International
Pakistan’s federal minister for minorities assassinated
Pakistan’s federal minister for minorities assassinated
March 02, 2011 | 12:00 AM
AFP/Islamabad
Gunmen shot dead Pakistan’s only Christian government minister yesterday for challenging a law that mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam, the second top official killed this year over the blasphemy law.
The assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minorities, is the latest sign of deep political instability in the nuclear-armed US ally. Frequent militant attacks and chronic economic problems have raised fears for Pakistan’s future.
Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility for killing Bhatti, with a Taliban spokesman saying the minister was a blasphemer.
Bhatti was shot in broad daylight while travelling in a car near a market in the capital, Islamabad, police said.
"The attackers were wearing shawls and opened indiscriminate fire as they got close to the minister’s car,” Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani told reporters.
The windscreen of Bhatti’s car had four or five bullet holes and blood covered the back seat. A hospital spokesman said Bhatti, who had spoken out against the anti-blasphemy law, received several wounds.
The law has been in the spotlight since last November, when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death.
On Jan. 4, the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought a presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was killed by one of his bodyguards who had been angered by the governor’s stand.
Bhatti was travelling without security, having left two police escorts at home, Durrani said.
"There was no protection when he left the house,” the police chief said. "There was just a private driver with him. We don’t know about the minister’s thinking, but we had provided him two escorts because he was under threat.”
Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants, fighting to bring down the state, had called for Bhatti’s death because of his attempts to amend the law. A militant spokesman, Sajjad Mohmand, said they had killed him.
"He was a blasphemer like Salman Taseer,” Mohmand said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the killing and ordering the Ministry of Interior to investigate.
Last month, in an interview with the Christian Post, Bhatti said he had received threats.
"I received a call from the Taliban commander and he said, ‘If you will bring any changes in the blasphemy law and speak on this issue, then you will be killed’,” Bhatti told the newspaper.
"I don’t believe that bodyguards can save me after the assassination (of Salman Taseer). I believe in the protection from heaven.”
The January killing of Taseer was widely praised by hardline Islamist groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the country’s largest religious party.
But the party denounced Bhatti’s murder.
"We condemn this killing. This is a conspiracy and it may be an attempt to divert attention from the case of Raymond Davis,” senior JI leader Farid Paracha said.
Davis is an American CIA contractor on trial for killing two Pakistanis. The case has been taken up by religious parties which have called for Davis to be hanged.
Bhatti’s killing is likely to further deter any attempt to change the blasphemy law that mandates death for anyone who speaks ill of Prophet Muhammad.
Sherry Rehman, a former government minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, of which Bhatti was also a member, tried to change the law last year but the party leadership forced her to stop in the face of opposition.
Following Bhatti’s death up to 100 Christians rallied in the central city of Multan demanding those responsible be caught, chanting slogans condemning the killing, burning tyres and blocking a road, witnesses said.
One of the demonstrators, Barkat Masih, said: "We are here to say that this murder has been done with the conspiracy of government of Pakistan.
"They have martyred our great leader and the government is as much responsible as the killers themselves.”
After Taseer’s assassination, Bhatti had said: "I’m not talking about special security arrangements. We need to stand against these forces of terrorism because they’re terrorising the country.
"I cannot trust on security... I believe that protection can come only from heaven, so these bodyguards can’t save you.”
Meanwhile, The Vatican yesterday condemned as "unspeakable” the murder of a Catholic Pakistani government minister opposed to an Islamic blasphemy law, and called for an end to persecution of Christians.
The attack was a "new act of violence of a terrible gravity,” said papal spokesman Federico Lombardi after minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti was shot dead in broad daylight in a residential area of Islamabad earlier Wednesday.
"To our prayers for the victim, our condemnation of the act of unspeakable violence, our closeness to the Pakistani Christians subject to hate, we add an appeal concerning the dramatic urgency of the defense of religious freedom and of Christians who are suffering from violence and persecution,” he added.
In comments to reporters, Lombardi also stressed the need to defend religious freedom and end persecution of Christians in Pakistan.
The Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, condemned the murder and the impact it would have on Pakistan’s religious minorities.
"This further instance of sectarian bigotry and violence will increase anxiety worldwide about the security of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan,” they said in a statement.
Separately, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the murder of Bhatti was "absolutely brutal and unacceptable”.
"It was absolutely shocking news,” Cameron told the House of Commons after minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti became the second high-profile opponent of an Islamic blasphemy law to be killed in Islamabad.
Cameron said the minister’s murder was "absolutely brutal and unacceptable, and it shows what a huge problem we have in our world with intolerance”.
The US ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, condemned Bhatti’s death "in the strongest possible terms”.
Pakistan’s law against blaspheming Islam carries the death penalty. While no one has ever been sent to the gallows for the crime, activists say the law is abused in business or personal disputes.
The law has its roots in 19th Century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohamed Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
Liberal Pakistanis and rights groups believe the law to be dangerously discriminatory against tiny minority groups.
Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say the vague terminology isuse.
Christians who make up about 2% of the population have been especially concerned, saying the law offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and often these are linked to personal vendettas, critics say.
Security analyst Imtiaz Gul says the law was open to abuse by people settling scores.
