Zaman Khan: HRCP Council member and labour rights activist passes away

Lahore, 22 October 2021. The Human Rights Commission (HRCP) mourns the loss of Muhammad Zaman Khan, a senior member of the organisation’s present governing council, who has passed away in Faisalabad. Mr Khan was a founding member of HRCP and was elected to its first council. Subsequently, he worked at HRCP for almost two decades, heading its Complaints Cell and helping survivors of human rights violations access legal and protective services.

A staunch human rights defender since his days as a student leader, Mr Khan was also a trade unionist, political worker and intellectual. His commitment to labour rights led to a long association with the Mazdoor Kissan Party, during which he chronicled the labour movement and many of its leaders with characteristic flair. His political activism led to fines as well as imprisonment during Pakistan’s martial law regime, although this did not deter him from his commitment to the ideal of a progressive, secular Pakistan free of class prejudice.

As a founding member of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy and South Asians for Human Rights, Mr Khan argued consistently for better relations between India and Pakistan. He was also a prolific writer and journalist, having served as bureau chief at both The Muslim and Frontier Post, and written on subjects as varied as the abolition of the death penalty to Punjabi folklore and literature.

Zaman Khan will be missed by his colleagues and friends at HRCP and in progressive circles across South Asia.

Hina Jilani
Chairperson