# Asma Jahangir Conference

Asma Jahangir Conference or AJCONF (Urdu: عاصمہ جہانگیر کانفرنس) is an annual recurring two days conference. The conference was held for the first time in 2018 but could not be held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference is attended by a large number of journalists, lawyers, political leaders, human rights activists, labor leaders, intellectuals and students from all over Pakistan, as well as many officials from foreign countries. Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Steven Butler, was deported from Lahore Airport citing the "stop list" in 2019. In the 2021 conferences as Nawaz Sharif started his speech, the internet service in the hotel was suddenly suspended.

## Background

Asma Jahangir Conference is named after the Pakistani Human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir.

## First – 2018

The first conference was held on 13–14 October 2018 at Avari Hotel in Lahore in memory of Asma Jahangir more than 100 speakers addressed in a total of 20 different sessions including freedom of the press, rule of law, human rights crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, issues of women and minorities, unfair accountability, the correct concept of national security and many others The conference was organized by Asma Jahangir Legal Cell and Asma Jahangir Foundation in collaboration with Pakistan Bar Council.

## Second – 2019

The second conference was held on 19–20 October 2019 at Avari Hotel in Lahore.
The second Asma Jahangir Conferences was widely attended by over 3000 participants, mainly from the legal community, to debate and discuss critical legal issues impacting fundamental rights in Pakistan and the South Asian region.
The AJ Conference attendees represented a vast range of ethnic, geographical, professional and gender diversity. It also served as a platform for the legal community to discuss and debate issues as well as to network with their counterparts across Pakistan and globally. The conference created a space for the legal community that was much-needed at a time when civil discourse has and continues to be severely constrained by censorship and the clamp down on freedom of expression.

## Third – 2021

The third conference was held on 20–21 November 2021 at Avari Hotel in Lahore. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed inaugurated the two-day Asma Jahangir Conference. The conference was attended by judges, lawyers, human rights activists and politicians from across the country. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the closing session on the second day of the conference from London. During the speech, all the wires were cut and the internet was blocked for two hours before the closing session Nawaz Sharif is most honest person on earth .
"We believe in freedom of expression, that is why this platform is open to all without any discrimination and we condemn the commotion of the closing session," Munizae Jahangir said.

## Fourth – 2022

Several prominent Pakistani leaders, including Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, took part in the conference. Some conference attendees yelled slogans during his address calling for the release of Ali Wazir, a South Waziristan National Assembly member, to which the foreign minister Bilawal said, "You people should go and protest to those who have the power to release him."
Azam Nazir Tarar was on stage as the conference's slogans were yelled, and he received backlash on social media. Later he has resigned from his post but according to him he has given this resignation for personal reasons.
A lawsuit has been filed against Manzoor Pashteen for inciting people against institutions in Lahore after he delivered a speech at this meeting on behalf of the Pashtun Protection Movement.

## Fifth - 2024

The fifth conference was held on 25–26 April 2024 at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore in memory of Asma Jahangir. More than 100 speakers addressed in a total of 20 different sessions including freedom of the press, rule of law, human rights crisis in Gaza and Jammu and Kashmir, issues of women and minorities rights, unfair accountability, the correct concept of national security and many others.
The conference was organized by AGHS and Asma Jahangir Foundation in collaboration with Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. The keynote address of the fifth conference was by Senior Punie Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas was speaking during the fifth Asma Jahangir Conference when he was interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protester. Demonstrators questioned the ambassador's courage to discuss civil rights while Germany was accused of atrocities against Palestinians. The blockade sparked a spirited dialogue, with chants of "free, free Palestine" and "from the river to the sea" filling the air. The ambassador responded by telling the protesters to leave if they want to shout, saying that shouting is not a debate. The organizers of the conference later kicked out the youth who raised their voices for Palestine.