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print versionPakistan - January 2011: Another secular politician is killed by fascists who invoke religion and divine sanction for their acts; the state must act now and bring to book those who instigate and kill for so called religious reasons or else all secular liberal voices will go silent. A compilation by sacw.net of some relevant commentary, editorials and statements by citizens groups
- Murder Most Foul! (Murtaza Razvi)
- A brave man cut down by fanaticism (Rashed Rahman)
- A Foul Murder (Editorial, Daily Times)
- Reflecting after Taseer (Nazish Brohi)
- Death becomes his (Nadeem F. Paracha)
- Utter madness (editorial, The Express Tribune)
- Death to those who disagree (Syed Saleem Shahzad)
- Who are we dying to please? (Jawed Naqvi)
- This Is The Wrong Time To Punish Pakistan (Ahmed Rashid)
- A Divided Pakistan Buries Salman Taseer And A Liberal Dream (Declan Walsh)
- Editorial: The Courage of Taseer (Daily Times)
- The Murder Of Salmaan Taseer (Editorial, The New International)
- The Real Blasphemy (Saroop Ijaz)
- Sign Of A State Capitulating To Extremism (Najam Sethi)
- Hrcp Condemns Punjab Governor’s Assassination
- Human Rights First Statement On Murder of Pakistani Governor Salman Taseer
- Press Release by PILER and PPC
- My father’s murder must not silence the voices of reason in Pakistan (Shehrbano Taseer)
- Extremist Intimidation Chills Pakistan Secular Society (Julie McCarthy)
(i) Dawn, 4 January 211
MURDER MOST FOUL!
by Murtaza Razvi
Pakistani police officers cordon off the site where Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer was shot dead by one of his guards, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011. – AP
The assassination of the Punjab Governor Salman Taseer this afternoon in Islamabad by an armed guard reportedly deputed for his security raises the fundamental issue once again: that religious indoctrination is feeding the fires of hatred and intolerance. Although details as to the motive of the crime have yet to emerge, by the very trappings it seems little else but a crime of hate.
Mr Taseer had few friends left in his last days. His outspoken defence of the Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy under questionable charges leveled against her by fellow Muslim villagers and who has been on the death row in a Punjab prison for over a year awaiting appeal in a higher court, made him a hate figure for extremist and Islamist outfits and parties. Major religious parties called out nationwide strikes on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to demand Aasia Bibi’s execution under the controversial blasphemy law, and to condemn her sympathisers, Mr Taseer being one of the foremost public figures amongst the latter group and thus the object of hate.
He, along with the PPP MNA Sherry Rehman, who has courageously sought to repeal or amend the blasphemy law, have been the only leaders to openly oppose the controversial law, like Benazir Bhutto before them had opposed extremism and Talibanisation and paid for it with her life, while a deafening silence prevails on the subject within the ranks of the PPP itself.
On the political front too Mr Taseer became a controversial figure in his home province the day President Zardari appointed him the governor in Punjab to watch over a provincial government led by his political arch rivals, the Sharif brothers. The sacking of Shahbaz Sharif’s government in 2008, the imposition of governor’s rule and then the restoration of Mr Sharif under court orders in March 2008 as the chief minister, added to the political bitterness that existed between Mr Taseer and the Sharifs. There was little love lost between the rivals till the time of Mr Taseer’s assassination, with no signs of any rapprochement on the anvil whatsoever.
Of late the Sharifs responded to Mr Taseer’s political opposition to their way of governance by resorting to means that were both unfair and untenable. Often volleys were fired at his personality, and his family’s lavish and somewhat indulgent—read ‘un-Islamic’— lifestyle. Only last month Mr Taseer was accused of having left the country without informing the Punjab government in breach of the state protocol; a sustained media campaign followed which despite its best efforts failed to prove that Mr Taseer had gone abroad. Earlier photographs of his family partying away in the privacy of their home were placed in the media. Mr Taseer had the courage and the old world grace not to be bogged down or issue a denial in the face of such ungainly criticism that was clearly below the belt.
The Islamists openly called for his dismissal from the office for supporting the case of the Christian convict, for seeking presidential pardon for her, if it should come to that, and for being a vociferous opponent of the so-called Islamic laws that were introduced by Gen Ziaul Haq and which at best have remained highly controversial. A few also threatened to try Mr Taseer for condoning blasphemy against Islam. But he in that ideological sense represented the somewhat traditional liberal stance of the PPP, which the party itself has not truly been very comfortable with of late.
It remains to be seen what actually motivated the killer to open fire on Mr Taseer, inflicting a fatal wound, but it is not far from informed conjecture to say at this point that the motivation could have most likely been religious intolerance which leads to extreme reactions. The trend is rampant nowadays, and has led to wholesale killing of citizens, attacks on Sufi shrines and places of worship of rival Muslim sects, and of the minorities.
This is partly because hypocrisy takes the best of many politicians from across the spectrum. Even non-religious parties like the MQM, the PML-N and the PML-Q, could be seen losing their composure when it comes to issues such as demanding the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from her American prison, citing little else in her defence besides her bona fides as a Muslim woman convict, but in reality wishing to add to the woes of their political rivals’ government. Similar is the stance taken on American drone attacks, even though everyone knows that Pakistan Army provides or shares the intelligence over which such aerial strikes are carried out against extremist elements.
Back to Mr Taseer’s assassination, it was rather uncanny to overhear a conversation that I did between two security guards outside the building they were deputed to guard, within minutes of the news of Mr Taseer’s death breaking. One guard congratulated the other on the assassination while the other responded by saying that the killer was indeed a very courageous man, God be praised.
This is not the country that makes one feel very safe.
o o o
(ii) Daily Times, 5 January 2011
A BRAVE MAN CUT DOWN BY FANATICISM
by Rashed Rahman
The whole country has been shaken and sent into new depths of depression and gloom by the assassination of Governor Punjab and publisher of Daily Times Salmaan Taseer. A man of conviction and courage, Salmaan Taseer was gunned down by one of his own Elite Police Force guards. The assassin, after the dastardly deed, surrendered to police. He has stated that he had killed Governor Salmaan Taseer because he had called the Blasphemy Law a black law.
The incident shows that the fanatical mindset has now permeated broad sections of our society. The governor’s defence of Aasia bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death by a lower court on an alleged charge of blasphemy evoked the religious lobby to condemn him. Fatwas were issued calling for his death, and many of our ‘heroes’ of the electronic media joined the chorus of condemnation of the Governor for his bold stand in defence of a poor, helpless Christian woman. Much food for thought here for those still capable of thinking in our increasingly irrational society.
Salmaan Taseer grew up in straitened family circumstances due to the untimely demise of his father, famous intellectual Dr. M. D. Taseer. His mother, Chris, struggled in penury to bring up her three children, Salmaan and his two sisters. From such humble beginnings, Salmaan went on to qualify as a chartered accountant from England, set up his own accountancy firm on returning to Pakistan, and ventured into the (then) booming Gulf States to build a business base that later catapulted him into the ranks of the captains of industry and commerce in Pakistan.
His association with the PPP was both emotional and consistent. He was the author of a book on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he greatly admired, a prolific reader and writer, and a man who never shrank from expressing his firmly held opinions without fear. This boldness often landed him in trouble. Arrested during the MRD movement of 1983 by the Ziaul Haq military regime, he was subjected to horrendous torture in the notorious Lahore Fort. Undeterred, he rose to Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly in 1988, a stint that sealed his enmity with then Chief Minister Punjab Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N. For his outspoken criticism of the Sharif government from the floor of the Assembly and outside, Salmaan was beaten black and blue by the Punjab government’s goons, suffering fractures in the process.
None of this broke his spirit though. He concentrated on building up his business empire, and then re-entered the political fray as a federal minister in the caretaker government that oversaw the elections of February 2008. Later, in May 2008, he was appointed Governor Punjab by the PPP-led government, an office he held until his untimely death.
For his boldness and courage of conviction, friendship and generosity, fearless advocacy personally and through his media group (which includes Urdu daily Aaj Kal and TV channel B-Plus) of liberal causes, Salmaan Taseer will live on in our hearts and memories.
God grant his family the strength to bear this irreparable loss.
