The
Times of India, New Delhi, 20-08-1995
“Act
Now Against Fundamentalism”—Asma Jahangir
Asma
Jahangir, winner of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, has been fighting
indefatigably for the rights of minorities and women in Pakistan, writes
SHAMSUL ISLAM.
February 16, 1995, Asma
Jahangir is attacked and her car set on fire within the premises of the Lahore
High Court. Her ‘crime’: she is pleading the case of 14-year-old Salamat Masih,
one of the many blasphemy accused she has been defending.
The incident and the
case make headlines. But Asma is unmoved. “These are the essential risks of the
cause I have chosen to uphold,” she once said. A cause she upholds as the
chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A cause she furthers by
running a 24-hour legal aid cell, exclusively for women and members of the
minorities victimized by feudal elements and Shariat laws.
It’s not surprising,
since she belongs to a family which has a tradition of opposing dictatorial
regimes. Her father headed the West Pakistan chapter of Sheikh Mujib’s Awami
League and spent many years in Ayub Khan’s jails for supporting the Bengali
Muslim struggle. Asma and her sister Hina were students when their
participation in anti-Ayub agitations landed them in jail, time and again.
The dictators are gone
but dictatorial laws continue to hold sway in Pakistan. Laws such as 295-C
under which the only punishment is death. All you need to do is go to a police
post and lodge a complaint that a person has insulted the Prophet. This would
become a case of Gustakhi-e-Rasool
(blasphemy). A law that can be used to settle personal scores, including land
disputes, get rid of lawful wives and browbeat Muslims and minorities alike,
according to Asma. In one case, that she has been defending, a Muslim social
worker was implicated in a blasphemy case by someone who wanted his job.
Then there are the
Shariat laws on rape, the brainchild of General Zia. The rape victim must
produce four witnesses—all Muslim males—to prove the crime. If the witnesses
happen to be non-Muslims or women, the required number goes up to eight. The
result is that the victims often end up in jail themselves after being
convicted of adultery, a crime that carries a sentence of seven years. Today,
70 percent of the women languishing in Pakistan’s jails are victims of such
laws, according to Asma.
All in the name of
Islamization, Asma firmly believes that this is a political issue linked
essentially to the sense of insecurity among Pakistan’s rulers, most of whom
have been military dictators. “Shariat laws have been their most favourite
game. The more they repress and loot, the more they shout about upholding
Islam.”
The dictators are gone,
but little has changed under the Bhutto government. The party had promised a
review of Shariat laws, but has preferred to stay neutral, fearing backlash
from the mullahs. “They have been given undue importance by dictators in
Pakistan. They have intruded into every aspect of life,” says Asma, who feels
that their role in education is questionable. “It is worrying to see that the
younger generation is turning to fanaticism under the mullahs’ influence.”
But the doughty lawyer
is hopeful of the future. “Women in Pakistan are not going to submit to the
whims of anybody. They are gearing up for a prolonged battle to save their
honour and existence,” says Asma who views the minorities as a “natural ally”
in this struggle.
She also alerts the
world, including India, to be on guard against religious fundamentalism which
threatens to take over the polity. “Act now,” she cautions.
[The print version
carried a hand-drawn sketch of Asma Jahangir]
February 16, 1995,
