islamabad - Asma Jahangir was an icon of Pakistan’s movement for human rights, democracy and rule of law who spent all her life struggling to make Pakistan a place to live for all, speakers said on Monday.

Speaking on the closing ceremony of Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival, human rights activist Jami Chandio said that Asma Jahangir was a symbol of struggle and role model for all those who want to protect human rights.

“It’s easy to tell the truth about dictators because they are unpopular anyway but Asma also challenged democratically elected leaders when they were doing something wrong” he said.

Renowned writer and human rights activist Mazhar Arif said Asma was always first to challenge any tyranny and injustice. “She never cared about the consequence while speaking the truth and never accepted any compromise on principles” he said.

Saleem Malik of Strengthening Participatory Organization said the only way to pay tribute to Asma Jahangir was to continue her mission and keep her legacy alive. 

Chairperson of Indus Cultural Forum Niaz Nadeem said the sudden death of Asma Jahangir was huge loss for the human rights, democracy and rule of law. He thanked all scholars for attending the two-day festival and sponsors for supporting the festival.

He announced that the fourth Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival will be held on 16 and 17 February in Islamabad.

He announced that in the next festival, awards will be given on the books and works of Pakistani mother languages, details of which will be revealed later. 

The two-day festival was organized by Indus Cultural Forum in collaboration with Lok Virsa and Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO). This year the festival was sponsored by Sindh Government’s Department of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI), Lok Virsa and Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS). 

Representing Foundation Open Society Institute, Nargis Sultana said the festival aimed at promoting the culture of reading and learning in mother languages. She said that promotion of mother languages literature will help create harmony peace in Pakistan. 

ICF Secretary General Munawar Hassan said that over five thousand people visited the festival and the participation this year was as encouraging as in the past. He said that over 100 writers, poets and artists presented their work and participated in discussions on diverse literary and cultural topics.

He said around 20 languages were represented in the festival. Next year, more languages will be encouraged to participate. 

On this occasion book stalls, showcasing books from different Pakistani languages, were also established to provide easy access to literature in these languages.