Last Sunday the Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jehangir died at the age of 66. Our expatriate English correspondent Peter wrote the following essay in her memory.

In Memory of Asma Jehangir

by Peter

Asma Jehangir has passed away at the age of 66 after a heart attack. Love her or hate her — and in her native Pakistan there was no shortage of people who did either — she cannot be forgotten. Her supporters proudly declared that she spoke truth to power, while her detractors accused her of being a traitor and anti-Pakistan. During my various visits to Pakistan I can confirm that it is not difficult to be the latter, although she most certainly was not. She gave a voice to those whose opinions were denied, and was a champion of those who were downtrodden and victims of one military dictatorship after another for half of Pakistan’s existence.

I wrote about her in 1999 for a book I have yet to publish, and at the last minute I deleted the following section, and regret doing so. The publication subsequently stalled, but I retained the segment on Asma Jehangir.

My sentiments are those from 1999. They have not changed.

Two women of courage

If evil has been allowed to flourish in Pakistan because ‘good men have done nothing,’ two courageous sisters have chosen to stand up and resist the wholesale injustice that exists in this country, often at no small risk to themselves. Asma Jehangir and Hina Jilani, both well-known lawyers and human rights activists, co-founded AGHS, Pakistan’s first all-woman law firm in Lahore. AGHS has specialised in the pursuit of legal actions on behalf of women and persecuted minorities, a role that has often brought them into conflict with Islamist factions and powerful political interests. In 1991, they set up DASTAK to provide a refuge and legal advice centre for women who had been victims of domestic violence. DASTAK proved to be so successful that by 1996 it had established a board of trustees whose membership included lawyers and civil rights activists such as Abid Hassan Minto, one-time President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, Arif Nazami and Saleema Hashmi. Since its inception, DASTAK has provided shelter and legal advice to thousands of women and their children. During the time they are resident at the centre, the children are provided with education while the women are given skills training to enable them to earn a living once it is considered safe enough for them to leave. This is not the only function performed by the refuge. They also try to bring about successful reconciliation between family members, and there have been numerous cases where women have been reconciled with their husbands and have been able to return home.

In 1999 DASTAK came in for a considerable amount of hostile criticism from Islamist elements within the Sharif government, and accusations of immorality were made against its female residents, while Asma and Hina themselves were accused by a number of government agencies of abducting and falsely imprisoning the women. The campaign of criticism and falsehood became so bad that on 26 May 1999 Hina Jilani felt obliged to call a conference at the Lahore Press Club in order to answer her accusers. She confirmed to the press that DASTAK had been the victim of a smear campaign by the Sharif government, various quasi-governmental agencies and the influential families of some of the women who had been given assistance. Hina made it clear that no men had ever been granted access to the shelter to meet women, although the women were free to come and go as they pleased. The names of all residents were regularly registered with the authorities, and the Punjab Social Welfare Department had adopted the DASTAK model and commended it as an example to all other women’s refuges operating within its area.

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