Asma Jahangir becomes first female SCBA president; once again Pakistani liberals defeated the right wingers
Related articles:
Congratulations, Asma Jahangir won the SCBA elections – by pejamistri
Asma Jahangir’s victory is a loss for Jang Group’s yellow journalism – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani felicitated Asma Jahangir on her election as the SCBA president. President Zardari said the legal fraternity and lawyers’ community had reposed confidence in Asma and acknowledged her abilities as a great lawyer and fearless leader. The PM said, “Your election as the SCBA president is reflective of the lawyers’ confidence in your leadership.”
Congratulation Asma Jahanger for your landmark victory! It is recognition for supremacy of parliament, pro people democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law in Pakistan.
Asma Jahangir’s election as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association is a success for liberal democratic forces in the country-and is a loss for yellow journalists, judicial dictatorship loyalists and especially all those saints, who were availing the perks and benefits after taking oath twice under PCO in 1999 and 2002 and now have become saints and champion of judiciary, were allotted plots in Islamabad worth millions of rupees by during the last two years.
After a neck and neck contest for the slot of President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Asma Jahangir, a former chairperson of HRCP, defeated Ahmed Awais, a member of the so-called champion of lawyers’ movement, the Hamid Khan group, a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehrik Insaf; the most Taliban apologist party in Punjab.
Asma Jahangir has won despite shameful , false, and poisonous propaganda on sectarian grounds throughout the campaign by right wing media and especially pro Imran and pro establishment columnists, writers and anchors. Even she was being targeted by a hate campaign that calls her an Ahmedi, pro-American and pro-Indian.
The News’ exclusive investigative reports and some ‘Jang’ op–ed targeted Asma with baseless allegations. Haroon Rasheed, wrote in his column, published in Daily ‘Jang’ that Asma told a young journalist that he shouldn’t take the name of Allah and Prophet in the print and elctronic media, he also wrote in his column few months ago that Imran Khan gave him a personal diary of a British judge in which it was mentioned that Asma has been given the task of eliminating Islam from Pakistan.
Asma Jahangir represents modern, progressive and forward-looking sections of Pakistani society across the globe. She has spent most of her career defending the rights of women, religious minorities, and children of Pakistan. Aided in her mission by fellow activists and colleagues from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, she has continued her battle for justice amidst constant threats to her safety. Her willingness to relentlessly defend victims of rape, women seeking divorce from abusive husbands, people accused of blasphemy, her work on the issues of child labor, and her continuous criticism of conservative thoughts, religious politics and military regimes has made her one of the most respected figures in Pakistan. She has served as the chairperson of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission. In 1998, she was appointed Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
Asma learned the business of law and politics at an early age. Her father spent much of his life in and out of prison for his political views which included open criticism of actions of Pakistani military in Bangladesh. Asma was eighteen when she filed her first petition to have her father released from jail and started working with lawyers on his defense.
In 1980, Asma Jahangir and her sister, Hina Jilani, got together with few fellow activists and lawyers and formed the first law firm established by women in Pakistan. They also helped form the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) in the same year. The first WAF demonstration was in 1983 when some 25-50 women took to the streets protesting the famous Safia Bibi case. Safia, a young blind girl, had been raped yet had ended up in jail on the charge of zina. “We (their law firm) had been given a lot of cases by the advocate general and the moment this demonstration came to light, the cases were taken away from us.” Asma recalls. (Dawn-The Reviewer, April 2, 1998, “A ray of hope”)
Asma has been a staunch critic of the Hudood ordinance and blasphemy laws of Pakistan. These laws were introduced in the Pakistani constitution during the 10-year dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. According to the of the Hudood ordinance, a person accused of adultery or zina can be sentenced to death and according to the blasphemy law, a person accused of speaking or acting against Islam can also be sentenced to death. Whatever the initial intents of these laws might have been, the result has been false imprisonment of hundreds of innocent men and women. Women who dare to report a rape are often accused of zina and locked up in prison while their offenders walk free and are never questioned or brought to justice. The blasphemy law has also resulted in false imprisonment and even death of many Pakistani Christians, Hindus, and even some Muslims.
In her article for Dawn, published October 2, 2000, titled “Whither are We!” Asma demands that the government of General Musharraf work to improve the record of human rights domestically. Citing examples of human rights abuses, she wrote, “A Hindu income tax inspector gets lynched in the presence of the army personnel for allegedly having made a remark on the beard of a trader. Promptly, the unfortunate Hindu government servant is booked for having committed blasphemy, while the traders and the Lashkar-e-Tayaba activists were offered tea over parleys. A seventy-year-old Mukhtaran Bibi and her pregnant daughter Samina are languishing in Sheikhupura jail on trumped-up charges of blasphemy.”
