LAHORE: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday requested the federal government in writing for state funeral of Human Rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir, who passed away yesterday.
In a letter to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the provincial chief minister has also requested the national flag to be flown at half-mast on the day of her funeral.
Following the arrival of Asma Jahangir’s relatives and daughters in the country, the noted lawyer’s funeral, scheduled to be held at 2:00 pm tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Jahangir’s sudden demise saddened the people from all strata of society. The veteran lawyer passed away on Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest at the age of 66.
She was shifted to a hospital after she complained of chest pain where she breathed her last.
The iconic lawyer had served as the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). She was the first woman to serve as head of the SCBA.
She was among the rare personalities participated in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) during Ziaul Haq’s dictatorial regime and sent to jail for her activism in 1983, besides playing a vital role in the Lawyers’ Movement for restoration of judiciary.
She had always been a very vocal critic of the human rights violations in the country, besides widely popular for taking up court cases of marginalized segments of the society.
Moreover, she was also put under house-arrest in 2007 for actively participating in the Lawyers’ Movement during Musharraf’s regime.
She penned two books, namely “the Hudood Ordinance: A Divine Sanction?” and “Children of a Lesser God: Child Prisoners of Pakistan”.
