Asma Jilani Jahangir (; 27 January 1952 – 11 February 2018) was a Pakistani human rights lawyer and social activist who co-founded and chaired the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and AGHS Legal Aid Cell. Jahangir was known for playing a prominent role in the Lawyers' Movement and served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and as a trustee at the International Crisis Group.Asma Jahangir's victory is a cause for celebration
Born and raised in Lahore, Jahangir studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary before receiving her B.A. from Kinnaird and LLB from the Punjab University Law College in 1978 and joined the chamber of Barrister Ijaz Hussain Batalvi. In 1980, she was called to the Lahore High Court, and to the Supreme Court in 1982. In the 1980s, Jahangir became a democracy activist and was imprisoned in 1983 for participating in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy against the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq. In 1986, she moved to Geneva, and became the vice-chair of the Defence for Children International and remained until 1988 when she returned to Pakistan.
In 1987, Jahangir co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and became its Secretary-General. In 1993, she was elevated as the commission's chairperson. She was again put under house arrest in November 2007 after the imposition of emergency. After serving as one of the leaders of the Lawyers' Movement, she became Pakistan's first woman to serve as the President of Supreme Court Bar Association, she presided over a Seminar to pay homage to Barrister Ijaz Hussain Batalvi organised by Akhtar Aly Kureshy Convenier Ijaz Hussain Batalvi Foundation. She co-chaired South Asia Forum for Human Rights and was the vice president of International Federation for Human Rights.Asma Jahangir- World Economic Forum , Retrieved 16 March 2016 Jahangir served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion from August 2004 to July 2010, including serving on the U.N. panel for inquiry into Sri Lankan human rights violations and on a United Nations fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements.UN appoints panel for inquiry into Sri Lankan human rights violations In 2016, she was named as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, remaining until her death in February 2018.
Jahangir is the recipient of several awards including the 2014 Right Livelihood Award (along with Edward Snowden) for "defending, protecting and promoting human rights in Pakistan and more widely, often in very difficult and complex situations and at great personal risk", 2010 Freedom Award, Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2010, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2005, 1995 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, and the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights. She was awarded a Legion of Honour by France, and in 2016 the University of Pennsylvania Law School awarded her an honorary degree.Fighting for rights: Asma Jehangir receives French honour Asma Jahangir – Laureate of the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights 2010 Her writings include The Hudood Ordinance: A Divine Sanction? and Children of a Lesser God.
Jahangir was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2018, the highest degree of service to the state, and for services to international diplomacy by Mamnoon Hussain.
Early life and education Asma Jahangir was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, into a prosperous and politically active Urdu-speaking Muhajir family of Kakazai Pashtun origins, with a history of activism and human rights work. Her father, Malik Ghulam Jilani, was a civil servant who entered politics upon retirement and spent years both in jail and under house arrest for opposing military dictatorships. Malik was imprisoned on several occasions for his outspoken views, which included denouncing the Pakistani government for genocide during their military action in what is now Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan).
Her mother, Begum Sabiha Jilani (1927–2012), was educated at a co-ed college named Forman Christian College in Lahore, at a time when few Muslim women received higher education. Sabiha also fought the traditional system, pioneering her own clothing business until her family's lands were confiscated in 1967 as a result of her husband's opinions and detention.EuropaWorld 9/3/2001 Sabiha was the daughter of Maulana Salahuddin Ahmed, a well-known Urdu writer.
Jahangir herself became involved at a young age in protests against the military regime as well as opposing her father's detention by then president, Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1972. She received her B.A. from Kinnaird College, Lahore and her Bachelor of Law degree (LLB) in 1978,The 1995 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service from Punjab University Law College. She also held an honorary doctorate from University of St. Gallen in Switzerland,Leadership profile Queens University, Canada, Simon Fraser University, Canada and Cornell University, United States.
Personal life Asma Jilani married Tahir Jahangir, a member of business clan who owns Premier Group. He currently serves as the chairman of the Punjab Oil Mills. They had a son, Jillani Jahangir who runs the family business, and two daughters, Munizae Jahangir, a journalist and Sulema Jahangir, who is also a lawyer. Her family is one of the sponsor of the Punjab Oil Mills which sells cooking oil under brands, Canolive and Zaiqa. Her first grandchild is Natasha Asma Rouse who she doted on and took with her to court and all her bar meetings.
Activism She spent her career defending the human and women's rights, rights of religious minorities and children in Pakistan. Jahangir was a staunch critic of the Hudood Ordinance and blasphemy laws of Pakistan put in place as part of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization program in Pakistan.Prize winner 2002: Asma Jahangir Asma Jahangir by Laila Kazmi She was a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and served as Secretary-General and later Chairperson of the organisation.
