So long, Asma Jahangir

We all should feel pride for being in the era of Asma Jahangir. 

We are lucky we saw her work. 

We saw her fight against dictators. 

We saw her speak for innocent blasphemy case suspects. 

Of course, she was our national pride. 

She breathed her last on February 11, 2018, in Lahore because of her cardiac failure. She was the voice of every oppressed, voiceless and powerless person of the country. This sounds a cliché remarked for Asma Jahangir, but my family would have first gone to Asma Jahangir for, had my work or social media statement put me in trouble. She made her presence felt, and voice heard, and she had not reached this pedestal overnight. She had earned this place.  

She became a public person when she was 18. Her entrance to the public life was not by her choice. She had been forced into the circumstances. The military dictator, Yaha Khan, had detained her father, former civil servant and lawyer Malik Ahmed Jilani, and no lawyer was ready to take his case. Asma took the case to her own hands and approached the Lahore High Court. The appeal was rejected. She moved the Supreme Court. The good judges sat on the case until the dictator was gone, and her father had been released, but the judges declared the dictator as a usurper. The landmark judgment, known by her name, is a reference document.   

During the military regime of Gen Zia, Asma Jahangir fought for democracy on The Mall and for the prisoners in courts. She took the cause of women’s rights and fought relentlessly against Hudood Ordinance. The Mall saw Asma being beaten by police. Many jail barracks hosted her for sometime days, sometimes weeks and occasionally months. Once she took a group of the bonded labourers to the high court. The judge asked why she had brought the people who stunk. She sternly responded: “You’re are here exactly for these people.” The judge was annoyed. Asma Jahangir did not care about milord’s mood. She kept on arguing the case passionately. Her arguments convinced the judge and the verdict ordered a crackdown on the bonded labor practices.  

Asma Jahangir took those cases, which other lawyers would refuse to fearing the backlash of religious bigots. She took the case of blasphemy charges fearlessly. She survived many attacks. Salmaan Taseer was not so lucky. Neither was Benazir Bhutto. After the assassination of such people, our society has seen the lynching of Mashal Khan and celebrations over the acquittal of the accused in the murder case.

She was also a person of intellect; she was a good speaker and much sought-after commentator for prime time TV talk shows. Her eloquent yet forceful defence of victims and the vulnerable everywhere will be greatly missed.

Her last appearance at the international level was at an Oxford gathering in memory of their alumnus Benazir Bhutto. Malala was also there. She was the most suitable speaker to speak on democracy icon Benazir Bhutto.

Social media is full of hate speech on her death. People are questioning her religious thoughts, her attachment to Pakistan and so on. This shows that the mission of Asma Jahangir for a liberal, democratic and forward-looking Pakistan needs to be taken seriously.

May her dream gets realized very soon.