Governor Punjab: Latest victim to the ongoing wave of extremism in Pakistan

Governor Taseer assassinated

Islamabad—Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was assassinated here Tuesday afternoon by one of his gunman, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadrim, of the Punjab Elite Force. Salman Taseer died when the guard had opened fire on him while he was going towards his car in Kohsar Market.

Salman Taseer, 66, appointed Governor of Punjab in 2008, was killed by one of his bodyguards, who confessed he opposed Governor’s criticism of the controversial blasphemy laws.

We at the Wonders of Pakistan strongly condemn the assassination of Mr. Salman Taseer who was one of the country's most moderate voices against extremism.

Although details as to the motive of the crime are yet to surface, this brutal murder once again raises the fundamental issue: that religious indoctrination is feeding the fires of hatred and intolerance. 

Lately, Mr. Taseer had become an outspoken champion of tolerance and women rights. He supported the rights of all minorities in Pakistan, opposed extremism and Talibanisation, and was against misuse of laws to marginalize minorities under the guise of religious beliefs and the current blasphemy law. Mr. Taseer was a brave man who along with a handful of other politicians like Sherry Rahman had called for the repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy law.

Governor Taseer's murder is simply a sign of the lack of understanding of the peaceful Islamic faith by a violent, vocal and misguided minority of people in Pakistan. This murder and many others are the result of a minority of religious clergy who continue to instill intolerance, violence and create an environment of a mob type justice without due process. Anyone who kills outside the framework of laws has not only committed a crime but a grave sin. These are signs of not only religious extremism but also ignorance of extremism. Mr. Taseer‘s murder must be condemned and repudiated, not extolled. Otherwise, Pakistan will be in a downward spiral in which intolerance and extremism may triumph.

Islam is a faith which teaches respect and tolerance for all people. There is considerable respect for the people of Abrahamic and other faiths. Prophet Mohammed (SAW) life is a perfect example of tolerance, love and respect for all people. It was by his love and character that he won the hearts of all people. Using the same faith and the same perfect personality (SAW) to justify killing the innocent and the minorities is the worst form of blasphemy against The Faith.

We urge all our countrymen to stand up peacefully yet firmly against the voices of intolerance and hate in any shape or form. This type of indoctrination is the single biggest threat to the humanity at this time. Only the larger society can get rid of this menace from all levels within the society. This is the time to unite and join forces and recover the faith of Peace and Love. We also urge the authorities to investigate thoroughly and share their full findings with the people of Pakistan.

Pakistani woman facing death in blasphemy may be freed

Aasia Bibi, likely to be pardoned by the Pakistani president, says the minister. 

Pakistani woman facing death in blasphemy may be freed

by Saeed Shah

Hopes were raised Monday that a Pakistani Christian woman, convicted of blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad [S.A.W.W] this month and sentenced to death, will be pardoned soon, after government officials said they expected her to be freed.

The case raised an international outcry, including a plea for mercy from Pope Benedict XVI. However, even if Asia Bibi, who's spent a year and a half in jail on the charge, is granted a presidential pardon, the blasphemy law remains in place in Pakistan, a majority of whose population is Muslim.

Critics charge that the law is an instrument for terrorizing minorities, leading to dozens of people being jailed each year on trumped-up charges. The targets are mostly Christians and an Islamic minority sect known as Ahmadis.

Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs, said he was convinced that Bibi was innocent, and the president's top representative in Punjab province, where the conviction occurred, predicted an imminent award of clemency. President Asif Ali Zardari has the power to overturn punishment the courts hand down to anyone.

Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, said in an interview: "The president has made it clear that she will not be punished. He will grant her a pardon."

The furor over the case has given the government an opportunity to abolish or amend the law.

"This is a disgraceful case; it is a disgraceful law. It has to be repealed," Taseer said.

Bibi, a poor 45-year-old mother of five, was jailed after a row with some Muslim women in Sheikhupura, a district near the city of Lahore in the eastern province of Punjab. She and the women argued while laboring in a field, after they refused to drink water that Bibi had fetched because she was a Christian. They accused her of saying something insulting about Prophet Muhammad [S.A.W.W], leading to her incarceration and then to her sentencing to hang by a low-level local court on Nov. 8.

Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs, is due to present a report on the case to the president this week, after his own investigation.

"She was wrongly sentenced to death," Bhatti said Monday. "I am optimistic about her release."

Minorities routinely are convicted in blasphemy cases on hearsay and scant evidence, the charges often made to settle personal scores or unrelated disputes such as property ownership. The charge itself often is enough for vigilantes.

Last week, a 22-year-old man was shot and killed outside his home in Lahore after being granted bail on a blasphemy charge.

Any attempt to change the blasphemy law probably will face opposition on the streets in religiously conservative Pakistan, while even in parliament it's uncertain whether the votes and political will exist to push through major reform. Minorities make up less than 5 percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million.

The law was introduced in British colonial times, and was broadened to impose the death penalty in the 1980s by a military dictator Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq.

The Pakistan People's Party, which leads the ruling coalition, has a commitment to repeal the blasphemy law but it's made no concerted attempt to do so since it came to power two years ago. The attitude of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is so far ambivalent.

"The law of the land should be followed, but we don't want injustices," said Sadiq ul-Farooq, a spokesman for Sharif's party.

(Shah is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

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Source: McClatchy Newspapers, Title Image: Tribune

Related Post: Repeal the Blasphemy Law

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REPEAL THE BLASPHEMY LAW

Asiya Bibi, a Pakistani farm worker and mother of five, fetched water for others working on the farm of a local landlord. Asiya Bibi was refused water because she was a non Muslim [a Christian]. The situation got ugly. Asiya was harassed because of her religion and the matter turned violent. Asiya, alone in a hostile environment, naturally would have attempted to defend herself but was put in police custody for her protection against a crowd that was harming her. However, that protection move turned into one that was to earn Asiya a death sentence.

Michael Nazir-Ali

A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother of five for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman and sparking protests from rights groups. Asiya Bibi, 45, was sentenced on Monday by a court in Nankana district in Pakistan’s central province Punjab, governed by Sharif Brothers. 

The whole world is deeply shocked and concerned over Asiya Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy, issued by a local court in Pakistan. Concerned citizens and human rights activists say the case of Asiya Bibi – the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy – highlights the need for urgent repeal of laws that are routinely used to persecute minorities and settle grudges.

Michael Nazir-Ali says, if Pakistan is serious about freedom of speech its blasphemy laws must go.

The daughters of Pakistani Christian woman Asiya Bibi pose with an image of their mother while standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura located in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawrence Cannon says,”Canada continues to call on Pakistan to repeal laws criminalizing blasphemy, which restrict freedom of religion and expression and have disproportionately targeted religious minorities.”