"We would hope this forces the government or the parliament to take action,” he said. "They should somehow improve the blasphemy law.”
Convictions are common although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
| Shahbaz Bhatti: slain |
The assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minorities, is the latest sign of deep political instability in the nuclear-armed US ally. Frequent militant attacks and chronic economic problems have raised fears for Pakistan’s future.
Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility for killing Bhatti, with a Taliban spokesman saying the minister was a blasphemer.
Bhatti was shot in broad daylight while travelling in a car near a market in the capital, Islamabad, police said.
"The attackers were wearing shawls and opened indiscriminate fire as they got close to the minister’s car,” Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani told reporters.
| Supporters of Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minorities affairs, shout slogans during a protest against his assassination, in Lahore, yesterday |
The law has been in the spotlight since last November, when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death.
On Jan. 4, the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought a presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was killed by one of his bodyguards who had been angered by the governor’s stand.
Bhatti was travelling without security, having left two police escorts at home, Durrani said.
"There was no protection when he left the house,” the police chief said. "There was just a private driver with him. We don’t know about the minister’s thinking, but we had provided him two escorts because he was under threat.”
Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants, fighting to bring down the state, had called for Bhatti’s death because of his attempts to amend the law. A militant spokesman, Sajjad Mohmand, said they had killed him.
"He was a blasphemer like Salman Taseer,” Mohmand said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the killing and ordering the Ministry of Interior to investigate.
Last month, in an interview with the Christian Post, Bhatti said he had received threats.
"I received a call from the Taliban commander and he said, ‘If you will bring any changes in the blasphemy law and speak on this issue, then you will be killed’,” Bhatti told the newspaper.
"I don’t believe that bodyguards can save me after the assassination (of Salman Taseer). I believe in the protection from heaven.”
The January killing of Taseer was widely praised by hardline Islamist groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the country’s largest religious party.
But the party denounced Bhatti’s murder.
"We condemn this killing. This is a conspiracy and it may be an attempt to divert attention from the case of Raymond Davis,” senior JI leader Farid Paracha said.
Davis is an American CIA contractor on trial for killing two Pakistanis. The case has been taken up by religious parties which have called for Davis to be hanged.
Bhatti’s killing is likely to further deter any attempt to change the blasphemy law that mandates death for anyone who speaks ill of Prophet Muhammad.
Sherry Rehman, a former government minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, of which Bhatti was also a member, tried to change the law last year but the party leadership forced her to stop in the face of opposition.
Following Bhatti’s death up to 100 Christians rallied in the central city of Multan demanding those responsible be caught, chanting slogans condemning the killing, burning tyres and blocking a road, witnesses said.
One of the demonstrators, Barkat Masih, said: "We are here to say that this murder has been done with the conspiracy of government of Pakistan.
"They have martyred our great leader and the government is as much responsible as the killers themselves.”
After Taseer’s assassination, Bhatti had said: "I’m not talking about special security arrangements. We need to stand against these forces of terrorism because they’re terrorising the country.
"I cannot trust on security... I believe that protection can come only from heaven, so these bodyguards can’t save you.”
Meanwhile, The Vatican yesterday condemned as "unspeakable” the murder of a Catholic Pakistani government minister opposed to an Islamic blasphemy law, and called for an end to persecution of Christians.
The attack was a "new act of violence of a terrible gravity,” said papal spokesman Federico Lombardi after minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti was shot dead in broad daylight in a residential area of Islamabad earlier Wednesday.
"To our prayers for the victim, our condemnation of the act of unspeakable violence, our closeness to the Pakistani Christians subject to hate, we add an appeal concerning the dramatic urgency of the defense of religious freedom and of Christians who are suffering from violence and persecution,” he added.
In comments to reporters, Lombardi also stressed the need to defend religious freedom and end persecution of Christians in Pakistan.
The Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, condemned the murder and the impact it would have on Pakistan’s religious minorities.
"This further instance of sectarian bigotry and violence will increase anxiety worldwide about the security of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan,” they said in a statement.
Separately, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the murder of Bhatti was "absolutely brutal and unacceptable”.
"It was absolutely shocking news,” Cameron told the House of Commons after minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti became the second high-profile opponent of an Islamic blasphemy law to be killed in Islamabad.
Cameron said the minister’s murder was "absolutely brutal and unacceptable, and it shows what a huge problem we have in our world with intolerance”.
The US ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, condemned Bhatti’s death "in the strongest possible terms”.
Pakistan’s law against blaspheming Islam carries the death penalty. While no one has ever been sent to the gallows for the crime, activists say the law is abused in business or personal disputes.
The law has its roots in 19th Century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohamed Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
Liberal Pakistanis and rights groups believe the law to be dangerously discriminatory against tiny minority groups.
Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say the vague terminology isuse.
Christians who make up about 2% of the population have been especially concerned, saying the law offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and often these are linked to personal vendettas, critics say.
Security analyst Imtiaz Gul says the law was open to abuse by people settling scores.
"We would hope this forces the government or the parliament to take action,” he said. "They should somehow improve the blasphemy law.”
Convictions are common although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
March 02, 2011 | 12:00 AM