Asma Jahangir: A Tribute

Pakistani Champion of both Women's Rights and Human Rights

Asma Jahangir
January 27, 1952 - February 11, 2018
“You cannot have human rights in a society if you do not have women’s rights.”1

What is the legacy of a woman?
         Is it her genetic code
                   descending through her children,
         the way she cares for her family,
         or the effect
                   she has on her nation
                             and on the world?

Pakistani lawyer Asma Jahangir
left all these legacies
and more.

It it too soon
to say precisely
to say how Mrs. Jahangir
influenced human and women's rights,
and the succeeding generations of Pakistani women
or their sisters across the world.

On February 13, 20182
the world buried a warrior.

An outspoken defender
of the downtrodden and dispossessed,
of women and religious minorities.

Iron willed,
strong,
and unafraid,
she served
both her native land
and the world.

Line count: 30
Form: Free Verse
Related Links: ▶︎

http://tns.thenews.com.pk/friend-asma/#.Wow_la0-KSo
http://tns.thenews.com.pk/goodbye-warrior/#.WoxAEq0-KSo
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/12/an-indomitable-will-why-asm...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/11/asma-jahangir-pakistan-human-right...
http://news.bahai.org/story/1237/

Footnotes
1  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/13/asma-jahangir-obituary
2  https://www.dawn.com/news/1389175