that is really shocking.

Whether we agree with her or not but extremely sad to know she is no more and it is a loss to Pakistan regardless of her views.

RIP and i am still in bit of shock as she was quite active on media even in last few days.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Inna Lillahi wa Inna ilaihi raji’un

 

[Saeed]

Rest in peace, shocking and completely unexpected.

 

[KB]

Pakistan has lost a formidable voice for human rights. Belonging to a well-off family, she could have opted for a life of relative comfort but instead chose the path of fierce activism, fighting for what she thought was right, fighting indeed for the rights of others. A deeply courageous woman.

 

[GullyCricketFlop]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi rajioon

 

[DW44]

RIP. Absolutely gutted. A legend is lost. In a black hole of human rights and accountability that is Pakistan, she stuck her neck out against forces very few in power dared take on. Dark day in Pakistan's history. Not many would keep fighting after being stripped in broad daylight for organizing a marathon.

 

[LegendInzi]

Massive massive loss to Pakistan's democratic struggle. RIP Asma, you lived a valorous life!

 

[LegendInzi]

Look at this, just look at this. I'm speechless what kind of people have a say in our country and important quarters

 

[saeedhk]

Look at this, just look at this. I'm speechless what kind of people have a say in our country and important quarters

View attachment 78796

I was about to post this. Garbage from a garbage person.

 

[srh]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi rajioon.

 

[saeedhk]

A fearless lady who questioned the two powerfuls in our country - mullahs and military men - and stood up and fought for the rights of minorities. Despite threats and attacks, she didn't step back and remained loyal to her principals. A true gem.

 

[Syed1]

Inna lillahi wa inna illahi raj'ioon

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We might have lost <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AsmaJhangir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AsmaJhangir</a> and Qazi Wajid today but will live to see her resolve and his humility tomorrow. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rip?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rip</a></p>— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/962716627266686978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Nostalgic]

This feels like a punch to the solar plexus, waking up and reading this. She was only 66.

 

[LegendInzi]

She worked towards her goal for decades without faltering, without failing, against hope, against all odds, against all discouragement that could ever be. Today, Pakistan has lost its moral compass.

And it seems to me you lived your life

Like a candle in the wind

Never fading with the sunset

When the rain set in...

 

[Pakistanian]

RIP

In the end you think if this was all really worth it cause on the day of judgement God won't care about whether you're a liberal or a conservative, or what your nationality is.

 

[www787]

She worked towards her goal for decades without faltering, without failing, against hope, against all odds, against all discouragement that could ever be. Today, Pakistan has lost its moral compass.

And it seems to me you lived your life

Like a candle in the wind

Never fading with the sunset

When the rain set in...

simply, No!, many more are there to continue to fight for what is right.

 

[GullyCricketFlop]

Look at this, just look at this. I'm speechless what kind of people have a say in our country and important quarters

View attachment 78796

Saw this on twitter.Such stuff deserves to be condemned.Absolutely disgusting.

 

[yasir]

RIP, a true liberal icon for the country, a big loss to a decaying nation. Some how good people don't live long enough in that country, and bad ones never die...

 

[King-Misbah]

Look at this, just look at this. I'm speechless what kind of people have a say in our country and important quarters

View attachment 78796

I missed your complaint when Hamid Gul passed away and fake Pakistani liberals (libtards) were celebrating his death and said a lot worse things.

 

[yasir]

One of my favorite clip of Asma, if Pakistan has more people like her, we would have never been enslaved...Unfortunately that is not the case.

https://youtu.be/i5YMJfF9ptE

 

[saadibaba]

What a loss. Just heartbroken.

I can probably swallow this death just like many others before her by orienting myself to the sad fact that everyone in this world dies eventually. But what pains me the most about her passing away so suddenly is how there is not even a shadow of a person left in Pakistan who can even begin to fill her shoes.

Who will ask the tough, uncomfortable and probing questions, who will hold to account the people who have the ultimate power in Pakistan. Her presence gave pessimists like me some hope that even if there is no salvation at the end of the road, even if the hope of reforming Pakistan into what our Quaid dreamt of...a modern, progressive and enlightened Islamic state...is too fantastical to have, someone is still fighting fearlessly for the tattered remains of what is left of our states polity and condition of human rights.

That hopeless dream died its ultimate death today as well. RIP.