In 1995, Asma Jahangir received numerous death threats for her defense of Salamat Masih, a fourteen-year old Christian boy sentenced to death for allegedly writing blasphemous words against Islam on the wall of a mosque. In 1999, Asma and her sister, Hina Jilani, a fellow lawyer and activist, were again subject to death threats after representing Samia Sawar, a 32 year old women who was seeking divorce from her abusive husband. Asma believes,“Democracy is Survival for Women and Minorities ”.
Asma Jahangir, after her victory, said that she had defeated the elements who, in the name of rule of law, were trying to fulfill their vested interests, adding that all institutions should perform within their limits. She said the bar would criticize the government whenever it would do something wrong and the judiciary would also face the same criticism in case it passed a controversial judgement. She said she would invite all former presidents of the bar to devise a future strategy.
We liberals are expecting or it seems like, Asma group wining the SCBA election is indicating change of Bar attitude and policy towards parliament and civilian elected government. And [hopefully] Bench will also review it’s attitude and approach towards elected representatives. Here is article written by Muhammad Akram, indicating some positive signs.
Human rights icon elected to champion constitutional rights
By Muhammad Akram
Asma Jahangir’s election as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association is a success for liberal democratic forces in the country and is bound to strengthen the human rights movement in the country, which she is spearheading as an undisputed icon.
Asma Jahangir represents modern, progressive and forward-looking sections of Pakistani society across the globe. Her election to the office is bound to bring about a sea change in Pakistan’s perception around the world, as a state of strife struggling to counter the menace of Talibanisation of society.
The verdict by the lawyers’ community is itself an expression of not succumbing any longer to the hangover of lawyers’ movement that helped restores the sacked judiciary headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Asma Jahangir has defeated, though with a narrow margin of 35 votes, the so-called champion of lawyers’ movement, the Hamid Khan group, despite the fact that she was known for her critical views of numerous judgments by the “independent” yet pro-active judiciary. The verdict by the top lawyers of the country is reflective of the suppressed expression on the conduct of the bar and bench vis-à-vis the nascent democracy struggling to get rooted against a barrage of suo motu notices on issues that need to be purely addressed by the executive.
But what appears to be more important is the defeat of a mindset that is largely been viewed as the real beneficiary of the restoration of the deposed judiciary in monetary terms. This mindset had been held responsible for the boycott of the 2008 general elections by the legal fraternity, by none other than Aitzaz Ahsan, the former SCBA president and the man who anchored the lawyers’ movement with the help of stalwarts like Asma.
Aitzaz Ahsan was out of the SCBA election run this time and sided with Asma’s rival camp, the Hamid Khan group. He appeared to have lost many friends in the bar politics like he did in his party, the PPP.
The sane voices, including those of Fakharuddin G Ibrahim, Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd, stayed steadfast in her support and refused to budge to the general talks in bar rooms that supporting Asma would amount to a suppressed legal practice.
Will the icon of human rights’ movement succeed in helping the institutions start adhering to the constitution? Also, de-politicising the bar and the bench appears to be the biggest challenge in front of the first female president of the SCBA.
It’s a challenge since her predecessors, particularly the outgoing president Qazi Anwar, had left a legacy that needs to be rubbished since it was aimed at causing infighting between the institutions. Anwar had caused more damage to the SCBA than any of his predecessors, as he pitted the bar against the elected government several times by siding with a judicial decision dubbed as political in nature.
It was generally assumed that Anwar’s slanderous outburst against the elected government, particularly President Zardari, was not just motivated but a result of his hobnobbing with anti-government forces within the state. It was common knowledge that Anwar was found on more than one occasions hearing sympathetically, those who need to judge issues on merit than harming the nascent democracy by making newspaper and TV headlines through slanderous statements against the democratically elected government in general and President Zardari in particular. With Asma in office, hopes have come alive that the bar would restrict its mandated activities and not indulge in politics.
Asma’s statement, after her vistory, that she would continue her struggle for democracy, human rights and freedom of expression would reinvigorate the efforts of those who got dismayed due to the tussle between an elected government and a judiciary restored by the people’s struggle.
Dear Sir
I was pleased to read your article. The recent election has given us a glimmer of hope for Pakistan because it shows that people there are willing to choose more progressive and liberal forces despite the slanders and propoganda. It will hopefully also mean that the judiciary-lawyers-army junta will have to take care when they continue to exploit the people of Pakistan for their own agendas. The holier than thou mindset of the “champions” of the judiciary will need to be revised. I was very dissappointed by Mr Ahsan but it is at times like these where one is tested for their beliefs. Congratulations to the brave legal fraternity of Pakistan.
@Dear Farzana, Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and appreciation.(but i’m not Sir, just Junaid)
This considered view from Human Rights Watch below, is worth a read.
