ISLAMABAD: Both in life and in death, Asma Jehangir fought against traditions that militated against the weak, oppressed and the dispossessed.
This was stated by Senator Farhatullah Babar at a memorial reference for Asma Jehangir organised by the sustainable development policy institute (SDPI) in Islamabad on Monday
In defence of liberty, she stood up against dictators whether civilian or military, the tyrants and the brigands whether bearded or without a beard, he said. “Breaking the myth, she would stand up to judges and challenge faulty judgments, and she detested military dictators and was never persuaded to forgive them because of their claims to benevolence or liberalism,” the senator said in remembrance of Jehangir.
Farhatullah Babar also said that Asma Jahangir was a symbol of resistance against state oppression, both literally and symbolically. “Her name is literally engraved in law books and journals in the Asma Jilani case – the first when a military dictator was declared a usurper,” he added.
He went on to say that Asma Jehangir’s fight in and out of courts for tracing missing persons will always be remembered.
“It is said that all applause dies down, all flowers wither away and all trophies gather dust, but the flower that Asma was will never wither away, the applause she was will never die down and the trophy she was will never gather dust,” Farhatullah Babar said.
Sartaj Aziz, Afrasiab Khattak, Kishwar Naheed, Asma Shirazi, Abid Sulehri and Basharat Qadir also spoke on the occasion.
