Former president of Supreme Court Bar Association and human rights icon Asma Jahangir passed away after suffering a stroke, here on Sunday. She was 66. Her funeral will be held on Tuesday as her family members are in London. After suffering brain haemorrhage resulting from a stroke, the unconscious Asma Jahangir was shifted to a private hospital.
Doctors said despite several attempts to bring her blood pressure back to normal, she passed away in a state of unconsciousness. Her sudden death spread like a wild fire in and outside the country as she was one of the most prominent human rights and peace activist, outspoken, brave voice for the oppressed and marginalized people of the country.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar visited residence of Asma Jahangir where he met with bereaved daughter of late Asma and offered his condolences. Several other prominent lawyers and politicians and human rights activists also went to her residence to offer condolences.
Bar Associations across the country have said they will be observing three-day mourn and not take part in court proceedings. Asma was very active in politics of Bar Associations and was elected as president of Supreme Court Bar Association in 2010. She had her own group in the Bar Associations and her nominated candidates had been wining the elections for several years. She was known for taking up court cases of victimized and marginalized sections of society, as well as speaking against human rights violations and her courageous stand against the military and undemocratic rule in the country.
Her death is being widely mourned across the country as it was not just the family's loss but also of those who are voiceless and whose voices she raised. Asma had also served as the special rapporteur of the UN Commission on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions and had been the special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief of the UN Commission on Human Rights since 2004.
She was also an executive member at the International Crisis Group and chief economist advisory council's member of World Bank since 2001. She was also the founding member of Women's Action Forum, Pakistan.
She also received several awards, including the 2014 Right Livelihood Award, 2010 Freedom Award, Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2010 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz, UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights in 2010 and an Officer de la Légion d'honneur by France in 2014. The Legion of Honour is the highest French award. Asma also remained the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
An author and staunch activist of democracy, Asma also received several accolades for her work on human rights. Born in Lahore on January 27, 1952, Asma did her Bachelor of Arts and Law from Lahore and then went on to pursue higher legal studies from Switzerland, Canada and US. She taught constitutional law at Quaid-e-Azam Law College, Lahore.
She conducted consultancy on judicial reforms in Pakistan and Bangladesh for the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. She also remained a member of the Commission of Enquiry for Women from 1994-1997.
AFP ADDS: Leading human rights advocate Asma Jahangir has died, her family said Sunday, in a major blow to the country's embattled rights community. She was 66. Her funeral prayers will be offered at Qadhafi Stadium on Tuesday.
The lawyer and co-founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan died of cardiac arrest, according to her sister. "Unfortunately we have lost her," Hina Jilani, also a prominent rights activist and lawyer, told AFP.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced, according to a statement by her daughter Munizae Jahangir, as the family waited for relatives to return to their hometown of Lahore. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expressed grief at Jahangir's death, praising her contribution to upholding the rule of law and safeguarding human rights.
Jahangir's supporters and former opponents alike took to social media to offer their condolences and express shock at news of her death. "The best tribute to her is to continue her fight for human rights and democracy," tweeted Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, adding she had met Jahangir just last week in Oxford. Journalist Wajahat Khan said on Twitter that he and many others did not agree with some of her views. "But she was a titan. And one of the brightest and bravest ever produced by this country." Outside of Pakistan, Jahangir served as UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran. In 2014 she received France's highest civilian award and Sweden's Right Livelihood Award, for her decades of rights work.
Few rights activists have achieved the credibility of Jahangir. She braved death threats, beatings and imprisonment to win landmark human rights cases while standing up to dictators.
The rights commission which she helped create made its name defending religious minorities and tackling highly charged blasphemy accusations along with cases of "honour" killings - in which victims, normally women, are murdered by a relative for bringing shame on the family. There is still terrible violence against women, discrimination against minorities and near-slavery for bonded labourers, Jahangir told AFP during an interview in 2014, but human rights have made greater strides in Pakistan than may be apparent.
"There was a time that human rights was not even an issue in this country. Then prisoners' rights became an issue," she said.
"Women's rights was thought of as a Western concept. Now people do talk about women's rights - political parties talk about it, even religious parties talk about it." Jahangir secured a number of victories during her life, from winning freedom for bonded labourers from their "owners" through pioneering litigation, to a landmark court case that allowed women to marry of their own volition.
She was also an outspoken critic of the powerful military establishment, including during her stint as the first-ever female leader of top bar association. Jahangir was arrested in 2007 by the government of then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf and held under house arrest.