Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir passed away at a hospital in Lahore on Sunday due to a cardiac arrest at the age of 66.
Jahangir was the daughter of Pakistani politician and former West Pakistan Awami League Vice President Malik Ghulam Jilani.
Details regarding her funeral have not been made public as yet.
Asma Jahangir is survived by a son and two daughters. She was born in Lahore in 1952.
Dawn News said, Malik Ghulam Jilani was imprisoned by the Pakistani government several times for his outspoken views, which included criticising Pakistan’s military actions during the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh.
Jahangir has criticised the Pakistan government’s response to the war crimes trials in Bangladesh.
Jahangir graduated from Kinnaird College and received an LLB from Punjab University.
She joined the Lahore High Court in 1980 and the Supreme Court in 1982. She became the first female president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
She was also the co-founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Women’s Action Forum.
The democracy activist was jailed in 1983 for her participation in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy during the regime of military dictator Ziaul Haque.
She was also placed under house arrest for her active role in the 2007 Lawyers’ Movement after President Pervez Musharraf suspended Supreme Court Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Jahangir has received several awards for her work, including the Freedom Award, the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and the French Legion of Honour.
