Daily Times

Sir: In a country besieged by a powerful elite who find it beneficial to side with the forces of the status quo, Asma Jehangir, like her father Malik Ghulam Jillani had the courage to stand up for what she believed in. She offered her services to thousands of women and members of minorities to protect their basic human rights and even to those with whom she had ideological differences because she believed in the constitutional right of every citizen to a fair trial.

Rest in peace, Asma Jehangir, thousands of Pakistanis will miss you and pray for you.

She opposed every military dictator, while they held power, just like her late father and was acclaimed internationally for her services to human rights. Those, who remember her father, would be aware that he wrote a letter to General Yahya Khan, criticizing his decision to embark on a military operation in East Pakistan and warning him of the consequences. Earlier Malik Ghulam Jillani stood like a rock in support of Madar-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah when she stood against Ayub Khan in 1965.

Asma Jehangir was amongst the few who had the courage to oppose Zia ul Haq and his misadventure in Afghanistan. The misadventure which has caused so many problems in this country such as the scourges of extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism. She was critical of Musharraf and every civilian autocrat and military dictator for policies which violated the basic fundamental rights of Pakistan’s citizens. Asma believed in the Quaid’s vision of a modern democratic welfare state where every citizen would enjoy equal rights irrespective of their faith, beliefs, ethnicity or gender as well as the designated role of paid civil and uniformed servants of state, who are supposed to confine themselves to their specified defined roles as laid down in the constitution. For her principles, she went to prison many times but refused to submit to what she believed was tyranny.

MALIK TARIQ ALI

Lahore

Published in Daily Times, February 14^th 2018.