In 1980, Jahangir and her sister, Hina Jilani, got together with fellow activists and lawyers to form the first law firm established by women in Pakistan. In the same year they also helped form the Women’s Action Forum (WAF), a pressure group campaigning against Pakistan's discriminatory legislation, most notably against the Proposed Law of Evidence, where the value of a woman's testimony was reduced to half that of a man's testimony, and the Hadood Ordinances, where victims of rape had to prove their innocence or else face punishment themselves.Women and Children: The Human Rights Relationship – Asia On 12 February 1983, the Punjab Women Lawyers Association in Lahore organised a public protest (one of its leaders was Jahangir) against the Proposed Law of Evidence, during which Jahangir and other participating WAF members were beaten, teargassed, and arrested by police.Fight Hudood, Protect Women By Beena Sarwar
The first WAF demonstration, however, took place in 1983 when some 25–50 women took to the streets protesting the controversial case of Safia Bibi. In 1983, Safia, a blind 13-year-old girl, was raped by her employers, and as a result became pregnant, yet ended up in jail charged with fornication (zina) sentenced to flogging, three years of imprisonment and fined. Jahangir defended Safia in her appeal and eventually the verdict was over-ruled by an appeals court due to pressure and protests.Swat The System They would say: "We [their law firm] had been given a lot of cases by the advocate general and the moment this demonstration came to light, the cases were taken away from us."Dawn – The Reviewer, 2 April 1998, "A ray of hope" by Muneeza Shamsie In 1982, Jahangir earned the nickname "little heroine" after leading a protest march in Islamabad against a decision by then-president Zia-ul-Haq to enforce religious laws and stated: "Family laws [which are religious laws] give women few rights" and that "They have to be reformed because Pakistan cannot live in isolation. We cannot remain shackled while other women progress".Asma Jahangir , Retrieved 16 March 2016
In 1986, Jahangir and Hina set up AGHS Legal Aid Cell, the first free legal aid centre in Pakistan. The AGHS Legal Aid Cell in Lahore also runs a shelter for women, called 'Dastak', looked after by her secretary Munib Ahmed.Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani She was also a proponent of protecting the rights of persecuted religious minorities in Pakistan and spoke out against forced conversions.Democracy is Survival for Women Jahangir campaigned against human rights abuses taking place in government and police custody in Pakistan. In a letter to The New York Times, she said that "Women are arrested, raped and sexually assaulted every day in the presence of female constables, who find themselves helpless in such situations".The New York Times, letter to the editor, 23 September 1992. Cited in .
In 1996, the Lahore High Court ruled that an adult Muslim woman could not get married without the consent of her male guardian (wali). Women, who chose their husbands independently, could be forced to annul their marriages and the repercussions were highlighted by Jahangir, who also took on such cases (i.e. the case of Saima Waheed);Book: Muslim women and the politics of participation by Mahnaz Afkhami, Erika FriedlPolice exploiting LHC ruling, apex court told: Delay in Saima case affected 250 couples: Asma "Hundreds have already been arrested. This is simply going to open up the floodgates for the harassment of women and girls by their families and the authorities. The courts have sanctioned their oppression. Thousands more are bound to be affected by this."A beacon in Islam's dark age By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown 22 October 1996
Jahangir demanded that the government of Parvez Musharraf work to improve the record of human rights domestically. Citing examples of human rights abuses, she wrote, "A Hindu income tax inspector gets lynched in the presence of the army personnel for allegedly having made a remark on the beard of a trader. Promptly, the unfortunate Hindu government servant is booked for having committed blasphemy, while the traders and the Lashkar-e-Taiba activists were offered tea over parleys. A seventy-year-old Mukhtaran Bibi and her pregnant daughter Samina are languishing in Sheikhupura jail on trumped-up charges of blasphemy".Whither are we? She was also an active opponent of child labour and capital punishment: "It would be hypocrisy to defend laws I don't believe in, like capital punishment, the blasphemy law and laws against women and in favor of child labor." Asma Jahangir served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions from 1998 to 2004, and as the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief from 2004 to 2010. In her capacity as a UN official, Jahangir was in Pakistan, when Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in 2007. In November 2006, she participated the international meeting for The Yogyakarta Principles as one of 29 experts. On 5 November 2007, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour indicated that Jahangir was among the judicial and political officials detained by the Musharraf government., Retrieved 16 March 2016