Asma Jahangir

Lawyer

1952-01-27 – 2018-02-11

Asma Jahangir was a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist who co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She served as a United Nations Special Rapporteur and remained a leading advocate for civil liberties.

Quotes by Asma Jahangir

Religiosity is suffocating in Pakistan. It invariably stokes the fire in driving society to religious extremism.
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Terrorism does not disappear with revenge tactics but through making justice and equality before law a reality.
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Organized groups claiming roots in religious ideologies have unleashed an all-pervasive fear of mob violence in many parts of the country.
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We may fight terrorism through brute force, but the terror that is unleashed in the name of religion can only be challenged through moral courage.
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When the Bangladesh war happened, people in Pakistan who did not support it were called unpatriotic. My father was in the jail at that time, and a lot of those who knew my family used to call us children of a traitor.
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People send their kids to law school to uphold the rule of law - not to fight in the streets for justice and not to be beaten up.
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Everything is a risk in Pakistan: If you defend women, it's a risk. If you defend non-Muslims it's a risk. If you discuss religion, it's a risk. But you can't really sit there like a vegetable in your own society. And I'm committed to that society... and I feel I need to turn around and speak as I should.
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She is absolutely inspiring. Malala is a vindication of our struggle.
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Yes, I am very unhappy, extremely anguished at human rights violations against Kashmiris in India or against Rohingyas in Burma or, for that matter, Christians in Orissa; but obviously, I am going to be more concerned of violations taking place in my own house because I am closer to the people who I live with. I have more passion for them.
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Fortunately, when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister, she banned public whipping of women - banned whipping of women, period, which is a marvelous thing she did.
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I had been very impressed with the courts we visited to see my father. The judges wearing wigs, the lawyers, the legal arguments - it was all exciting stuff for a kid.
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The world has to have zero tolerance for naked dictatorship.
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