LAHORE: “A colonial law is being used today to silence the people including students, labour union leaders, political opponents, journalists and even lawyers,” says Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Abid Saqi.

Mr Saqi was presiding over a memorial held for the late Asma Jahangir in her second year of death as well as the launch of a report of the Asma Jahangir Conference held earlier in October 2019. The remembrance was organised by the AGHS.

The programme invited lawyers and civil society activists to participate and remember Asma as a person, a lawyer and a human rights activist and the legacy she has left behind.

Mr Saqi’s passionate speech focused on how the public was not allowed to exercise its basic constitutional rights. Asma always said “when there is oppression and dictatorship, by not speaking out we lose our dignity,” he quoted.

“I will just point out that sedition cases are becoming a trend, much like blasphemy cases and Section 124-A of PPC is being used to silence people.”

He said Section 124-A was introduced in the reforms of Penal Code after 1857 to silence people against colonialism itself.

“Freedom-fighters and national leaders were prosecuted against 124-A, including Mahatma Gandhi, and Mr Jinnah also defended some of those accused,” he said. “Yet those who are silencing pretend to stand by Mr Jinnah’s name, whose speech of August 11 has been kept under wraps.”

He said the people must proceed towards a complete dismantling of the colonial structure of both society and state including colonial laws. “They are colonial residue and relics and which are still used despite Fundamental Rights given in the Constitution including Article 19,” he said. “It is repugnant to fundamental rights.”

AGHS Legal Aid Cell Executive Director Nida Aly said Asma’s legacy had been carried forward by her firm providing legal aid to more than 1,000 people last year, and since she passed away more people were reaching out. A website voicepk.net was also launched where human rights abuses were being highlighted through journalism.

Mr I.A Rehman spoke about how Asma Jahangir set up the HRCP with the concept of establishing a platform where human rights could be addressed. To make this credible, she got together some of the biggest names that were there, including Justice Dorab Patel, Justice Khuda Bux Marri, Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and Minhaj Burna.

He said Asma never compromised on values and principles. She never allowed political sloganeering to be mixed in with the organisation’s agenda of human rights.

“If there was a barrier, she was always in front,” he said. “As the successors of her legacy, we all must do the same - lead from the front and always speak out against injustice.”

Daniel W. Klauss, Head of Political, Trade and Communication at the Delegation of the EU to Pakistan, said the Asma Jahangir Conference was dedicated to strengthen the role of the judiciary and the rule of law, and promote democracy.

“The EU supports this because it wants to promote all human rights,” he said. “We have given Pakistan the General Scheme of Preferences (GSP Plus) - that means duty-free exports for a wide range of Pakistani products to be given preference in the EU. And since the GSP Plus, exports to EU have increased by over 50 percent. But this is not coming for free, there are conditions – implementation of 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, protection of the environment and good governance.”

He said the crucial part was how these conventions were translated into international law and how these laws were implemented.

“The annual report on GSP Plus on Pakistan will be presented to the European parliament next week, and they will discuss how to go forward on whether the GSP Plus should be continued, changed or even revoked,” he said.

Mr Tahir Jahangir, the widower of the late Asma Jahangir, said Asma was eminently successful in sowing seeds and seeing them flourish.

“She started the HRCP which is a flourishing organisation and not in itself alone but having set forth a positive counterweight to the idea of a uni-party system, the cult that Pakistan is afflicted with, of authoritarian rule,” he said.

“We are not here to commemorate her second death anniversary; we are here to celebrate her life – whatever she did is bearing fruit,” he concluded.

A detailed roadmap arising from the decisions made at the AJ Conference 2019 was also read out. A brief show-reel with highlights of the event was also exhibited.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2020