LAHORE: The mood was sombre at the Gaddafi Stadium where Asma Jahangir’s funeral prayers were held amid tight security. The venue was cordoned off on all sides except a main entrance.

The distance from the main entrance to the funeral spot was long but nothing seemed to deter people from paying their respects to their champion. Sixty-five-year-old Shehnaz walked with a stick to the venue.

“The pains that Asma Jahangir took to fight for people like you and me – especially women, can I not even walk this far by myself to attend her last rites?” she asked. “This is the time when her people should come out.”

A horde of lawyers – young and old – was present, grim and sedate. Academicians, artists, activists and political personalities had all converged at the funeral.

“She’s gone, but one can never forget the fiery, spirited manner in which she lived her life,” said environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam. “Despite not being well these last two years, she would take on life face forward.”

A large number of Asma’s family, friends, admirers and followers were present to bid her a final goodbye, but these were just small fraction of the number of people who loved and admired her. Online condolences poured in from many cities and countries, and several mourners travelled all the way to Lahore from different parts of the country.

Awami National Party (ANP) Vice President Bushra Gohar said the loss was unbearable for the entire country. Donning red caps, other ANP members had also travelled from Peshawar to attend the funeral.

“Her last public speech was about the rights of Pakhtuns, especially in the context of the Naqeebullah murder case and the attack on Baloch and Pakhtun students by Jamiat in Lahore,” said Waheed, an ANP member. “No one would stand up for the rights of people from marginalised groups, but she always did.”

About her adversaries, he said that those who criticised her had no idea of how much she had contributed to society. “These people will criticise blindly without knowing that whatever progress the country has made in the last few decades, so much of it has been because of her boldness, her activism, and that is why we are here today.”

Members of several civil society organisations were also present on the occasion.

“Whenever we had a problem, we relied on her advice to help us out,” said Bushra Khaliq of Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE). Khaliq’s WISE along with South Asia Partnership Pakistan was the target of a government crackdown on non-governmental organisations last year.

“There were so many times when we would be shaky but we reached out to her and one meeting would motivate us. She was the reference, the benchmark for what kind of narrative one should be taking when things got murky because we blindly trusted her judgement and mindset.”

As the funeral prayers ended and the body was shouldered out to be taken for burial, people could be seen weeping quietly but passionately in remembrance of the ‘Iron Lady of Pakistan’.

“I don’t think many of us have even digested the fact that she is gone now,” said one man. “It’s going to hit us hard every day when we realise that Asma isn’t there to protect us anymore.”

Women’s Action Forum supporters were seen wearing their trademark yellow scarves printed with slogans as a sign of commemoration, as Asma co-founded the forum in 1981.

“She was endlessly intimidated and given countless death threats, but always put her life at stake to extend her support to those who were oppressed,” said a woman. “I am very glad that she always remained unharmed and unhurt by these radical and extremist forces because they only wanted to protect their own reputation. For Pakistan, Asma Jahangir will always be irreplaceable.”

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2018