LAHORE: The death of human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir has shocked all the segments of society. The government representatives, politicians, rights activists and lawyers all have termed the death a great loss for the country.

Governor Rafiq Rajwana and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif have expressed grief over the departure of Ms Jahangir.

Paying tribute to the great services of the late lawyer to the Constitution’s supremacy and rule of law, they said she was a credible person in the lawyers’ community and remained very active in the lawyers’ movement. She delivered great services to human rights and also worked in a practical and fair manner to ensure the rule of law in the country, they said and added that her services for the rule of law would always be remembered.

In their condolence messages, they extended their heartiest sympathies to the bereaved family.

The chief minister’s wife Tehmina Durrani also expressed her condolence.

Ms Durrani used her twitter account to express her grief.

“Farewell Asma, the courageous warrior of truth and empowerer of the disempowered. Thank you for standing with me in my fight for freedom and writing the foreword to My Feudal Lord. Thank you my dear friend for being there in every way till the very end,” she tweeted.

Maryam Nawaz of the PML-N said she was shocked to learn about the death.

Ms Nawaz tweeted that she was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Asma’s sudden death and that democracy, human rights and resistance against oppression had lost a great soldier.

“It is an irreparable loss. May she rest in eternal peace. Amen,” Maryam said.

US ENVOY: On behalf of the United States Mission, US Ambassador in Pakistan David Hale has said, “We join Pakistan in mourning the loss of Asma Jahangir, a tireless advocate for human rights and democracy”.

He said her work in Pakistan, including that of a founder and chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). With the international community through the United Nations and groups such as the International Crisis Group and the South Asia Forum for Human Rights, he said, she became an icon globally. She would be missed as a champion of her country and its people. On behalf of the Embassy community, we send our prayers to her loved ones and family, he added.

LAWYERS: Senator and lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said Asma was a bold, brave and undaunted lawyer who used to speak her heart out in every case she fought for the relief of the common people.

“She confronted clergy, courts, state and armed forces in her efforts to speak truth,” he added.

Senior lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar said Asma had fought her first case of her father’s detention when she started practising law. He said she had named the lawyers’ group as Independent Group because the group had to pursue independence in the Bar.

Lawyer Abid Hassan Minto said the activist lawyers like Asma were much needed in the ever-deteriorating conditions in Pakistan.

“But such people are just moving out of the scene,” he lamented.

PPP: PPP information secretary Nafisa Shah said Asma was the founder of Pakistan’s homegrown human rights movement and a bold, fearless voice for the downtrodden and dispossessed.

“Pakistan grieves your loss today and will do for all times to come. [I] cannot image a world where Asma’s voice is missing,” she said.

PPP Punjab leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chaudhry Manzoor said the county had lost an independent voice. They remembered Asma as the voice of the oppressed and a symbol of women rights. They recalled that she always challenged military dictators from Yahya Khan to Pervez Musharraf and suffered heavily during the anti-martial law regimes.

Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar considered Asma as somebody who consistently and indiscriminately stood up for whatever she felt was right. “There’s no one who can match her bravery and courage. Pakistan is poorer today,” she added.

PML-Q: PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi lauded Asma’s services in the field of law. They said the deceased enjoyed popularity among the legal fraternity for always presenting her thoughts and stance boldly.

AWP: The leadership the Awami Workers Party (AWP) leaders, in a press release, termed Asma a progressive icon, peerless champion of human rights, untiring campaigner for women’s liberation and a friend to the oppressed.

“She stood up to three military dictatorships, held accountable several civilian governments, fiercely opposed the Taliban and other violent extremist groups when others would cow before them and braved years of state repression and arrests for her criticism of the state’s national security and foreign policies,” the statement said.

JI: Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and secretary general Liaquat Baloch also expressed their grief on the demise of Asma.

JI former emir Qai Hussain Ahmed’s daughter Samia Raheel tweeted that despite having ideological differences her relationship with the leading rights activist was based on mutual respect.

Meanwhile, Hussain Naqi of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) recalls fondly a lifetime of activism and solidarity with Asma.

“We were the first group of activists who joined the HRCP and worked together to build chapters in other provinces. We wanted to build a structure at the district level. So Asma Bibi accompanied us on our travels to some of the remotest places of the country to speak to the people and learn about their problems,” Mr Naqi said.

Nighat Said Khan of the Women’s Action Forum, PTI leaders Ijaz Chaudhry, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Andleeb Abbas and others also forwarded their condolence messages.

When the news of Asma’s death spread, many prominent people rushed to her residence on Hali Road in Gulberg to express solidarity with her family. They included Lahore High Court Chief Justice Yawar Ali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, former Chief Justice of Pakistan Taasaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Umer Atta Bandial, Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh, senior lawyers, Aitzaz Ahsan, Azam Nazir Tarar, Ahsan Bhoon, Khalid Ranjha, Salman Akram Raja, PCB chairman Najam Sethi, federal ministers Zahid Hamid, Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry, property tycoon Malik Riaz, renowned architect Nayyar Ali Dada, former foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri and large number of lawyers, journalists, writers, intellectuals and civil society members.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2018