Prominent human rights activists Asma Jahangir said on Tuesday that she had been made aware of a plan to assassinate her, but that she would not leave the country and it was up to the government to protect her.
Jahangir, an outspoken critic of the military establishment and a strong advocate of civilian control over the army, said that she had received numerous death threats in the past, but this was different, as a decision had been made “at the highest level of the security apparatus” to assassinate her. “This is not a threat,” she said. “This is a straightforward plan to kill me.”
Jahangir said that critics of the military establishment were often subjected to “harassment”, and mentioned Saleem Shehzad, the journalist who was found dead after reporting on the attack on the PNS Mehran in Karachi last year, as an example of the form of this “harassment”. “How many Pakistanis will be killed in order to challenge democracy in the country?” she said.
She said many other critics of the establishment had been threatened and forced to leave the country. “I will not leave,” she said. “My ancestors are buried here and my life is here.”
Jahangir said that the silencing of “progressive elements” was hurting Pakistan’s image. “Our country’s future will not be shaped by khakis but by the people of Pakistan,” she said. She said there were a lot of conspiracies against Pakistan, but the people who had “sabotaged the country in the ‘80s” should resolve to set it right.
Jahangir said after receiving the warning that her life was in danger, she had informed the Pakistan Bar Council, whose vice chairman had alerted the government. She said that the president and the interior minister had called her and inquired about her security after she had made her concerns public. She said that Rangers had been deployed at her residence for her protection, but she was not satisfied with the security arrangements.
Jahangir said she had been told to speak to the director general of Inter Services Intelligence, but she had refused. She said an ISI official had later visited her and demanded she reveal the source of her information, but she had refused.
She said she had also tried to communicate her concerns to the chief minister, but to no avail.
She said foreign security experts had advised her on security measures, and she had asked the government to take those measures. “I am declaring publicly that I have no enmity with anyone. The protection of my life is the responsibility of the state,” she said.
Jahangir said that there was no point to an official inquiry by “institutions in which no one trusts”. She said her greatest concern was not for her life, but for the “growing use” of threats to create fear among people. “Civilians should not be dictated to,” she said.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2012.
COMMENTS (11)
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Those who criticizing and questioning her integrity perhaps they are not aware of her outright support and standing for peoples rights, She remained Special Rapporteur on Freedom of religion or belief from 2004 to 2010 and also on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary executions.. just visit the websites and see what contribution she made on both of these subjects during the said period. (A/HRC/10/8/Add.3 on 26 January 2009) She was the one who stood up against the dictatorship or General Zia ul Haq and publically challenged discriminatory laws and policies just for the sake of people of Pakistan..You may know how she along with her other colleagues were brutally tortured by cronies of military regimes on the main Mall Road, Lahore..She could have easily settled in any part of the world but she made the conscious decision to stand with the people of her country… Whether it’s a case of persecution of religious minorities, forced conversions or missing person she remained at the forefront and challenge all these illegal acts both at the legal and the public front…you may know that she against all odds win the election and elected as President , Supreme Court Bar Association. Silencing her voice amounts to silencing the voice of the people of Pakistan so please try to understand this plot and the damage it will done to the peoples rights in Pakistan…Stand up and publically condemned these threats……
Asma is one of those self-proclaimed intellectuals who try to get noticed by bad mouthing Pakistan. She is regular basher of the Supreme Court and Law enforcement and Defense forces. Her claim of assignation plan is part two of the memo gate affair by Hussain Haqqani (who said to Americans that that a military coup was about to happen). The purpose of Asma seems to be to keep maligning the security agencies and keep them under pressure so that current corrupt rulers are pressure free to continue with their corruption.
i have noted this with serious concern...Asma's life is constantly in threat..right from the very beginning to uptill now but she never made these threats public except for this time around..as threat this time is not from Mullahs or from anyother non state actors but allegedly from State Actors,,,and she made this clear during her press conference who these state actors are...I strongly condemned this cowrdice attempt to silence the sane voices in the society and request the Government to provide her full security and take stern action against all the plotters...
@Logic Europe so who can protect you
And you are the kind of person who complains of persecution in Europe
Terrorizing human rights is worse than being a Terrorist State.
Asma has always spoken out for democracy.
I supported the military/ISI in the past....but not now. Nor do I support this PPP crooks.
Pakistan needs drastic surgery. I would prefer a completely Islamic form of governance.
you intellectuals have weakened the government so who can protect you
Pakistan's enemies are right here inside Pakistan and they have also been in position of power. Allah Save Pakistan !!