Asma Jahangir’s Election an Advance for an Impartial Judiciary
(New York, October 28, 2010)—The election of a prominent human rights activist to the presidency of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan is a victory for human rights in Pakistan and for the country’s transition to genuine civilian rule, Human Rights Watch said today. The election of Asma Jahangir on October 27, 2010, will make her the first woman to lead the country’s most influential forum for lawyers.
Jahangir is one of Pakistan’s most respected human rights activists, credited with establishing the highly regarded independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and AGHS Legal Aid, the first free legal aid center in Pakistan. She was placed under house arrest by General Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler, when he imposed emergency rule in 2007. She played a prominent role in the ”lawyers movement” in Pakistan, which led to Musharraf’s ouster and to the restoration to office of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
“The election of Asma Jahangir to head the prestigious Supreme Court Bar Association will no doubt infuriate those who have opposed her decades-long principled advocacy for human rights and constitutional government,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The election honors not only Jahangir’s unflinching integrity, but also all of those in Pakistan who struggle daily to promote the rule of law.”
From 1998 to 2004, Jahangir served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. From 2004 until July 2010 she was the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. She resigned as chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in July to run for the Supreme Court Bar Association presidency.
Human Rights Watch said that it is especially important to have someone of Jahangir’s stature heading the country’s top bar association, especially because relations between the judiciary and some of its allies in the “lawyers movement” have deteriorated markedly in the past year. Since Chaudhry’s restoration, lawyers who supported him have demanded, and often gained, an improper say in judicial decisions, appointments and transfers, Human Rights Watch said.
In October, lawyers tried to attack the chief justice of the Lahore High Court in his chambers. The following day, the chief justice allowed provincial police to enter the court, where they beat and arrested about 100 lawyers. The lawyers were charged under the country’s draconian Anti-Terrorism Act
During her campaign for the Supreme Court Bar Association, Jahangir emphasized the need to create professional distance between lawyers and the judges they helped restore to office in 2009. She emphasized that the rule of law required judiciary to be independent of government interference as well as non-partisan in dispensing justice.
Jahangir repeatedly received threats during her campaign for raising issues such as corruption in the legal arena. On October 24, a previously unknown group calling itself the Khatme-Nabuwat Lawyer’s Forum issued pamphlets declaring Jahangir an apostate and urging lawyers not to vote for her. Apostasy is a capital offense under Pakistani law.
“Although independent of the executive, Pakistan’s judiciary has been woefully inadequate in dispensing justice free of interference from pressure groups that helped restore judges to the bench,” Hasan said. “The election of a person of Jahangir’s stature and integrity will help ensure that the judiciary meets high judicial standards and rejects interference from lawyers seeking to cash in real or perceived favors.”
Human Rights Watch urged Jahangir, who is well-known as a free speech advocate, to use her new office as the representative of Pakistan’s most influential lawyers to call upon the courts to stop muzzling media criticism of Pakistan’s judiciary.
Journalists have told Human Rights Watch that major television channels were informally advised by judicial authorities that they would be summoned to face contempt of court charges for criticizing or commenting unfavorably on judicial decisions or specific judges. Publications including the English-language newspapers Dawn and the News were ordered to apologize publicly to the court, and Dawn faced contempt proceedings for publishing a story alleging misuse of office by the chief justice of the Sindh High Court.
“Judicial independence does not mean that judicial decisions, or even the judges themselves, should not be subject to public criticism,” Hasan said. ”The Supreme Court should send the message that no government institution is immune from public debate in a democratic society.”
Asma Jahagir(controversial women)is being praised because she criticized the courts and many notable and uncontroversial liberal who supported courts decision are considered as Raw agents.
what a hypocrisy is this????
Lawyers to continue soft accountability of judiciary: Asma
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Newly-elected and outgoing members of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) called on Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday.
Speaking to the SCBA members, the chief justice said that the newly-elected SCBA body under the guidance of its president Asma Jahangir would work for the rule of law and strengthening of the country’s democratic system. He appreciated the efforts of Asma both within the country and abroad for restoration of judiciary after March 9, 2007.
He appreciating the role of SCBA’s outgoing president Qazi Muhammad Anwar and said Anwar had performed his job well and had cooperated with the bench in a professional manner.
Stressing the need of effective cooperation between the bench and bar, he said he was conscious of his duties and believed that there will be no difference between the bench and the bar and all the matters would be amicably solved with mutual consent of both sides.
Separately, Asma said the SCBA as a representative body of the lawyers community will continue soft accountability of the judiciary through a decent manner and would make its constructive voice heard. Asma said the body would no doubt resort to constitutional accountability of judges, but “only in extreme conditions and no one would be allowed to politicise the issue”. She announced that cooperation between bench and bar would continue, but at the same time a “required distance would also be maintained”.
Addressing the members of her team and former office bearers of the SCBA, she said that they would promote democratic norms.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\115\story_5-11-2010_pg7_17