Rest in peace, my friend.
o o o
(iii) Daily Times, 5 January 2011
EDITORIAL: A FOUL MURDER
There are no words to describe the shock and horror of the assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer. This is yet another high profile murder of a political figure from Pakistan’s People’s Party (PPP) after Benazir Bhutto. The governor could not survive 27 bullet injuries, which were inflicted when one of the guards of his security detail opened fire at him as he came back to his car after having lunch with a friend at a restaurant in Kohsar Market in Islamabad. The autopsy has revealed that his death was caused by a bullet wound in his neck. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has told reporters that the assassin, Punjab Elite Force member Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, confessed to killing Taseer for criticising the blasphemy laws. The governor held an open stance against the blasphemy laws promulgated by General Ziaul Haq and had called for their repeal, or at the very least their amendment to guard against the misuse and abuse of many years since the law was promulgated by a dictator and then made more stringent by successor governments of the right. However, it would be premature to say that this indeed was the motive behind the assassin’s act. This explanation sounds too pat. If history is any guide, such minor operatives act as tools in the hands of their cloaked masterminds and are usually killed after the deed is done. The strange circumstance is that the assassin was able to unload his gun into the victim without being fired back on or even accosted by the rest of the governor’s security detail. So far, the assassin and the entire security detail are in policy custody and being investigated. Only time will tell whether this was an individual act or someone orchestrated it to create political instability in the country at a time when the federal government is already teetering after losing its majority in parliament with the departure of coalition allies JUI-F and MQM.
If indeed it was an individual act and done to avenge the governor’s opposition to the blasphemy laws, then this murder is a grim commentary on the state of affairs in Pakistan. If the religious extremists who consider themselves the guardians of the Prophet’s (PBUH) honour can go so far as to take the life of someone who opposed man-made laws, then society is heading for anarchy and barbarism. This means that there is no space for a rational discourse and even a person of such high profile as the Governor Punjab cannot escape their wrath. It also speaks of the weakness in the security regime of the Punjab government.
The Punjab government is responsible for the provision of security to all VIPs in the province. It is strange that a person with such extremist inclinations as Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was deployed in the governor’s security detail. The Punjab government cannot absolve itself of part of the blame for this murder. Its call for a judicial inquiry has yet to be responded to by the federal government, which has so far set up an inter-agency investigation team to look into all aspects of the assassination, including whether the assassin acted alone or a deeper conspiracy was at work.
Salmaan Taseer was an entirely self-made person and created a career as a businessman and politician by dint of sheer hard work, courage in the face of adversity, and a fearless stance even when threatened by malign forces. He was a highly qualified chartered accountant, having obtained his qualification from England, and initially made a business fortune in the Gulf. He relocated to Pakistan and established the First Capital Securities Corporation, a full service brokerage house in 1994, and next year founded WorldCall Telecom Limited in 1995. The company has since become a major private sector telecom operator and expanded its network to the Gulf region. However, business was not his only interest. Politically motivated since his student years in London, Taseer participated in politics from the PPP’s platform and experienced the tribulations of the martial law of Ziaul Haq during the Movement for Restoration of Democracy in 1983, including a spell of incarceration and torture in the infamous Lahore Fort. He also authored a biography of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1980 titled, Bhutto, A Political Biography. In 1988, he was elected a member of the Punjab Assembly, eventually taking over the slot of the Leader of the Opposition. Due to his trenchant criticism of the PML-N government in Punjab, he was rounded up and tortured by the security forces on the directives of the Sharifs. His later attempts to enter the National Assembly in successive elections during the 1990s did not succeed. He, however, continued to exercise considerable clout within the party. After developing his successful businesses, Salmaan Taseer ventured into the world of the media, a project close to his heart. He launched the Daily Times newspaper and television channel Business Plus (now renamed B-Plus). This was followed subsequently by the launch of a liberal Urdu daily, Aaj Kal. He was appointed Governor Punjab on May 15, 2008, much to the chagrin of the PML-N. He had since gained prominence in the political arena and served as the strongman of the PPP in Punjab and therefore a thorn in the side of the PML-N.
His murder has been strongly condemned by leaders across the political spectrum. The PPP workers have reacted by staging a demonstration in front of the Governor’s House in Lahore and various locations in most major cities. Markets in Lahore, Faisalabad and other parts of the country closed as soon as the news of the assassination spread. The prime minister has announced a three-day mourning, the PPP two weeks of mourning, while the Punjab government has decided to close all educational institutions in Punjab today, partly as a mark of respect, partly out of security concerns. The nation suffered a great loss in this assassination. A liberal and progressive voice in a political scene infested by rightwing politics has been silenced. Now justice and the very well being and future of the country demands that the culprit/s be punished to the full extent of the law as a deterrent to such fanatics who seem to be teeming in the very entrails of our state and society.
o o o
(iv)
REFLECTING AFTER TASEER
by Nazish Brohi
The PPP leaders will speak to the press eventually. The criminal investigators will take even more time. But the party workers have spoken and indicted. The Polyclinic resounded right now with slogans against religious extremism, workers proclaiming willingness to carry more bodies, including their own, in the battle for a tolerant Pakistan. Those who want to live in a tolerant plural society and are willing to struggle for it might need to make the same vow.
Salmaan Taseer knew. Among his last tweets on the mullah backlash against him was his quoting a verse in anticipation of his murder, dil figaaro chalo, phir hameen qatl ho aien yaaro chalo. He was openly named and castigated in rallies in his own city on December 31 for supporting the blasphemy accused. “Thousands of beads screaming for my head. What a great feeling,†he wrote.
This is not the first killing on the blasphemy law. It is not even the first time those in office to protect people kill those who they protect. In KP a few years ago, a policeman killed a blasphemy accused who he was guarding. When the police tried to protect a blasphemy accused in another case, the police station was burnt down, after which the police apologised for attempting to provide protection. And when accepted political leaders publicly proclaim rewards for whoever kills a blasphemy accused, in this case against Aasia Bibi by a Jamaat-e-Islami leader appealing to the TTP to do religion a ‘real service’, this sets the stage.
Minority leader Father John Joseph shot himself dead to protest the blasphemy law. Hundreds others have spoken against this colonial-era legislation, strengthened by the blackest military dictatorship of Ziaul Haq, and now packaged as an ordained sacred law. Rudimentary trend analysis shows that the law is increasingly invoked against Muslims, and the parameters of who qualifies as a Muslim are growing more and more stringent and restrictive. A shoemaker in Lahore was accused of embroidering slippers in a design that looked like Islamic calligraphy. In Peshawar, a man was accused of blasphemy for forcing his neighbours to reduce the volume of a CD of religious recitation. In Gojra, nine Chirstians were burnt alive, according to the HRCP fact-finding report, in a planned and premeditated act. The same charges have been brought against towering national personalities such as Akhtar Hameed Khan. Those who speak openly against the law have also been threatened, including Sherry Rehman and Asma Jehangir.
The death sentence was made mandatory during the Nawaz Sharif government of the 90s. Since then, the killings have peaked, with the highest numbers in Punjab. The identified Elite Force guard will be punished, but this won’t even begin to address the malignant wilful blindness gripping our society. Right-wing political parties have repeatedly sent across the message that issues of religion should not be left to the courts, and all believing Muslims should take up the persecution as a part of their religious duties. Vigilantism has been marketed as a ‘farz’ (duty). Common supporters do not find it ironic, forget blasphemous, that they seek to protect the name of the person whom they pray to for protection – an equality of sorts.
This vigilantism has gone unpunished and victims uncompensated. In countless cases of lynching, from Shantinagar to Pabbi, people have been incited to violence. It is important to see that these are not isolated cases of brainwashed madmen, but a trend of increasing militant mentality, given fillip by tolerant silences. Jut like BB’s murder was preluded by the point-blank shooting of MNA Zille Huma by a man who said she had no place being in politics as a woman undertaking progressive politics. Religious scholars are also persecuted. Fazlur Rehman and Javed Ghamdi were made to leave the country. Khalid Masud was removed from the CII. Maulanas who have condemned suicide bombings have been assassinated. Public intellectuals of KP have been increasingly targeted.
All religious and right-wing parties who refused to see the flaws in the British-made law and would not recognise that this law is used to target people to settle personal and political disputes and vow to attack those who speak against its oppressiveness are partially responsible. All those who incite and provoke ‘believers’ to carry out punishments as religious duty should be named in FIRs and prosecuted because this nullifies the need for a state at all. The ‘right time’ for citizens to actively engage in radical progressive politics passed years ago, now its a matter of survival, even though it may be too late, as Taseer’s assassination shows. People may be intimidated and censor their opinions. Then we’ll be at the point typically cued as the point to pack up and go home. But we are home. Whoever does not overtly challenge, tacitly condones.
o o o
(v) DEATH BECOMES HIS
by Nadeem F. Paracha
Punjab Governor, Salman Taseer, was assassinated yesterday (January 4) by one of his security guards. The guard, who soon gave himself up to the police, proudly claimed that he killed the late Governor because Taseer had described the controversial blasphemy law as a ‘black law.’
Shocked? Well, about time. Governor Taseer’s murder is just a symptom of the creeping tyranny of religious hatred and demented self-righteousness each and every Pakistani has been living under for a number of years now.
