Adil Najam
Salman Taseer – Governor Punjab, businessman, media mogul, PPP leader – was gunned down outside a restaurant in Kohsar Market, Islamabad, by one of his own guards. The guard – reportedly, a Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri – was part of the security Elite Force depute assigned to keep Salman Taseer safe gunned down the Punjab Governor with as many as 27 bullets. Later the guard handed himself to the police and said that he had killed Salman Taseer because of his vocal opposition to the Blasphemy Law.
Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri may have pulled the trigger but let us all hang our head in shame today because Salman Taseer was killed by the intolerance, the hatred, the extremism, the vigilantism, the violence and the jahalat that now defines our society. He was killed by the unchecked abundance of false sanctimony where custodians of morality have been breathing fire and instigating violence. Each one of us, including his own party, should be ashamed today for having tolerated the pall of intolerance that has eventually gunned down this man. Today’s Pakistan is defined by Mumtaz Hussain Qadris. They exist all around us. And it is all of us who tolerate them and their intolerance. It is this tolerance of intolerance that kills.
Today, it claimed yet one more victim.
Just as one example of many that we should have been paying heed to already, it was less than a month ago that a dispicable man in Peshawar was publicly offering money to anyone who would murder in the name of the blasphemy law. The news flashed on the media. Was highlighted in disgust by those like us. Yet, no action was taken; indeed, not even note was taken by those in power. It was ignored as mere ‘josh i khitaabat’ and emotionalism. It was obviously more. The tragedy is that there are too many like this man. Are people like him not responsible for spreading hatred and the results of that hatred? People instigating violence. People celebrating violence. People supporting violence. All of these people are responsible for Salman Taseer’s death. As are all of those who have stood silent and let these merchants of violence sell their wares. (Full story here).
At one level the details of what exactly happened in Islamabad today are less important than what we have allowed to happen in our societies for all the years that have led to this day, but for those who may not have seen the (still developing) details, here is an update from Dawn:
Gunmen killed the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, a senior member of the ruling party, in Islamabad on Tuesday, his spokesman said. “Yes, he has died,” said the spokesman for Salman Taseer. Police official Mohammad Iftikhar said Taseer was gunned down by one of his elite security force protectors. Five other people were wounded as other security personnel responded to the attack. Police said earlier Taseer had been shot nine times and wounded near his Islamabad home in the F6 sector and close to Kohsar market, a popular shopping and cafe spot frequented by wealthy Pakistanis and expatriates.
Another police official, Hasan Iqbal, said a pair of witnesses told the police that as the governor was leaving his vehicle, a man from his security squad fired at him. Taseer then fell, while other police officials fired on the attacker. In recent days, as the People’s Party has faced the loss of its coalition partners, the 56-year-old Taseer has insisted that the government will survive. But it was his stance against the blasphemy laws that apparently led to his killing.
Interior Minister Rahman Malik told reporters that the suspect in the case had surrendered to police and told them he killed Taseer because “the governor described the blasphemy laws as a black law.” Taseer was believed to be meeting someone for a meal, Malik said. Other members of his security detail were being questioned, Malik said. The security for Taseer was provided by the Punjab government. “We will see whether it was an individual act or someone had asked him” to do it, Malik said of the attacker.
crazy fundos in pakistan are NOT in small number. They are lurking everywhere to flex there muscle. They have to keep lamenting abt lal mosque/the mosque filled with guns and amunition. Jai nimazoon per baithain howay bahiryain. they have black mehrab on their faces showing blackness of heart.
qoom ul munafiqeen, zalmeen, and mufsideen. Allah will deal with these yazeeds.
Dear Pakistanis,
As long as America and China support you, crazy Mullie Bullies can be contained. Whether it is a Hindu Mullah or a Buddhist Mullah or a Jewish Mullah or a Christian Mullah, all Mullah Fundies are from the same father. Low IQ brained Mullies scoundrels come from the gutters of the society. Their brain is totally different from normal human brain. They have an overactive ‘God spot’ inside their dull brains and because of that these Fundies are paranoid and delusional.
These nut case are a failure in their life and some of them
are child abusers ( e.g. some Christian Mullahs).
Islam is a ‘Priest-less’ religion as far as I know. Don’t understand why do you tolerate these blood drinking loonies.
Drone power is the only salvation to these menace.
Just 3 years ago,radical lefts were celebrating the killing of hundreds of kids at Jamia Hafsa and were giving infinite reasons of justification for their killing and were considering it right by declaring them terrorists. Now why those radical leftists whine if their competitor celebrate the killing of a radical leftist who used to enjoy spreading Fitnah in the name of Islam? It’s better liberals scrutinized the extremism in their own community first which is not good for Pakistani society.
@Musalmaan: yes I am dangerous because I expose the hypocrisy and filth liberals like you often promote one way or other by coming up your own analogies.. and that too with different aliases.
Amanda says:
January 4th, 2011 10:24 pm
religious extremist killed a secular extremist
you get what you sow
the only sensible comments found on this particular thread.
Yes, these are difficult times and yes this is a victory for the fanatics and it is difficult to say anything positive at this time, but this is also not the time for giving up. Crass as it sounds, that would mean they ‘they’ won. Let us make this not the news that made us give up, but the one that made us wake up. As I read this post and the comments I was hit by three blows: (1) That the Punjab Governor was murdered, (2) that so many (although still a very small minority within the over 125 comments here) people seem to think that the murderer did the right thing, and (3) that so many of those I identify with seem ready to give up on Pakistan. We cannot do anything about the first two. But the third we can change because it is in our hands. That is the one that we must not let happen. If anything, here was a person who was not giving up, so why should we?