Leading human rights defender IA Rehman passes away

Leading human rights defender and activist of Pakistan and senior journalist Ibn Abdur Rehman aka IA Rehman passed away in Lahore, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Rehman’s family members confirmed that he was diabetic and had high blood pressure. He was 90.

IA Rehman was born on 1st September 1930 in the Indian city of Haryana.

Peace and human rights advocate. He remained involved in journalism for over 65 years. He became chief editor of the Pakistan Times newspaper in 1989 and founding chair of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy.

Rehman has also been a director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) since 1990.

Rehman was known for raising the voice of the voiceless and oppressed strata of society through his pen. IA Rehman used his pen to highlight impunity for crimes against the media and journalists frequently.

The peacenik promoted peace and friendly relations between Indo-Pakistan. Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding in 2004. Nuremberg International Human Rights Award in 2003.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari expressed his grief over the death of IA Rehman. Zardari said Rehman was a human rights activist and advocate of freedom of the press. “PPP leaders and activists share the grief of IA Rehman demise with his family and pray for forgiveness and high ranks for Rehman,” Asif Zardari said.

Senior journalist Nasim Zahra said, “Pakistan’s iconic #IARehman sahib passed away. He was in the vanguard of Pakistan’s democratic struggle, always in the forefront of human rights struggle for Pakistan’s weak& excluded...he was the best of Allah’s Creation... to Him We Shall Return”

https://twitter.com/NasimZehra/status/1381479035033636865