A moral compass
Bravery, thy name is Asma Jahangir
As a Pakistani woman, this year's International Women's Day somehow felt incomplete because of the loss of one of our most iconic feminist figures, Asma Jahangir, who passed away in February due to cardiac arrest. She had only just turned 66. The news of her sudden death jolted each and every one of us. It was a personal loss not only because a lot of us knew her closely but also because she was an inspiration to millions of men and women around the world.
Asma Jahangir was a champion of human rights, an untiring campaigner for women's rights, a voice for minority rights, a democrat to the core, a brilliant lawyer and a crusader who did not bow down to pressure. There was no one like her, and there may never be another as brave and courageous as Asma ji. As Mohammad Taqi put it, she was our moral compass. If she took a position, it meant that we should do so too because she had always been on the right side of history. She was a class apart. Asmaji's energy knew no bounds. She addressed the Pashtun Long March just a few days before her death. To her last day, she worked tirelessly for all of us, for each and every Pakistani, trying to make our country a better place for the future generations.
Asma Jahangir truly broke the glass ceiling in more ways than one. She was the first and only woman so far to have been elected as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. The day she won the SCBA elections was historic. Her opponents and critics had tried to sabotage her election campaign with every dirty trick possible. Yet, she survived those despicable attacks and went on to win the elections. At a personal level, her success inspired the women of Pakistan. If Asma ji could do it, so could we. Pakistan's powerful military establishment feared her. She was maligned by her detractors and faced death threats, but she went on doing what she did. If bravery could have a name, it would be Asma Jahangir. She was neither afraid of the military establishment nor powerful politicians, religious extremists or anyone else. She was a one-woman army against all the ills of our society. As Umair Javed tweeted, "[Asma Jahangir] Took on battles no one else would touch. Faced insurmountable odds as a woman, and fought fearlessly in the dirty, patriarchal trenches of both her profession and the wider field of Pakistani politics. We have all lost a treasure, even though some may not recognize it."
Asma ji may have left us but even in death she taught us many lessons. One of the most important lessons I learnt was how she believed in engaging with everyone regardless of their views. There is a problem with a lot of Pakistani liberals, myself included, that we don't listen to the other side or engage with those we don't agree with. When Asmaji passed away, we saw people from religious parties pay condolences to her family, some of her worst critics were crying for her, and they all had personal stories to share - of how Asma ji helped them in their hour of need, or how she engaged with them regardless of her ideological differences with them. I suddenly remembered what she had said to a bunch of us a couple of months before her death. It went something along these lines: 'Activism comes with responsibility. Do not mock your adversaries. If you mock them, they will not listen to you. Engage with them. Reason with them.' This was Asma Jahangir for you. There are so many stories to tell but there are not enough words to describe the kind of woman that Asma Jahangir was. She was a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and an amazing friend. And she was a great mentor. She took time out for everyone who asked for it despite her busy schedule. She would return almost each and every call because she did not want to miss out on anyone who needed her help. The kind of outpouring of grief at her death is a testament to the fact that she touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in one way or another.
(Originally published in The Telegraph)
As a Pakistani woman, this year's International Women's Day somehow felt incomplete because of the loss of one of our most iconic feminist figures, Asma Jahangir, who passed away in February due to cardiac arrest. She had only just turned 66. The news of her sudden death jolted each and every one of us. It was a personal loss not only because a lot of us knew her closely but also because she was an inspiration to millions of men and women around the world.
Asma Jahangir was a champion of human rights, an untiring campaigner for women's rights, a voice for minority rights, a democrat to the core, a brilliant lawyer and a crusader who did not bow down to pressure. There was no one like her, and there may never be another as brave and courageous as Asma ji. As Mohammad Taqi put it, she was our moral compass. If she took a position, it meant that we should do so too because she had always been on the right side of history. She was a class apart. Asmaji's energy knew no bounds. She addressed the Pashtun Long March just a few days before her death. To her last day, she worked tirelessly for all of us, for each and every Pakistani, trying to make our country a better place for the future generations.
Asma Jahangir truly broke the glass ceiling in more ways than one. She was the first and only woman so far to have been elected as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. The day she won the SCBA elections was historic. Her opponents and critics had tried to sabotage her election campaign with every dirty trick possible. Yet, she survived those despicable attacks and went on to win the elections. At a personal level, her success inspired the women of Pakistan. If Asma ji could do it, so could we. Pakistan's powerful military establishment feared her. She was maligned by her detractors and faced death threats, but she went on doing what she did. If bravery could have a name, it would be Asma Jahangir. She was neither afraid of the military establishment nor powerful politicians, religious extremists or anyone else. She was a one-woman army against all the ills of our society. As Umair Javed tweeted, "[Asma Jahangir] Took on battles no one else would touch. Faced insurmountable odds as a woman, and fought fearlessly in the dirty, patriarchal trenches of both her profession and the wider field of Pakistani politics. We have all lost a treasure, even though some may not recognize it."
Asma ji may have left us but even in death she taught us many lessons. One of the most important lessons I learnt was how she believed in engaging with everyone regardless of their views. There is a problem with a lot of Pakistani liberals, myself included, that we don't listen to the other side or engage with those we don't agree with. When Asmaji passed away, we saw people from religious parties pay condolences to her family, some of her worst critics were crying for her, and they all had personal stories to share - of how Asma ji helped them in their hour of need, or how she engaged with them regardless of her ideological differences with them. I suddenly remembered what she had said to a bunch of us a couple of months before her death. It went something along these lines: 'Activism comes with responsibility. Do not mock your adversaries. If you mock them, they will not listen to you. Engage with them. Reason with them.' This was Asma Jahangir for you. There are so many stories to tell but there are not enough words to describe the kind of woman that Asma Jahangir was. She was a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and an amazing friend. And she was a great mentor. She took time out for everyone who asked for it despite her busy schedule. She would return almost each and every call because she did not want to miss out on anyone who needed her help. The kind of outpouring of grief at her death is a testament to the fact that she touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in one way or another.
(Originally published in The Telegraph)
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