THE INCREASING radicalisation of Pakistani society was yesterday laid bare when mainstream religious organisations applauded the murder of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, and his killer was showered with rose petals as he appeared in court.
Mr Taseer was buried in his home town of Lahore. The 66-year-old was assassinated on Tuesday by Mumtaz Qadri, one of his police bodyguards, after he had campaigned for reform of the law on blasphemy.
Qadri appeared in court, unrepentant, where waiting lawyers threw handfuls of rose petals over him and others in the crowd slapped his back and kissed his cheek as he was led in and out amid heavy security.
Several internet sites had already been hosting fan pages for Qadri, with one Facebook page attracting more than 2,000 followers before being taken down. In northwest Pakistan there were small demonstrations in support of the killer.
While terrorist acts are generally associated with an extremist fringe, the gunning down of Mr Taseer appeared to have significant support that reached into the heart of society. All the big mainstream political parties strongly condemned the murder, and thousands attended funeral prayers for Mr Taseer. However, both the large religious political parties said he deserved to be killed.
Reports suggested that Qadri (26) was a known radical in the police service who had previously been declared by his superiors to be unfit for guarding VIPs. He told interrogators he was proud to have killed a blasphemer.
Reports also said Qadri, part of Mr Taseer’s security force, had tipped off other guards about his plan to kill the Punjab governor. The other bodyguards did not seem to react as Qadri fired a full clip of bullets into Mr Taseer in a market in central Islamabad and then laid down his weapon.
It is thought that more than a dozen police officers were taken into custody following the murder.
Mr Taseer’s ruling Pakistan People’s party suggested that a “wider conspiracy” was behind the killing, while the issue also became an ugly party political spat.
Mr Taseer’s job was a ceremonial position representing the president, the head of the PPP, Asif Zardari, but the provincial government is run by the administration of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, which was blamed for providing the governor with poor security.
Mr Taseer had used his position to warn about the “Talibanisation” of Punjab province, saying last year: “The Sharifs are creating a potential bomb here in Punjab.”
His call for the widely abused blasphemy law to be reformed or abolished was so incendiary that it united rival Islamic schools of thought – the moderate Barelvi sect and the pro-Taliban Deobandis – against any change.
The issue was sparked by Mr Taseer’s championing of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy late last year. The statute, meant to protect Islam and the prophet Muhammad from “insult”, is used to convict dozens of people each year.
“Salman Taseer was himself responsible for his killing,” Munawar Hasan, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the two religious political parties, said. “Any Muslim worth the name could not tolerate blasphemy of the Prophet, as had been proved by this incident.” – (Guardian service)