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.
Tribute to Salman Taseer Shaheed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjjeoCmRUpA
Candle Light Vigil by the brave people of Lahore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmSsZw1IksM
Interesting program on the issue;
http://pkpolitics.com/2011/01/08/column-kaar-8-jan uary-2011/
More comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “If this Qadri person who shot Salamn Taseer in cold blood thinks that he will be going to heaven for this act, then let our judicial system arrange his earliest meeting with the Almighty so that he could assess for himself on whether he is going to the hoors in heaven or going to eternally rot and burn in hell by killing a defenseless man!!”
– “do you know how many people in Pakistan have been hanged because of the Blasphemy Law?………………..ZERO!!! Aasia Bibi would have been pardoned and the case dismissed by the same Shariah Court because of lack of beyond-a-doubt evidence had the late Salman Taseer chosen not to turn it into a political circus!! Lesson from this sad episode is that discretion is key for folks under a political magnifier!”
– “i do not understand she was given a death sentence so how would she have been pardoned without intervention?
that woman is begging all lovers of rasul to be forgiven, the scared minority woman (weakest of weaks) is asking guardians of islam to forgive her in the name of rehmut-ul-alameen. But they say no mercy will we offer and no pardon shall come.
Think about how scared and lonely this woman is in the land of pures. Only man protecting is dead.”
– “The christian women has the right to appeal the decision and that process is where upper courts review the decision and consider evidence not sufficient enough to convict thereby overturning the lower courts decision. Like Mr. Iftikhar has pointed out above, the long drawn process of justice ensures that it is delivered in such cases. And you are typically WRONG (perhaps you are also a victim of the twisted perception created deliberately by the vested media) to assume that this Christian women is all ALONE and the land of the pure is filled with hungry wolves!! The women is first a Pakistani so she has the same rights in the judicial system like many others going through it for other reasons”
– “I am scared.”
– “These wrascles are soon going to be exposed. When the government is going to uncover BB murder plot, whole story will start to unwind. Just sit back n relax, they will be brought to justice inshallah.”
– “The rate Islamist groups are rising, a religious party could be ruling the country in 10 to 15 years. That’s the prediction.”
– “Will they not then ponder on the Qur’an? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity.”
asma would be a great – but very unlikely – choice; both the pppp as well as the sharifs would not want her in there. i also seriously doubt that she will accept.