Leading Human Rights activist, lawyer Asma Jahangir passes away in Lahore

LAHORE: Veteran Human Rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir passed away on Sunday after suffering a cardiac arrest at age of 66, ARY News reported.

According to initial reports, Jahangir was shifted to a hospital after she complained of chest pain where she breathed her last.

The last rites’ details have not been made public yet as Jahangir’s children are out of the country.

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.

Jahangir was born in Lahore on January 27, 1952. She played a vital role in lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judiciary.

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.

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”