Today, only a handful of Pakistanis are willing to stick out their chins and brace themselves for a possible beating for calling a spade a spade, and the late Governor was one of these brave souls.
There are very few vocal Pakistanis in this regard (in politics, media and cyberspace), who continue to face the music, tunes and threats of utter hatred thrown towards them not only from the usual faith-driven fascists who have taken it upon themselves to kill and harass in the fine name of Islam and God, but also from a rising (and strange) breed of ‘modernists’ who just cannot get their disfigured egos to admit that yes, Pakistan today has perhaps become one of the first examples of a fascist faith-based dystopia.
Never mind the animalistic murderers who in their pursuit to ‘safeguard faith’ have actually become a raving mockery of the whole concept of ashraful makhlukat (i.e. they have simply ceased being the humans that God created), but what about the educated ones, who too had a problem with Governor Taseer’s stand?
Since I would like to believe that there is still some essence of humanity left in them, there will be some who will be wishing and hoping that a theological justification is found behind such murders so they may acquit themselves of defending hatred in the name of faith and patriotism.
Alas! There is simply is no justification, theological or otherwise. Respected and deeply learned Islamic scholars like Javed Ahmed Ghamidi have repeatedly insisted that there is no historical or theological example or space in the workings of Islam for a law such as the blasphemy law.
But of course, what value or weight does reason and tolerance have in a country that is rapidly on a downward spiral towards a social and political abyss? It is a bottomless pit that many of us continue to insist is the reason why the founders created Pakistan.
This warped insistence that hell is actually heaven, comes cramped with a number of feeble arguments where renegade hate mongers, wily religious exploiters and their many animated soundboards in both print and electronic media try to whitewash their dark bile with chants against drone attacks and the blood of their ‘fellow countrymen’ who are being killed by the bullets of the Pakistan Army in the northwest.
Ordinary citizens are killed in our markets and mosques by the heroes and romanticised mujahids of these people. But instead of condemning such acts, they return to Aafia Siddiqui and the drones; politicians are assassinated for exercising their right to speak against injustices taking place in the name of faith, and they again return to Aafia and the drones; they and many of their children travel to the West for studies and business, and yet, they still talk about the drones.
It is as if drone attacks are the root cause of all evil, madness and bloodshed in this country. But aren’t the drones a more recent phenomenon, some four to five years old? The ignorance, intolerance and violence erupting in this holy dystopia of ours took lives long before the word ‘drone’ even entered our populist vocabulary, so what nonsense are these hate mongers on about?
Surely they can make a fool and a willing victim of a thoroughly disturbed and neurotic society with their lies, fake bombast and loud piety, but do they really think they can dodge their own conscience? These romanticised terrorists certainly can, because since they have stopped being humans, they have thus lost their conscience as well.
But all those politicians, preachers, columnists, TV anchors and their hung-over followers who, after Taseer’s statement against the blasphemy law, were beating the drums of hatred and passing judgments on matters over which only God alone has jurisdiction – what about them?
Are they happy? Do they feel triumphant? I doubt it. They will go back to doing what they do best: repress their guilt and the little humanity left in them by becoming even louder about their love of God and country and how angry they are because of, yes, you guessed it – the drone attacks.
I say, shame on you. I, as a Muslim, refuse to be categorised with cowards like you who have made a mockery of my country and my religion all over the world. Stop now before each one of you completely loses whatever little God’s greatest gifts are left in you: humanity, kindness, forgiveness and reason.
I say, renounce the hatred, the ignorance and bile you have been peddling as faith and justice. It is you who are God’s and this country’s greatest enemy, and may God alone have mercy on you.
Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com.
o o o
(vi)
The Express Tribune, Editorial January 4, 2011
UTTER MADNESS
The assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in Islamabad by one of his own police guards, in one of the federal capital’s most upscale markets (often frequented by foreigners, diplomats and the well-heeled) should open our eyes to the utter madness engulfing our nation. According to Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the killer surrendered himself after doing the ‘deed’ and said that he did it because the governor had called the blasphemy law a “black law†. The assassination comes a few days after a countrywide strike by religious parties, fully backed by banned militant and sectarian outfits, against any government plans to change the blasphemy law. In the run-up to that strike, Mr Taseer and his PPP colleague, the courageous MNA and former information minister Sherry Rehman, were singled out by name by the obscurantists and many of the statements that were made by the leaders of some religious parties bordered on incitement to violence. Mr Taseer had also spoken out in defence of Aasia Bibi, after visiting her some weeks ago in prison. He had pledged to do all he could to free her since, in his view, she was innocent of the charge against her because she had not committed blasphemy and was being victimised because she was a Christian.
In all of this, the Punjab governor said all the right things and it was heartening to finally see someone speak with the voice of progressiveness and respect for human rights that the PPP had historically been associated with. And now it is revolting to see the same man done to death, so viciously, and that too by a member of his own police guard, someone whose duty it was to guard him with his own life. The policeman who killed Mr Taseer was, in all likelihood, so indoctrinated by the culture of hate and intolerance that pervades against minorities, especially on the blasphemy law in this country, that he must believe that his action will guarantee him a place in heaven. And it will not be long before we will find many people, in the media and on television in particular, who will become apologists for the killer and try to justify his actions. In this it needs to be said, clearly, and again and again, that Salmaan Taseer was not a blasphemer and he was not an apostate. He said what needed to be said because the blasphemy law is misused and targets defenceless people who, more often than not, belong to the minorities and any country comprising civilised and sensible people, would have in-built provisions to prevent its misuse. And for that he should not have been killed. But what we have is utter madness, a situation where those who try and speak out for the poor and defenceless, for the victimised and the harassed, are targeted themselves. And Mr Taseer’s untimely and tragic death shows that position and power doesn’t play a role in this — one can be the governor of the country’s largest province and an important member of the ruling party but all of that comes to naught in front of a brainwashed individual who thinks that taking another man’s life is a passport to heaven.
Also, lest we forget, since we all, especially in this country, tend to have very short memories, the blood of Salmaan Taseer is on all our hands. We, each one of us, are to blame for his assassination. And this is because, when he was being targeted by the extremists and the religious elements in our society, when some people came on television and hinted that Mr Taseer was, in effect, wajibul qatl we did nothing to stand up and support him. It is these same people who are now targeting Sherry Rehman — how many members of civil society rallied to her defence, except for a few hundred people in the federal capital?
The PPP is known to be a party of progressive values with a vision, and it needs to reclaim that space and fight the extremists. It needs to provide exemplary punishment to the killer and it should not back down from modifying the law since it is much misused and cause for violence. If this is not realised and nothing is done on this front, we will all be victims of the same fate that befell Salmaan Taseer.
o o o
(vii)
DEATH TO THOSE WHO DISAGREE
by Syed Saleem Shahzad
ISLAMABAD - Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer, assassinated on Tuesday, paid the ultimate price for his criticism of Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy law, yet like many prominent classical and modern Islamic jurists, he was simply giving his view on a delicate issue, and other such people were not killed for expressing an opinion.
Several religious decrees had been issued by clerics and prominent religious personalities calling for Taseer’s murder, they have also publicly condoned his killing. Yet Pakistan, where more than half of the electorate is secular, refused to take action against the clerics. It has also done nothing to censure some lawmakers who earlier were against the blasphemy law but stayed silent after Taseer’s death.
Taseer Tweeted shortly before his murder, "I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightist pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I’m the last man standing." Taseer’s criticism of the blasphemy law - which in many cases imposes the death sentence - can in no way be viewed as a reason for him to be killed; it was merely his opinion.
He termed the law "black", saying it did not reflect Islamic teachings and wrongly interpreted Islamic law in order to victimize people. Taseer’s view, whether right or wrong, was made with conviction, and that is why he was not afraid of death threats from religious decrees.
The right to disagree
Muslim history is full of events over which learned people have given controversial opinions. Their views were rejected by the majority of Muslim jurists and scholars, but they were not condemned to death.
While the overwhelming majority of Muslim jurists and scholars interpret the incident of Karbala over 1,300 years ago as a defining moment in Muslim history and mark it as the first movement for the revival of Islam, a segment of the Salafi school of thought interprets Karbala - where the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussain bin Ali along with his family were massacred - as a political power struggle rather than a battle of truth, and they consider Hussain was wrong and emperor Yazid Bin Mauvia right.
The interpretation of Yazid’s righteousness was debated in Muslim academia and the majority declared it as a wrong opinion. Yet nobody issued decrees of heresy against those holding the minority viewpoint of that historical incident.
Similarly, Taseer, being a Muslim, had a right to give his opinion on the interpretation of a law that he saw as being used to victimize people rather than to reflect Islamic thinking. Taseer last year supported a Christian mother of five, Asiya Bibi, who had been sentenced to death for blasphemous remarks made against the Prophet Mohammed, and petitioned for her release.
