Last Updated on: 21st April 2023, 09:55 pm
Who is Asma Jahangir? Biography, Wiki
Asma Jahangir was the voice of the voiceless, the oppressed, the marginalized, the dispossessed, the miserable, the powerless and the hopeless in a grossly unfair, distorted, chaotic and disorganized Pakistani society.
Undoubtedly, She was a symbol of freedom, justice, equality, democracy, women’s empowerment and human rights.
Asma Jahangir Age
She was born on 27th January 1952 into a wealthy family in Lahore.
Asma Jahangir Short Bio & Some Quick Facts
| Complete Name | Ashima Gilani Jahangir |
| Famous Name |
Asma Jahangir
|
| First Name |
Asma
|
| Last Name |
Jahangir
|
| Job/Business | Lawyer, Human Rights Activist |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| City of Birth | Rahal |
| Country of Birth | Pakistan |
| Gender | Female |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Zodiac Sign | Aquarius |
| Religion | Islam |
| Caste | Sunni (also, Sayyids) |
| Education |
|
| Relationship Status | Married |
| Husband | Tahir Jahangir |
| Parents | Malik Ghulam Gilani (Father)
Sabiha Gilani (Mother) |
| Children |
Sulema Jahangir (Daughter)
Muniza Jahangir (Daughter)
|
| Siblings |
Hina Jilani
|
| Net Worth (As of 2023) | 1 Million US Dollars (Approx.) |
| DOB | 27th January 1952 |
| Age | 66 Years |
| Height | 165 cm |
| Weight | 74 kg |
| Died | 11th February 2018 |
| Cause of Death | Brain Hemorrhage |
Asma Jahangir Education
She studied at the Jesus and Mary Convent and received her BA from Kinnaird College, Lahore. In 1978 he received his law degree from Punjab University in Lahore.
She was placed under house arrest during the reign of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1983 and then imprisoned for starting her campaign for women’s rights and democracy.
Asma Jahangir Daughter
She had 3 Children and her daughter name is Munizae Jahangir.
Asma Jahangir Career
She celebrated unanimously, was incorrigible, fearless and uncompromising, and was never deterred by military dictators or despotic powers. She has been recognized nationally and internationally as Pakistan’s leading and renowned human rights lawyer, social activist and outspoken critic of the country’s powerful military establishment and ruthless elite.
In fact, Asma Jahangir was known for her unabashed and uncompromising criticism of the military establishment, a cause for which she was revered and vilified in Pakistan and around the world. In the late 1960s, she led protests against the military dictators in the streets, was arrested and gassed countless times, but never surrendered to the ruthless powers and continued to practice her faith.
In Pakistan, a country known and recognized worldwide for its fragile civil society and which has endured several years of tumultuous military regime changes, Asma Jahangir was an outspoken critic of military dictator General Zia-Ul-Haq Pervez in the 1990s.
Musharraf in the 2000s: He stood heroically in the despotic days of Pervez Musharraf and also faced all atrocities including ninety days off at home for the noble cause of restoring democracy. He boldly took on a variety of cases that made many lawyers too anxious, defending Christian men accused of blasphemy, missing persons cases, journalists kidnapped by the military, and women facing death threats from their husbands and families.
During the dictatorial era of General Zia-Ul-Haq, he vigorously protested the Hudood Decree, which was widely seen as an attempt to introduce Sharia law into the Pakistani legal system. In fact, she continued to protest at the same Women’s Action Forum and eventually became the face of the women’s movement in Pakistan.
She probably spoke out against the ruling military dictator who tried to mix religion and law only for his personal interests. Paradoxically, it was internationally respected and recognized, but it was also heavily criticized by the military and right-wing nationalists in Pakistan. This criticism also led to her being heavily attacked for campaigning for peace with India, and she was often accused of being an Indian agent or traitor.
In our narrow-minded and traditional society, she has also been the target of television and social media campaigns for her sarcastic and harsh criticism of the country’s armed forces and intelligence services. Some Pakistani anchormen and political analysts have also tried to accuse him of ignoring the corruption of two major political parties, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. They firmly believe that it consistently focuses on criticism of the military and ignores the massive embezzlement by political giants.
As a human rights activist, he has also campaigned for the rights of forced labourers, particularly brick kiln workers in Punjab and remote areas of Sindh. As a women’s rights activist, she tried to assert herself and campaigned for women’s rights throughout her career.
She was the first female head of the country’s Supreme Court Bar Association and together with her sister founded the country’s first free legal advice center “AGHS” as well as the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, the largest independent human rights abuses commission in the country.
Asma Jahangir has devoted her 40-year career to fighting in and out of court to uphold democracy and justice, and has been a vigorous and passionate advocate for women and minorities in her country. He showed a passionate determination to fight for human rights in Pakistan, exemplified by a series of firsts. She has been repeatedly threatened by the country’s militant religious right, which has criticized her loudly and often.
As a human rights defender and guardian, she has not been afraid to speak out loud and clear against those who have attacked minority religions and women.
Asma Jahangir Cause Of Death
She died at the age of 66. The death was confirmed by his daughter, Munizae Jahangir, who said the cause was a Brain hemorrhage.
Asma Jahangir Awards
Asma Jahangir has received countless prizes and awards for her invaluable contribution to her tireless service in defending the wretched and underprivileged section of society by any means necessary.
She constantly raised the issue of missing persons in Pakistan and called for intelligence agencies to be questioned. She slammed the Supreme Court for “judicial activism” and also slammed the Supreme Court for barring Nawaz Sharif from the post of prime minister.
Some of his outstanding contributions are:
- Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 as a passionate defender of human and women’s rights and pro-democracy activist
- 2018 United Nations Human Rights Award recipient
- He studied and completed legal training and worked at the Supreme Court of Pakistan from the age of 30.
- Awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2010. She was posthumously awarded Nishan-e-Imtiaz Pakistan, the country’s highest civilian honor in 2018.
- He criticized the policies of the military and was imprisoned in 1983 for pro-democracy activities.
- She moved to Geneva and became Vice President of Defense for Children International in 1986.
- In 1987 he co-founded the Pakistan Human Rights Commission.
- She was Secretary General of the HRCP until 1993, when she was appointed President of the Commission.
- Freedom Prize 2010
- Placed under house arrest in 2007 by a military leader who opposes the removal of the Chief Justice
- Co-founder of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission and the first free legal aid center in Pakistan
- Co-founder of the Women Action Forum, set up to oppose the law that reduces a woman’s testimony in court to half that of a man.
- The first female head of the Bar Association of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
- Winner of several awards including the Unesco/Bilbao prize for promoting a culture of
- Human rights and the French Legion of Honour
- He served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom and Human Rights in Iran
- In 2014, Jahangir told AFP that he had seen changes in human rights perceptions in Pakistan and in the West.
- Received the Right Livelihood Award from Jakob von Uexkull (R) in Stockholm, Sweden, December 2014.
- She was elected the 13th President (first woman) of the SCBA in 2013.
- She served as UN rapporteur on human rights and extrajudicial executions.
- She was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women.
- France Ramón Magsaysay Prize
- Roland Berger Prize (Germany) 2013
- Martin Ennals Prize for Human Rights Defenders (1995)