 

[UN talkz]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1633595/1-preparations-underway-lahore-asma-jahangirs-funeral/

LAHORE: The funeral prayers for Asma Jahangir were held on Tuesday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Thousands gathered, including a huge number of women at the stadium to pay respect to the human rights activist

The prayers were led by Farooq Haider Maududi, son of Abul Ala Maududi.
A number of politicians, bureaucrats, people from the judicial fraternity attended the funeral.

The burial will take place after Asr prayers at Badiyan road.

The human rights lawyer received no less than a state funeral, with hundreds attending the processions. The participants were allowed through the stadium’s FIFA Gate on Ferozepur Road.

Heart of gold: The Asma Jahangir few knew

Asma died at the age of 66 on Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest.

Born to bureaucrat Malik Ghulam Jilani and Sabiha Jilani in Lahore on January 27, 1952, Jahangir was best known for her pro-democratic and human rights activism. She is survived by her husband Tahir Jahangir, two daughters, and a son.

Asma was the first female lawyer in the country to have been granted the status of senior advocate of the Supreme Court. Presently, out of 3,000 SC lawyers, the court has only given the status of senior advocate to around two hundred.

In bar association politics, she headed the Independent Lawyers Group, which has been in the majority for the last decade largely due to her leadership.

 

[MenInG]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1389180



As the world mourns Asma Jahangir's untimely death, her unparalleled commitment and resolve towards human rights advocacy has ensured that Pakistan’s hope of a pluralistic future lives to see another day.

Here is a look at five cases, and consequently causes, that Jahangir successfully litigated before different courts in Pakistan.

Women’s unilateral right to Marriage
The Lahore High Court in 1997, while upholding a 22-year-old Pakistani woman's marriage without the consent of her guardian, called for changes in Pakistani laws to enforce parental authority and discourage courtships.

Jahangir played a crucial role in the setting aside of the LHC judgment, as a result of which in 2003, the Supreme Court held that Pakistani women had the unequivocal right to marry on their own free will without needing the consent of a wali (the woman's father or brother). The Supreme Court held that the LHC had no right to adjudicate on a women’s unilateral right to marry, as the matter had already been decided by the Federal Shariat Court in 1981.

Enforcing punishments against “honour crimes”
Jahangir successfully represented victims of honour killing before the Supreme Court. The apex court overturned the LHC’s reduced prison sentence against family elders, who had murdered a woman, and seriously injured her husband, for marrying against the elders’ wishes.

Jahangir successfully litigated that the elders’ actions were not due to “grave and sudden provocation” as the high court had held, but were, in fact, premeditated with intent to kill, thereby sentencing the elders’ to life imprisonment.

Juvenile rights
Jahangir contested the indiscriminate arrest and search of child vagrants by the Punjab police under the Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance of 1958.

She challenged the Ordinance and argued that since Pakistan as a welfare state had failed to provide education, healthcare and employment benefits to its citizens, there was no justification for imposing harsh restrictions on the poor and needy citizens. While the petition was dismissed by the LHC, the court instructed the administration to distinguish professional beggars from beggars by necessity in order to determine whether a detention was applicable on basis of individual circumstances.

Custody rights
Jehangir, in a child custody/welfare matter, successfully restored custody of a male minor to his mother in accordance with Muslim law, whereby the father had unlawfully deprived the mother of custody for years.

Minority rights
Jehangir successfully represented a Christian accused of blasphemy, whereby the Supreme Court granted the accused bail. The accused had remained in jail for more than three years, during which the prosecution against the accused was subject to extended delays beyond the mandatory statutory period, and the prosecution did not conduct a semblance of a proper trial against the accused.

 

[Mamoon]

One of the greatest daughters of the nation; a role-model for every woman in the country. She has left us in difficult times.

RIP.

 

[Stark]

This news came out of nowhere. Sad and tragic.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am deeply saddened to hear about the death of Asma Jahangir.<br><br>A brilliant human rights activist who dedicated her life to standing up for the rights of women and religious minorities in Pakistan and throughout the world.<br><br>A great loss.</p>— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/963030006443184128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[Markhor]

I missed your complaint when Hamid Gul passed away and fake Pakistani liberals (libtards) were celebrating his death and said a lot worse things.

Hamid Gul has blood on his hands. Whose deaths is Jahangir responsible for ?