LAHORE: The wife of veteran journalist and Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan I.A. Rehman passed away here on Thursday after a cardiac arrest.

Mrs Tauseef I.A. Rehman, 75, was the mother of Asha’ar Rehman, Dawn Lahore Resident Editor, and Azfar Rehman, Ahmar Rehman, Sahar and Ambreen.

She was laid to rest in the Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Area graveyard.

Mrs Tauseef Rehman was the second among six sisters and two brothers and her father was a doctor. She was a fearless woman and stood by her husband when during the Zia dictatorship Mr I.A. Rehman’s house was raided by law-enforcement agencies to deter him from his struggle for the restoration of democracy.

A large number of journalists, rights activists, friends and members of Mr I.A. Rehman’s family attended the funeral prayers held at Alquds Masjid. Prominent among them were former foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, information secretary Momin Agha, Munnoo Bhai, Najam Sethi, Altaf Hussain Qureshi, Mujibur Rehman Shami, Nayyar Ali Dada, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Hussain Naqi, Zaman Khan, Dr Mehdi Hasan, Wajahat Masood, Abbas Rashid, Masoodulllah Khan, Raja Aurangzeb and Farooq Tariq. Qul will be held at Alquds Masjid, near the residence of Mr I.A. Rehman at 230-A-1, Township (Punjab Government Employees Cooperative Housing Society-1) between Asr and Maghrib prayers on Friday.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his grief over the death of Mrs I.A. Rehman.

PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari also expressed profound grief and sorrow over the passing away of Mrs Tauseef Rehman.

In a statement issued in Islamabad on Thursday night, the former president said he was deeply saddened by the passing away of Mr I.A. Rehman’s wife and offered heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

He prayed to Allah to grant eternal rest to the departed soul and patience to members of the bereaved family to bear the loss.

The HRCP expressed its deep sorrow and grief over the demise of Mrs I.A. Rehman. In a statement, it said: “We the members of the HRCP family are deeply saddened over the passing away of Mrs Tauseef Rehman and offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.”

General Secretary of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydroelectric Workers Union Khurshid Ahmad and others expressed sorrow over the passing away of Mrs I.A. Rehman.

Dawn Lahore editorial staff also offered condolence to the family of Mr I.A. Rehman.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2015

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