Deafening silence
Taseer’s murder has been widely applauded by rightwing elements, whose views appear to be politically motivated rather than driven by any ideology. Further, the secular and liberal majority of the country has mostly been silent, and the government too has not said a word against those who have openly lauded Taseer’s killing.
Some lawyers showered the confessed killer - security guard Malik Mumtaz Qadri - with rose petals when he arrived at court on Wednesday, and an influential Muslim scholars group praised the assassination of a person who dared oppose a law that orders death for those who insult Islam.
"Whoever killed him [Taseer] is a pious man and will go directly to heaven," a former parliamentarian and the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Asadullah Bhutto, said soon after news of the killing broke.
Haji Hanif Tayyab, a former federal minister, commented on a television channel, "Whoever loves the Prophet shouldn’t be saddened by Taseer’s death."
Thousands of Facebook users have welcomed Taseer’s death as a strike against reformers of the country’s tight blasphemy law, while more than 500 clerics and scholars from the group Jamat Ahle Sunnat said no one should pray or express regret for his killing. The group representing Pakistan’s majority Barelvi sect, which follows a brand of Islam considered moderate, also issued a veiled threat to other opponents of the blasphemy law.
"Opponents [of the law] are as guilty as ones who commit blasphemy," the group warned in a statement, adding that politicians, the media and others should learn "a lesson from the exemplary death".
Jamat leader and former member parliament Maulana Shah Turabul Haq Qadri paid tribute to the murderer for his "courage, bravery and religious honor and integrity".
Anti-blasphemy campaigners have been stopped in their tracks.
Tahira Abdullah, a renowned human-rights activist and highly vocal in the media against the law, has turned off her cell phones and left her Islamabad residence because of a possible threat to her life.
Another prominent campaigner, a lawmaker from the Pakistan Muslim League, Quaid-e-Azam Marvi Memon, is avoiding the media. Lawmaker Sherry Rahman, who moved a private bill against the blasphemy law, has increased the strength of her security squad from four guards to 16 and largely limited herself to her Karachi residence.
On Thursday, Karachi’s liberal affluent elite were busy in socialite clubs discussing whether Pashtun security guards should be fired and replaced with Goan Christian guards, yet no one dared raise the issue of why sections of society can get away with so brazenly applauding the death of someone trying to right what he saw as wrong.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online’s Pakistan Bureau Chief and author of upcoming book Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban 9/11 and Beyond published by Pluto Press, UK. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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WHO ARE WE DYING TO PLEASE?
by Jawed Naqvi
THE condolence message from Hillary Clinton notwithstanding, did Salman Taseer go down fighting a good fight against Muslim fanatics to win applause from the Americans or did he die for the survival of Pakistan?
The question should be posed to Rahul Gandhi in the neighbourhood. India`s Congress party scion had made a valid point about the threat to his country from Hindu extremists — just as Pakistan is being wrecked by Muslim bigots — but instead of telling his countrymen about it, he whispered his worry into the ears of the American ambassador in Delhi. Nothing could be as self-defeating as not trusting your very own in the battle to defend your core ideals.
In a curious way, the fact that the young Gandhi mentioned the Hindutva threat to US ambassador Tim Roemer, in fact, added to his credibility. A public statement would in most likelihood be pounced upon by his detractors as a populist and a potentially communal ploy to curry favour with Muslims and so forth. That particular worry should, of course, be no reason to keep the nation oblivious of an ominous possibility.
Right-wing Hindus expectedly pooh-poohed Gandhi`s remarks to Roemer, which would probably never have surfaced but for the WikiLeaks` revelations. He contended that the Hindutva upsurge posed a greater threat to India than did Muslim extremism. The view appeared to be based on a simple and compelling logic. Muslim extremists threaten Pakistan because they are or were part of the state structures thanks to Gen Zia`s policies. Likewise, Hindutva and not so much Muslim bigots challenge Indian secularism.
The reason is not difficult to comprehend. Although homegrown Muslim fanatics in India, even those having links with Lashkar-i-Taiba from across the border, have a stake in destroying India`s secularism, they remain handicapped in their mission because of their total absence from the levers of state power.
Hindutva forces, on the other hand, like their counterparts in Pakistan, have penetrated nearly all the sectors of state that matter. Parliament is the only place where so far they cannot carry out subversion. Of course, it may not take long before they are emboldened to contemplate doing just that. Hindustan Times
Even as I write, a front-page report in the says that investigators are probing the proximity between the Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Swami Aseemanand, the main suspect in the bombing of the Samjhota Express and a clutch of other outrages for which Muslims were blamed.
Also, Digvijay Singh, a close advisor to Rahul Gandhi, has been in the news for suggesting that the anti-terror police chief of Mumbai, Hemant Karkare, faced a threat from Hindutva groups before he was killed in an ambush during the November 2008 attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists.
This week Singh produced telephone records of his conversation with Karkare hours before he was killed in which he had expressed apprehension about Hindu extremists. There has been speculation that Hindutva groups may have used the chaos unleashed by the terrorists to settle scores with Karkare as he was closing in on their own terror links across the country.
The fact that Punjab Governor Salman Taseer had opposed Pakistan`s notorious blasphemy laws has emerged as a key factor in his murder by a religiously driven security guard. This poses a huge but not insurmountable challenge to a bill moved by former information minister Sherry Rehman to repeal the mediaeval law. It is in any case a fight that India can do well to learn from and Rahul Gandhi has done well to grasp the point. But what can he do to avert a situation that Pakistan`s poet Fahmida Riaz had noted a while ago? Tum bilkul hum jaise nikle ab tak kahaa`n chhupe thay bhai? Wo ghaamadpan, wo jaahilpan jisme humney sadi ga`nwaaee — ab pahonchi hai dwaar tumharey? Aray badhaee, bahot badhaee
Fahmida Riaz recited her poem in Delhi when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power and wreaking havoc in Gujarat. “!†(And so you too turned out like us, brother? How well you masked your bigotry. The easy ignorance, the rabid delinquency we nurtured for decades [in Pakistan], is knocking on your doors. Well done my friend, what else can I say?)
Of course, any claim such as the one made by Rahul Gandhi (and played down by his party not the least because it is crawling with closet Hindutva acolytes) would not be taken too seriously by India`s mainstream media. In any case, goes the argument, the BJP, which is the most likely political vehicle to usher full-blooded religious fascism in India has never secured more than a third of the active votes. This is a fallacy. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The story of how Hitler became a dictator — , by William Shirer, gives a good account of it — may hold a lesson.
In the presidential election held on March 13, 1932, there were four candidates: the incumbent, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler and two minor candidates, Ernst Thaelmann and Theodore Duesterberg. The results were: Hindenburg 49.6 per cent; Hitler 30.1 per cent; Thaelmann 13.2 per cent; Duesterberg 6.8 per cent. In other words, almost 70 per cent of the German people voted against Hitler, causing his supporter Joseph Goebbels, who would later become Hitler`s minister of propaganda, to lament in his journal, “We`re beaten; terrible outlook. Party circles badly depressed and dejected.â€
How it turned into an overwhelming majority for Hitler, not without deft manoeuvres to eliminate key opponents, are elements that Indian polity is only too easily exposed to.
The other route to power, which is being attempted in Pakistan, is through religious terrorism. That is what the remaining 70 per cent Indians have to be inoculated against. And that particular vaccine will come from India`s native strength, not from the American embassy in Delhi. Ditto for Pakistan.
Moreover, Rahul Gandhi should realise that his chosen interlocutors have a dubious history of courting rather than challenging religious bigotry, be it in India or Pakistan and practically everywhere in the world.
The writer is dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.
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(ix) Financial Times
THIS IS THE WRONG TIME TO PUNISH PAKISTAN
by Ahmed Rashid
Published: January 4 2011 22:35 | Last updated: January 4 2011 22:35
The assassination on Tuesday of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province and one of the most powerful voices for democracy and secularism in the ruling Pakistan People’s party, has only highlighted the deepening political and social divide in his country.
The assassin, a police officer in the security detail guarding Taseer, is believed to have been motivated by his victim’s strong opposition to a controversial blasphemy law that targets Christians and other minorities. It is the highest-level assassination since the killing of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto three years ago.
Pakistan faces a catastrophe that has been brewing for months. Forget about increased co-operation from Islamabad on international terrorism or Afghanistan. The government is in crisis yet again, but more importantly it is paralysed, unable to legislate, unwilling to take any hard decisions or even to rule effectively as politicians in the provinces defy the central government.
Today the world should be concerned that the situation in Pakistan is probably worse than in Afghanistan. The country needs help.
