LAHORE: Asma Jahangir, an iconic lawyer, activist and champion of human rights, passed away here at the age of 66 on Sunday.

A constant traveller, she returned to the city she had given so much to and accepted a lot from to bid a final farewell to a world she always strived to make a better place for the coming generations. Her departure was marked by a suddenness that had become her characteristic through her time as a fierce campaigner for people’s rights.

She collapsed while on a telephone call, discussing a meeting with a lawyer, was rushed to a private hospital but could not survive. A doctor concerned at Hameed Latif Hospital told Dawn that she died of brain haemorrhage. She has left behind her husband, two daughters and a son.

According to family sources, Ms Jahangir’s fune­ral will be held on Feb 13 (Tuesday) at Gaddafi Sta­di­um at 2pm as her daughter and brother are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan from abroad. As the news of her death spread across the cou­ntry and beyond, her friends and colleagues among the lawyers’ community, intellectuals, politicians, civil soc­iety members and her well-wishers rushed to her Hali Road residence in a state of shock and disbelief. Condolences and tributes pou­red in through messages and posts on social networking sites, including Twitter.

Prominent lawyer’s funeral will be held at Gaddafi Stadium tomorrow as nation mourns the sudden death

Among others, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar as well as other Supreme Court judges and senior lawyers reached Ms Jahangir’s residence and extended their heartfelt condolences and sympathies to her family. The mourners were all praise for her being the leading torch-bearer of human rights, minority rights, who put up huge resistance against intolerance and retrogressive elements of all kinds. Brave and outspoken, she rose to prominence by sheer dint of hard work, diligence and commitment to the ideals of rule of law, said her colleagues in the legal fraternity and the area of human rights.

Senior lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar told media persons that he was on the phone with Ms Jahangir, when she collapsed. “After that I screamed and kept repeating her name but the call eventually dropped,” he said.

Often addressed as the voice of the voiceless, Ms Jahangir had an illustrious decades-old career in the pursuit of human rights and stood undaunted in the face of extreme pressure, and even shrugged off life threats with her customary nonchalance. She co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 1987 and before that, in the early 1980s, the Women’s Action Forum.

She was widely known for playing a prominent role in the lawyers’ movement. Also in the same decade she set up the famous legal firm AGHS along with lawyers Shehla Zia, Gulrukh and Hina Jilani, her sister in comrade in all causes.

Born in 1952 and raised in Lahore, Ms Jahangir studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary before receiving her Bachelors’ degree from Kinnaird College and doing LLB from the Punjab University in 1978. Ms Jahangir was called to the Lahore High Court in 1980 and to the Supreme Court in 1982. In the 1980s, she became a pro-democracy activist and was imprisoned in 1983 for participating in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy against the military regime of Ziaul Haq. In 1986, she moved to Geneva and became the vice-chair of the Defence for Children International and returned to Pakistan in 1988.

She was also put under house arrest in November 2007 after the imposition of emergency.

After serving as one of the leaders of the lawyers’ movement, she was the first woman to serve as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. For some time, she co-chaired the South Asia Forum for Human Rights and was the vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights.

Ms Jahangir was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion from August 2004 to July 2010, besides serving on the UN panel for inquiry into Sri Lankan human rights violations and on a fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements.

She received several awards, including the 2014 Right Livelihood Award (along with Edward Snowden), 2010 Freedom Award, Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2010, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1995 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and the Unesco/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights. She was awarded an Officier de la Légion d’honneur by France.

Condolences and tributes poured in from across the country and abroad, recalling the great services Asma Jahangir had rendered to her country and its people, especially those at the wrong end of authority and frequent persecution run by agents of bigotry. Especially recalled were her courageous defence of clients no other lawyer would be ready to represent: from Salamat Masih in 1993 to those fighting for their rights in Okara and Gilgit-Baltistan. Her trailblazing work in the area of women’s rights was also highlighted, with friends and admirers quickly pointing out that this was just one part in the grand and most impressive mosaic left behind by Ms Jahangir’s long uncompromising journey.

The National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the PPP chairman and co-chairman, the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council condoled the death of Asma Jahangir. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also condoled her death.

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani in his message expressed his deep grief and termed Ms Janangir’s death a national loss. He said she always fought for the rule of law, upholding of the Constitution and protection of democratic institutions, besides waging struggle for the voiceless.

NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi expressed deep grief over the sad demise of Asma Jahangir. They lauded her immense contributions towards upholding the rule of law, democracy and safeguarding human rights. They also praised her services rendered for the cause of independence of the judiciary, rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution in the country.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar in his message extended heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathies to members of the bereaved family of the departed soul. Praising her services rendered for the cause of independence of the judiciary, rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution, he said Ms Jahangir’s services would always be remembered in good words in the judicial history of Pakistan.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari expressed their profound grief and sorrow over the sudden death of Asma Jahangir.

Bilawal Bhutto said Ms Jahangir was highly pro-democracy dedicated fighter and lived a life of rights defender. “Her death is an irreparable and colossal loss for the entire nation, which will miss her for her dashing role she always played in the courtrooms, on rights platforms and for her particular contribution towards creating awareness among the masses about their rights,” he said.

Asif Zardari said Ms Jahangir was a brave woman, who showed resistance to dictatorships and struggled for restoration of democracy and the Constitution. He said she never compromised when it came to the principles of democracy and the Constitution. He said the eminent lawyer defied those who tried to sabotage human rights, adding that her death was a shock to the people of Pakistan in particular and democrats all over the world in general. “The Bhutto family along with the Pakistan Peoples Party stands in solidarity with the bereaved family,” he said.

Supreme Court Bar Association president Kalim Ahmed Khursheed Syed said the association was in a state of shock and distress on the sudden sad demise of its former president. Terming her death a big loss, he said she always stood up for maintaining the high standards of democracy and the supremacy of law in Pakistan.

While the SCBA is mourning its former president’s death, its president called upon the legal fraternity across the country to not appear in courts on Monday (today).

Similarly, the Pakistan Bar Council expressed grief over the death of Ms Jahangir and announced observing mourning for three days from Monday to Wednesday (Feb 12 to 14). It said the lawyers would also not appear in courts on Monday for attending her funeral and holding condolence meetings in their respective bar associations all over the country.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2018