The PPP-led coalition of Yusuf Raza Gilani is tottering but it will not fall – yet. The headline in Tuesday’s daily Pakistan Today said it all: “PM running from pillar to post.â€
The government lost its majority in parliament after two coalition partners walked out. The first was the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam, a religious party with eight seats in the 342-seat National Assembly, which objected to any reforms of the blasphemy law. The second was the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement, with 25 seats, which objected to new price increases in energy. The coalition now has fewer than the 172 votes needed to pass any legislation.
There is the possibility of a vote of no confidence in Mr Gilani, but it will probably not happen for several reasons. The opposition parties are divided as to what to do, no party has a majority in parliament, there is no obvious replacement for Mr Gilani, and Nawaz Sharif, the main opposition figure, does not want the government to fall at this moment.
No party wants elections right now, with the country in the midst of hyperinflation and riots in the streets over shortages of fuel, electricity, gas and other essentials. The economy is in virtual freefall after the International Monetary Fund stopped a payment of $3.5bn of its $11.3bn loan to Islamabad – a decision that followed the government’s failure to push through parliament a general sales tax and a tax on agricultural incomes demanded by the IMF as part of a much-needed reforms package.
The budget deficit has soared to 6 per cent in spite of a 4 per cent target for the current financial year. It is expected to increase further to 8 per cent before the year is out. Corruption, chronic mismanagement and a lack of political will have fuelled the crisis. There have been four finance ministers in the space of three years.
The IMF withdrawal is likely to lead other big lenders such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the US, Japan and the European Union to halt or delay payment of their promised loans and aid. Donors have said they will not bail out Pakistan unless reforms are implemented first.
Equally dangerous is that political chaos will encourage efforts by the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda to enlarge the territory under their control in Pakistan’s tribal areas. That is already happening. A government trying to survive is not the best morale booster for those at the front line against the extremists.
Meanwhile, there has been a spate of foiled terrorist attacks across Europe. Dozens of would-be plotters arrested in Britain, Germany and last week in Sweden and Denmark over a plan to massacre the staff of a Danish newspaper all have large or minor links to groups based in Pakistan.
Those links are becoming ever more complex. A suicide bomber who killed himself in Stockholm in December as he was trying to explode a bomb among Christmas shoppers was of Arab origin, but was linked to Pakistan-born British extremists in Luton, England. Senior US officials said recently they had warned Islamabad that any successful terrorist strike in the US that could be traced back to Pakistan would have instant and enormous repercussions.
The international community cannot afford to let Pakistan – a nuclear-armed state critical to securing Afghanistan and the region – fail or go down the tubes. Western capitals cannot do much to calm the political factionalism, but continued economic assistance and a loud public declaration of that by key western donors are urgently needed. A resumption of IMF money would send a crucial positive signal.
Even more dangerous than a political meltdown would be large-scale, directionless unrest on the streets due to further price rises. International economic support could help stabilise the political crisis; inaction can only benefit the extremists.
The writer’s latest book is Descent into Chaos. A revised edition of his Taliban was published last summer
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011.
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The Guardian, 5 January 2011
A DIVIDED PAKISTAN BURIES SALMAN TASEER AND A LIBERAL DREAM
Liberals have long been a minority force in Pakistan, reviled for importing ’western’ ideas and culture; now they are virtually an endangered species
Declan Walsh in Lahore
Prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani at the funeral of assasinated Punjab governor Salman Taseer. Photograph: Ilyas J Dean/Rex Features
There was silence in the ancient city of Lahore yesterday as Salman Taseer, a pugnacious son of the soil who made his name by speaking out, was lowered into an early grave.
Soldiers in fantail turbans snapped to attention; a cluster of stone-faced relatives looked on. A helicopter had carried Taseer’s body from the governor’s residence, a short distance away: authorities feared another fanatic, like the one who gunned down the Punjab governor 24 hours earlier, would show up.
At the graveside Taseer’s three sons, men with black shirts and soft red eyes, flung clumps of rose petals into the grave. One was supported by a friend. A bugle sounded.
As graveyard workers shovelled sticky winter clay onto the coffin, many Pakistanis wondered what was disappearing into the grave with the outspoken politician.
Liberals have long been a minority force in Pakistan, reviled for importing "western" ideas and culture; now they are virtually an endangered species. As Taseer was buried, petals also flew through the sky in Islamabad where a cheering throng congratulated his assassin, a 26-year-old policeman named Mumtaz Qadri, as he was bundled into court. "Death is acceptable for Muhammad’s slave," they chanted.
Taseer’s crime, in Qadri’s eyes, was to advocate reform of Pakistan’s blasphemy law. Few other Pakistani politicians dared to speak against the law, which prescribes the death penalty for offenders yet is widely misused. Those who did now live in fear.
Sherry Rehman, a female parliamentarian from Karachi who tabled a parliamentary bill advocating reform of the blasphemy law, has disappeared from public view. Supporters have urged her to flee the country; sources close to her say she is determined to stay. Rehman has not yet requested extra police protection. A source said she "wasn’t even sure what it means any more".
Religious parties refused to condemn Taseer’s death, implying that he got what he deserved; some described him as a "liberal extremist". But intolerance from the religious right is nothing new in Pakistan; more striking is the lack of leadership from the country’s secular forces.
The opposition Pakistan Muslim League–N party was conspicuously absent from the Lahore funeral, perhaps mindful of a decree by Barelvi mullahs that those condoling with Taseer also risked death. But capitulation to the religious right has also infected the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, of which Taseer was a staunch member.
Since Taseer’s death party supporters have burned tyres and chanted the old slogans: "Jiye Bhutto!" and "If you kill one Bhutto another will rise!" Party leaders painted Taseer’s death as part of a "conspiracy". "We need to find out if this is an attempt to destabilise Pakistan," said law minister Babar Awan, announcing the inevitable judicial enquiry.
But the tired rhetoric masked a less palatable truth: that Taseer had been abandoned by his own leadership. After Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, was sentenced to death under the blasphemy laws on 8 November, Taseer visited her in jail with his wife and daughter to show his support.
Shortly after, an Islamic mob rioted outside the governor’s house in Lahore, burning his effigy and calling for his death. On television prominent media commentators joined the chorus of criticism.
Senior figures in his own party turned tail. Awan, the law minister, said there was no question of reforming the blasphemy law. "As long as I am law minister no one should think of finishing this law," he said on 26 November. Another minister confirmed that position one week ago.
The U-turn was the product of a huge miscalculation. At the start of the Aasia Bibi affair on 8 November, President Asif Ali Zardari suggested he might pardon the Christian woman if she was convicted. But he stalled, apparently hoping to extract political mileage from the affair.
Then on 29 November the Lahore high court, which had a history of antagonism with Zardari, issued an order forbidding him from issuing a pardon. The issue became a political football, a struggle between the government, the courts and the mullahs. Zardari was powerless to act.
And the Punjab governor was left swinging in a lonely wind.
In his last television interview, on 1 January, Taseer said it had been his "personal decision" to support Aasia Bibi. "I went to see her with my wife and daughter. Some have supported me; other are against me […] but if I do not stand by my conscience, then who will?"
The answer, he knew, was simple: not many. Taseer’s liberal politics were controversial in Pakistan’s media, which is increasingly dominated by rightwing commentators. He ridiculed his enemies with messages on Twitter, a medium that he relished for its ability to deliver brisk, barbed jabs.
In December even Meher Bokhari – a leading female journalist who had once been ridiculed as a "CIA agent" after attending a US embassy party — asked Taseer if he wasn’t following a "pro-western agenda" by supporting the Christian woman. Taseer retorted that he didn’t know what she was talking about.
For many, the debacle shows how the heroes of yesteryear have fallen in Pakistan. In 2007 brave journalists, judges and lawyers came together to help oust the military leader President Pervez Musharraf from power. Today the judiciary has become enmeshed in controversy, the media offers an unfiltered platform to extremists, and the lawyers movement has been badly divided.
Ayaz Amir, a progressive commentator, noted yesterday: "The religious parties will always do what they do. You can’t blame them. It is up the other sections of Pakistani society to stop the rot and reverse the tide. But it’s the political parties and the army should have done it. And they did nothing."
Pakistan’s military and civilian leaders face many grave challenges, not least the still-burning Taliban insurgency in the north-west. But for embattled liberals, the death of Taseer exposed something ugly in their wider society, much as the shoulder-shrugging reaction to the massacre of minority Ahmadis in a Lahore mosque last May did.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab, the large and wealthy province that is the boiling cauldron of Pakistan’s ideological battle. Punjab is the breeding ground of extremists nurtured by the pro-Islamist policies of Pakistan’s army, which has used militants to fight Indian soldiers in Kashmir. According to US assessments in the recent WikiLeaks cables, it still does.
Two years ago extremists attacked the police training centre outside Lahore that is home to the Punjab Elite force, the province’s best-trained police commandos. This week a member of that same force – Qadri – was responsible for killing Taseer.
Taseer’s death has focused that ideological fight around blasphemy. The law originated under British colonial rule in the 19th century but only acquired notoriety in the 1980s when the dictator Zia ul Haq decreed that blasphemy was punishable by death (a provision that Islamic scholars say has little theological foundation). The law is also of questionable civil law value: it contradicts fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.
It is a crime where no proof is required. The religious slander allegedly uttered by Aasia Bibi, for instance, has never been repeated by her accusers – to do so would be to blaspheme again. As a result, she has been convicted on the say-so of her neighbours, with whom she was having an argument in a field.
If Bibi’s conviction is upheld she will be hanged, the first woman in Pakistan’s history to be executed for blasphemy. If freed, she will have to flee Pakistan immediately.
Senior supporters say that Canada has made a tentative offer of asylum. But in the present climate in Pakistan it seems unlikely that Bibi will be set free. Senior human rights campaigners told the Guardian they feared she could be killed by zealots in jail or on the steps of the court, as has happened in other blasphemy cases.
The question now is who will speak up for her. For liberals, Taseer’s death is a sign that their political space, already highly constrained, is becoming impossibly small.
"If Pakistan and Pakistanis do not try to excise the cancer within, the future of this country is very bleak," read an editorial in Dawn yesterday.
The face of Mumtaz Qadri, smiling beatifically as he was led away by police after killing Taseer, perhaps dreaming of his rewards in heaven, has become the image of Pakistan’s national agony. Qadri claims to act in the name of Islam, the reason that Pakistan was founded.
Yesterday on Twitter, the medium beloved of Salman Taseer, liberal Pakistanis bemoaned the disappearance of "Jinnah’s Pakistan" – the tolerant, pluralistic country envisioned by its founder, the lawyer Muhammad ali Jinnah, in 1947. Others tried to remember if it had ever existed.
And in the streets outside Pakistan’s silent majority – the ordinary, moderate people who do not favour extremism or violence, and only want their society to thrive – were saying nothing. But in Pakistan, that is no longer good enough. Silence kills.
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Daily Times, January 06, 2011
EDITORIAL: THE COURAGE OF TASEER
Pakistan was still reeling from the shock of Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer’s assassination when his murderer, Mumtaz Qadri, revealed that he had informed his colleagues about the murder plot. Qadri said that he had asked them to let him finish his ‘job’ and then arrest him alive. An FIR against Qadri was lodged by the governor’s son, Mr Shehryar Taseer, wherein it was stated that some political and religious groups were giving threats to the governor and should be held responsible for his murder. A one day remand of Qadri has been granted. There are speculations that more than one magazine of bullets were fired on Governor Taseer. The post-mortem report is not being made public for the time being due to investigative concerns. It seems that the security staff was complicit in Mr Taseer’s murder, which is why there was no response from any one of them. The implications of such a huge security lapse are grave. How could no one possibly find out about Qadri’s plan to assassinate a sitting governor is something hard to digest. The security for a VVIP has to be vetted first by the authorities. If a lunatic like Qadri was allowed to ‘guard’ Governor Taseer, there must be deeper reasons behind it. Qadri might have been a lone assassin but the investigation must find out who masterminded this plan. We of course have no dearth of religious zealots. There are reports that some other liberal, enlightened people are next on the hit-list of these bigots. This means that there is a wider conspiracy afoot and unless Qadri is meted out the punishment that is due under the law, and that too quickly, this murderous trend of issuing senseless edicts and subsequent assassinations would continue. A deterrent message is necessary to curb further threats to the lives of liberal Muslims in our narrow-minded society.
Punjab Governor Taseer had been condemned by the right-wingers since the day he met a Christian woman charged with alleged blasphemy, Aasia Bibi, in jail. Aasia Bibi had been given the death penalty by a lower court. Mr Taseer wanted President Zardari to grant her a pardon on humanitarian grounds. He also asked for the Blasphemy Law to be amended or repealed. The mullahs bayed for his blood after that and issued fatwas against him, declaring him wajib-ul-qatl (worthy of murder). Governor Taseer argued that the law was misused and not only affected the minorities but many Muslims too were implicated on false charges under this flawed law. Religious scholars like Ghamdi are of the view that the blasphemy law is a man-made law and can be amended. Death threats did not deter Governor Taseer, who vowed to fight bigotry even if, as he put it himself, he were “the last man standing†. Even in death, the mullah brigade did not leave Mr Taseer alone. The Jamaate Ahle Sunnat Pakistan (JASP) not only praised Mr Taseer’s murderer but also issued a statement that said, “No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salmaan Taseer or even express any kind of regret or sympathy over the incident.†If this is not uncivilised behaviour, then what is? Islam does not condone murdering innocent people and to use the religion card in this derogatory way as JASP has done is not just disgusting but completely contradictory to the teachings of our Prophet (PBUH).
Some sections of the media too were complicit in inciting hate against Governor Taseer. They virtually asked for some sort of reprisal against him, which is the height of irresponsibility. Even after Mr Taseer’s death, some television channels and print media tried to justify his assassination. Governor Salmaan Taseer’s was a voice of reason and sanity. When our media and right-wing parties stoop to such levels and most people just sit idly and watch silently, it points to our collective failure as a society. Mr Taseer was a man of valour and great courage. He stood up for the rights of the oppressed when no one else would. We should not dishonour his sacrifice. We must all condemn the killer and the barbarians who are out to mute the liberal, progressive voices of Pakistan.
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The News International
Editorial
THE MURDER OF SALMAAN TASEER
January 05, 2011
The governor of Punjab died as he had lived: controversially. In the hours after his death, police officials continued to insist that the possible motives needed to be assessed. But most people had already reached what was the only obvious conclusion – the remarks Salmaan Taseer had made a few weeks ago on the blasphemy laws and on the need to amend them were enough for someone to kill him. While Taseer may have angered or annoyed people, while his sometimes bombastic manner may have been irritable, there can be no doubt that he was a courageous man, willing to speak out on issues that few choose to address due to the growing fear forced on us by religious extremists.
It appears, at least at these initial stages, that the member of the Punjab Elite Force who shot him formed a part of a growing army of extremism. His act seemed to be a carefully planned one, with fire initially opened on the governor’s vehicle and the victim then shot in the chest as he, perhaps unwisely, stepped out. The shooting is evidence that it is not necessary for extremists to be in the garb of the Taliban, with their beards and turbans. They exist everywhere and come in all forms. And even those in the police may form a part of their ranks. The incident means several things. On many issues we have for years, indeed decades, been reluctant to speak our thoughts. Some taboos have only now begun to lift. The killing of the governor by a member of his own security team could mean that even fewer will speak out on such issues. Those who have already done so – Sherry Rehman comes to mind – run a risk of falling victim to bullets. The situation is awful. Taseer’s death highlights just how grim it is, and how difficult it will be to change our country for the better. The challenges are already immense. They grow greater by the day. We have already lost our right to express opinion freely. Extremism holds us in a vice. Will we ever be able to break free? That is the question we must ask before more bodies fall on our roads, staining them with blood that will perhaps never be fully washed away.
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Los Angeles Times
THE REAL BLASPHEMY
Pakistan’s law not only threatens people like Asia Bibi, it strengthens radicals and the Taliban.
by Saroop Ijaz
January 5, 2011
In June 2009 in Punjab, Pakistan, Asia Bibi, a mother of five and a farmhand, was asked to fetch water. She complied, but some of her Muslim co-workers refused to drink the water, as Bibi is a Christian and considered "unclean" by them. Arguments ensued, resulting in some co-workers complaining to a local cleric’s wife that Bibi had made derogatory comments about the prophet Muhammad. A mob reportedly stormed her house, assaulting Bibi and her family.
However, the police initiated an investigation of Bibi, not her attackers. She was arrested and prosecuted for blasphemy, under Section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code. She spent more than a year in jail. On Nov. 8, she was sentenced to death by hanging; she has since filed an appeal.
There is a need for broad legal and social reforms in Pakistan, and it can start with the repeal of this law. But the assassination Monday of Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, by one of his official security guards shows how difficult that will be. The alleged assailant reportedly gave a statement after his arrest expressing no remorse as he was ostensibly "protecting Allah’s religion." Taseer was perhaps Pakistan’s most brave, vocal and liberal statesman. He had met with Bibi in prison and subsequently lent his support to the campaign calling for the repeal of the blasphemy law.
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Section 295C was introduced into the Pakistani legal system in the 1980s by the military dictator Gen. Zia ul-Haq as part of his broader effort to Islamize laws in Pakistan. It stipulates that "derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet … either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly … shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."
Bibi is far from the first person from a minority community in Pakistan to be sentenced to death for blasphemy. Although no person has yet been executed under the blasphemy law, at least 32 people have been killed while awaiting trial or after they have been acquitted of blasphemy charges. In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra, Punjab. At least seven Christians were burned alive. The attacks were triggered by reports of desecration of the Koran. The local police had already registered a case under Section 295C against three Christians for blasphemy. Hence a conviction or even an accusation under this law is often a death sentence.
The blasphemy provisions were an important component of a social engineering campaign devised and implemented by Zia during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. The ostensible objective was to Islamize the Pakistani state. But the goal was also to tailor the social and legal system of the country to aid the mujahedin (loosely, the contemporary Pakistani Taliban) by making them appear to be indigenous freedom fighters.
The infamous discriminatory Hudood Ordinance, supposedly based on the Koran, was put into effect. It sought to charge women who were raped with adultery if they could not bring forth four pious male Muslims who were witnesses to the rape. Zia also undemocratically amended the constitution to implement Sharia, or Islamic law. The school curriculum was modified to make it more Islamic. Female television anchors were ordered to cover their heads on the air; heavy censorship was exercised on the print and electronic media to safeguard the glory of Islam.
But it is not only Pakistan that has been adversely affected.
Zia’s Islamization efforts played a significant role in today’s global war on terrorism because of his social engineering, aimed to deliberately introduce ethno-centrism and intolerance into the moral fabric of Pakistani society. This, in turn, aided in the rise of the Taliban in the region, particularly the Pakistani Taliban.
It is almost an accepted fact now that the war on terrorism, both globally and in Pakistan, cannot be won by military might alone. Stopping Al Qaeda is still important, but the Taliban has become the top priority. We must isolate the Taliban, and not only geographically. It must also be stripped of all moral authority and public sympathy. That is hard to achieve with provisions like the blasphemy law in place. Institutionalized biases influence human behavior.
Legal and social reforms in Pakistan are imperative not only to save many like Asia Bibi but to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to the growing threat of extremism inside and outside Pakistan.
Pakistan and its democracy are in a state of ethical and political uncertainty, and the coalition government is too fragile to address the crisis without internal and external help. A tolerant and secular Pakistan is crucial for eradication of global Islamic fundamentalism. And the international community is well placed to demand change, given Pakistan’s extraordinary reliance on foreign support.
Bibi needs to be saved, and the laws perpetuating these barbaric practices need to be repealed.
Saroop Ijaz is a lawyer and human rights activist based in Lahore, Pakistan.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
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Mail Today, 7 January 2011
SIGN OF A STATE CAPITULATING TO EXTREMISM
by Najam Sethi
The killing of Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab, could be a watershed in Pakistan. The modern nation- state is crumbling in the face of a severe onslaught by extremist religious ideology and passions. The tragedy is that some elements of the state are co- sponsors while others are hopeless accessories after the fact. Consider.
Taseer opined that the blasphemy law should be amended to ensure that mischief mongers could not exploit it for mundane ends. He wasn’t alone in advocating this line of action. Indeed, quite apart from the moderate silent majority, even the most rigid mainstream defenders of the blasphemy law admit that procedural changes can improve its efficacy and fairness. But the media and mullahs distorted the picture and painted him as an apostate. The mullahs put out head money on him, the media frenetically drummed it up and the state stood by and condoned it all.
Taseer was moved by the plight of Aasia Bibi, a poor Christian, who had been awarded the death sentence by a court for blaspheming against the Holy Prophet ( PBUH). On the basis of the facts placed before him, he sincerely felt there had been a miscarriage of justice, a fairly frequent occurrence in such passionately charged cases. While her appeal was pending before the High Court, he moved the President of Pakistan to commute her death sentence, which he is entitled to do under law. But, under pressure from religious extremists, the high court put a spoke in the wheels of the government by signaling its displeasure at any attempt to invoke the pardon clause in favour of Aasia Bibi. As the media drummed up the chorus of extremist voices arrayed against the Governor, the President balked and the Prime Minister retreated shamelessly: “ This is the Governor’s personal point of view, I am a Syed, my government has no intention to dilute the blasphemy law†, he declared self- righteously. Isolated and condemned, Taseer became a sitting duck for the extremists.
MUMTAZ Qadri, the killer, brazenly manoeuvred with police officials to become part of Taseer’s security detail on the fated day, despite a forceful note on file by the Regional Police Officer in 2008 that he should be removed from VIP security duty because of his extremist religious views. He took his commando colleagues into confidence so that they stood by passively as he pumped 26 bullets into his target. There has not been a more outrageous lapse on the part of the police than this in Pakistan’s history.
The political parties showed their pathetic colours after the assassination.
Not a single politician from the ruling party or opposition had the guts to unequivocally condemn the killing.
Indeed, the PPP turned the state tragedy into a political conspiracy against the party and democracy. The opposition that is routinely given to thundering against real and imagined excesses was conspicuous by its fearful silence, barely managing to mutter about the “ unfortunate†incident. It was left to a group of Islamabad lawyers — part of the famed “ lawyers movement†— to shower rose petals on the murderer when he was brought to a court to be remanded to the police. Civil society — that wonderful term denoting the conscience of society — could muster only a couple of hundred protestors the day after in contrast to the thousands of internet users who declared Qadri a hero on Facebook! The police, political parties, parliaments, the bar and bench have all succumbed to the wave of religious extremism threatening to engulf Pakistan. The terrorists are few but the extremists are many in our midst which is a recipe for more terrorism, not less. The state is supposed to have an anti- terrorist policy practiced by the security agencies but there is no sign of any anti- extremism policy articulated by the government. Our textbooks and media are awash with extremist notions and ideas.
Our parliaments are spilling over with primitive mindsets.
A NY PERSON can now stand up and take the law into his own hands on the basis of his religious belief and passion, making mockery of the state’s claim that, let alone an individual, even religious parties or groups cannot wage jihad without the state’s consent or sanction.
The most frightening part of this episode is the way in which the forces of religious extremism were whipped into frenzy by certain banned jihadi lashkars and organisations which are alleged to retain strong strategic links with the ubiquitous “ agencies†of the state. No less ominous is the banding together of the Barelvis, who represent the majority soft version of Islam, with the Ahle- Hadith and Deobandi strains, to create a wave of religious resistance to integration and modernisation. It is as though a sinister message is being signaled to all and sundry at home and abroad — democracy doesn’t work, mainstream parties are a curse we cannot afford, religious ideology is the fountain of Pakistani rejuvenation and all those who disagree can shape up or be shipped out to burial at sea.
We reap what we sow. The human tragedy that is in the offing for democrats and moderates will be nothing compared to the collapse of the economy and the misery of tens of millions of the silent majority that lies in store if extremist ideology and religious passion seize control of Pakistan. Mark our words — the Pakistan army, which claims to be a saviour of the last resort, will be the first to bear the brunt of the coming onslaught and pay the highest price.
The writer is editor of The Friday Times
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(xv) HRCP CONDEMNS PUNJAB GOVERNOR’S ASSASSINATION
Date: 04 January 2011
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, expressing grief and alarm at his murder and calling it a manifestation of growing intolerance in society.
Lahore, January 4: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, expressing grief and alarm at his murder and calling it a manifestation of growing intolerance in society.
A statement issued by the Commission on Tuesday said: “HRCP is saddened by the murder of the governor, which must be condemned by all sane people, and is alarmed at the ever growing shadow of intolerance and violence in society. A thorough inquiry to establish the motives of the killer must be held so that people do not jump to conclusions. It would be exceedingly unfortunate if it turns out that the governor’s call for sanity following the death sentence of Asia Bibi’s on charges of blasphemy or differences with political opponents in any way led to his assassination. The fact that the killer was a policeman is a matter of acute concern and shows the extent to which the services have been infected by intolerance.â€
Dr Mehdi Hasan
Chairperson
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CONTACT: Brenda Bowser Soder, Human Rights First
C: 646-897-6372, W: 202-370-3323 | bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org
HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST STATEMENT ON MURDER OF PAKISTANI GOVERNOR SALMAN TASEER
For Immediate Release: January 4, 2011
Washington, DC – Today, following news that Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab, Pakistan and a member of the nation’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party, was allegedly murdered by a member of his security team as a result of his opposition to blasphemy laws, Human Rights First’s Tad Stahnke issued the following statement:
“The murder of Governor Salman Taseer is the most recent illustration of how deadly the debate over blasphemy laws has become. After speaking out against the proposed death sentence of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy, Taseer was allegedly killed by one of his guards.
“Despite the demands of religious extremists, Pakistan’s government should make clear their commitment to amend laws that promote religious intolerance and perpetuate prejudice. Officials should also punish the person responsible for this disturbing crime to send a clear signal that such acts will not be tolerated.
“As illustrated by the recent vote in the General Assembly, the world community is increasingly rejecting the concept of a global blasphemy law and will have an opportunity to vote against that concept once again in March when the Human Rights Council convenes.â€
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PRESS RELEASE
PILER and PPC Condemn Salman Taseer’s Murder; Call for Arrest of Individuals Issuing Fatwas Against Taseer, Rehman and Asia Bibi;
Demand Separation of State from Religion; Call for Amendments
in Blasphemy Laws, disbanding of Federal Shariat Court and Handing Over
National Security and Foreign Policy to Civilian Government
Karachi, Jan 05, 2011: The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and the Pakistan Peace Coalition have condemned the brutal murder of Governor Punjab Salman Taseer, terming it a wake-up call for the society to the alarming threat of religious fanaticism that is eating the roots of the country.
In a statement issued on Monday, PILER and the PPC said that Salman Taseer’s tragic murder at the hands of his own security guard to avenge his bold stand on the Blasphemy Laws is not a single-day development. There is a history to it and unfortunately, there is a huge direct and indirect contribution by the state, non state forces, civil society, media, and political parties in promoting this monster and ignoring the repercussions of its creation.
The state’s official and unofficial policy of projecting religious fanaticism as a means of crafting a national identity and also preparing an army of civilian forces to counter perceived threat from India and the West has led us to a point where our own citizens are dying at the hands of extremist everyday.
PILER and PPC condemned that over the years, the state has played with religion as a policy tool. Both the military-led governments and the civilian governments have actively or indirectly promoted religion as an instrument to prolong their rule, sometimes pursuing it as a state policy and at other times bowing down under the pressure of the religious forces to follow anti-human rights provisions.
The current government demonstrated an extremely cowardly behaviour last week when they pleaded the religious parties to call off their bogus strike against amendments in the blasphemy law. In its bid to appease the non-elected and undemocratic religious lobby, the Gillani Government even went to the extent of disowning a bill by its own Party member for amendments in the black laws addressing the blasphemy issue.
PILER and PPC demanded that those who issued death edicts against Salman Taseer, MNA Sherry Rehman and Asia Bibi must be immediately arrested and tried for harming the life of Pakistan’s citizens. It is the test of the independent judiciary to pursue action against these fatwa-issuing individuals and organisations; it is a serious attempt to create a parallel justice system. The government also needs to enact a law to ban the issuance of edict by the religious lobby.
PILER and PPC stated that the Federal Shariat Court, addition of Sections 295-B and 295-C in the Blasphemy Laws (prescribing strict punishment for ’insulting’ the Holy Quran and using ’derogatory’ remarks about the Holy Prophet, allowing shameless abuse of these provision), the declaration of Ahmedis as non-Muslims, the insertion of religious section in the passport form, and the curriculum that breeds bigotry and fanaticism are all a result of state’s blatant abuse of religion to promote its own goals. Not only has it negatively influenced our culture, it has also foiled all efforts to promote equal distribution of resources for an equitable society. It is the same Federal Shariat Court that reversed the principle of equitable sharing of natural resources by all, overturning the Land Reforms undertaken by the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Govermment in 1972, in the infamous Farooq Leghari case.
PILER and PPC noted that a section of the religious lobby has hailed the late Governor’s murder and warned people against attending his funeral; this is shameful and inhuman.
PILER and PPC urged civil society, media, political parties and the government to recognise religious extremism as a serious threat and take up fight against it as the single biggest agenda. The state of basic rights including right to live is in danger if we move on with life as usual after Mr Taseer’s tragedy. The unofficial license granted to the extremists to hold the nation hostage to their definition of morality means the lives of each one of us is in danger at the hands of these self-appointed guardians of religion.
PILER and PPC also stated that there is need to hand over the foreign and the national security policies back to the civilian government. In all democracies, these policies are pursued by the elected government and not by the un-elected and unaccountable military establishment, as is the case in Pakistan. All efforts to clamp down on religious extremism will fail if the military, as an independent entity, continues to breed and nurture extremist forces. This policy is creating enemies against Pakistan’s own citizens. The government must demonstrate responsibility towards protecting the rights and the wellbeing of the people of Pakistan, who pay taxes and work hard to run the country.
PILER and PPC also called for the government to revamp the education curriculum basing it on more tolerant lines, withdrawal of state support to religious institutions and structures and bringing them under state regulation, amendments in the blasphemy laws, disbanding of Federal Shariat Court and separating state from religion at all levels.
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MY FATHER’S MURDER MUST NOT SILENCE THE VOICES OF REASON IN PAKISTAN
There is a real danger that extremists could triumph if good people do not continue to speak out
by Shehrbano Taseer
I can’t help but roll my eyes when I’m informed I must keep a guard with me at all times now. After my father, Salmaan Taseer, was assassinated by his own security guard on 4 January – my brother Shehryar’s 25th birthday – does it even matter? If the governor of Pakistan’s largest province can be shot dead by a policeman assigned to protect him in broad daylight in a market in the federal capital, Islamabad, is anyone really safe?
It was after lunch that I started receiving one message after another from friends inquiring about my father. I rang him. No answer. I called his chauffeur in Islamabad. He was wailing and incoherent. I told him to calm down and tell me everything. The governor had been about to step into the car after lunch at his favourite local cafe, he said. He had been shot in the back. There was a lot of blood, he said. I told him everything would be fine: my father was a fighter and he would make it.
According to the postmortem report I read, they recovered 27 bullets from his body, which means the gunman actually reloaded his weapon so nothing would be left to chance. Each one of my father’s vital organs was punctured by the hail of bullets, except his heart and larynx – his mighty, compassionate heart and his husky, sensible voice.
The assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, had reportedly asked others in the governor’s temporary security detail to take him alive. Almost a dozen, including security personnel, are now under arrest. Speaking to camera crews the same day from jail, 26-year-old Qadri said he had killed my father because he had criticised the country’s draconian and often misused blasphemy laws. It seems that Qadri was also inspired by the rally against my father on 31 December, at which rabid protesters demanded his blood. Yet no arrests were made over this brazen incitement to murder.
The blasphemy laws were foisted on Pakistan by Islamist dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s. As an intellectual firebrand of the Pakistan People’s Party, my father endured jail and torture during that dictatorship. We had thought the nightmare and brutality of the Zia regime was over when the general’s aircraft fell out of the skies in 1988. We were so wrong.
Some 200 lawyers – men of the law – garlanded Qadri and showered him with pink rose petals on both his days in court. The president of the lawyers’ wing of the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was reportedly among them. The smiling assassin has become the poster boy for the unholy ambitions of the self-deluded. Lawyers who fought for an independent judiciary are standing in support of a self-confessed murderer. This is not the Pakistan for which my grandfather, MD Taseer, fought alongside founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
The inability of the state to prosecute terrorists successfully is proving fatal for Pakistan. The country’s antiterrorism courts, where Qadri was presented, have a sorry record on convictions, and have been clogged by non-terrorism cases. The state is unable to gather evidence properly, make a cohesive case and ensure the safety of those who provide evidence against the militants. It is a different matter when it comes to trying poor, underprivileged Pakistanis – Muslims and non-Muslims alike – accused of blasphemy. Under pressure from the mobs outside, Pakistan’s lower-level courts convict quickly, but these convictions are almost always overturned by the higher judiciary, although the accused (and in some cases the judges) are then killed by vigilantes.
My father was buried in Lahore on 5 January under high security. Cleric after cleric refused to lead his funeral prayers – as they had those of the sufi saint Bulleh Shah – and militants warned mourners to attend at their own peril. But thousands came to Governor House on that bitterly cold morning to pay their respects. Thousands more led candle-lit vigils across the country. But the battle is not going to be over any time soon.
In Pakistan, the voices calling for reason and tolerance are in danger of being wiped out. The fear is palpable. The militants have issued a warning against further vigils for my father. Yesterday, a rally in support of the blasphemy laws was held in Karachi, at which mullahs incited violence against former information minister Sherry Rehman – my mother’s close friend, and the brave woman I was named after – who tabled a bill in the National Assembly in November proposing blasphemy-law amendments. The politician and former cricketer, Imran Khan, and former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain – both conservatives – have also come out in support of my father’s position: amending the blasphemy laws to prevent their misuse. The ruling party – my father’s party – continues to equivocate.
My father’s assassination was a hate crime fuelled by jihadist fervour, abetted by some irresponsible sections of the media and sanctified by some political actors. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. The loss of one good man must not deter others. Pakistan’s very future depends on it.
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EXTREMIST INTIMIDATION CHILLS PAKISTAN SECULAR SOCIETY
by Julie McCarthy (National Public Radio) - January 24, 2011
