Grief-stricken Pakistani Christians bury slain cabinet minister
Shouting “death for killers”, thousands of Pakistanis on Friday buried Shahbaz Bhatti, the country’s only Christian government minister who was killed by Pakistani Taliban for challenging a law that stipulates death for insulting Islam. His assassination on Wednesday was the latest sign violent religious conservatism is becoming more mainstream in Pakistan, a trend which could further destabilise the nuclear-armed U.S. ally.
Bhatti, a Catholic, was the second senior official to be assassinated this year for opposing the blasphemy law. Provincial governor Salman Taseer was shot dead in January by one of his bodyguards.
“The message of Shahbaz Bhatti is to purge Pakistan of killers and hatred,” Reverend Father Emmanuel Pervez told thousands of men and women gathered in Bhatti’s village in central Pakistan for mass prayers. “We will not accept oppression … Bhatti’s message is that we should not let Pakistan be defamed.”
In a sign of mourning, black flags fluttered atop houses in Khushpur, Bhatti’s mainly Christian home village, 290 km (180 miles) south of Islamabad. Around 5,000 men, women and children thronged the village cemetery for the burial.
“These terrorists must be hanged publicly to stop them from committing such brutal crimes,” Hina Gill, a member of the Christian Minority Alliance said. “These terrorists are wearing the mask of religion to defame religion.”
“Bhatti, your blood will bring revolution,” some mourners shouted, raising their hands in the air as his body was taken to the burial site in an ambulance.
Not only Christians mourned Bhatti. “Shahbaz Bhatti has tried hard to promote interfaith harmony but those who want to destabilise Pakistan have killed him,” said Badruddin Chaudhry, a Muslim attending the funeral. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani attended a church service for Bhatti in the capital Islamabad on Friday. “All the minorities have lost a great leader,” Gilani said in the church. “I assure you, we will try our utmost to bring the culprits to justice.”
Pakistan media warn of growing chaos after Christian minister slain
Pakistan is being swept towards violent chaos by a growing wave of Islamist extremism, the country’s newspapers said a day after Taliban militants killed the country’s only Christian government minister. The assassination of Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti in broad daylight in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday threatens to further destabilise the nuclear-armed U.S. ally where secular-minded politicians are imperiled by a rising strain of violent religious conservatism in the society.
“Mr. Bhatti’s brutal assassination has once again highlighted the fact that we are fast turning into a violent society,” the liberal Daily Times said in its editorial. “This is not the time to be frightened into silence. It is time to implement the law and not surrender in front of extremists.”
Bhatti is the second senior official to be assassinated this year for challenging the country’s controversial blasphemy law, which sanctions the death penalty for insulting Islam or its Prophet Mohammad. Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own bodyguard in January for calling for curbing abuses in the law.
“Terrorists silence another voice of interfaith harmony,” the daily Dawn ran a banner headline on its front page. “Shahbaz Bhatti silenced forever,” said The News.
Condemnation poured in from around the world after news of Bhatti’s killing broke, with the Church of England and the Vatican decrying the violence against Christians in Pakistan. “I hope the government of Pakistan will not only hold the killers to account, but reflect on how it can more effectively confront the extremism which is poisoning Pakistani society,” United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said from Geneva on Wednesday. Read the full story here.
Pakistan must not buckle to extremism, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday. Zardari, head of a government many Pakistanis hold in little regard, said Bhatti’s killing was the result of a “negative mindset and intolerance” that had led to the killing of Punjab province governor Salman Taseer in January.
“We have to fight this mindset and defeat them. We will not be intimidated nor will we retreat,” the official APP news agency quoted Zardari as saying. “Such acts will not deter the government from eliminating extremism and terrorism. Shahbaz fell victim to the negative mindset and intolerance that also took the lives of… Benazir Bhutto and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.” Former prime minister Bhutto, who was Zardari’s wife, was killed by militants in 2007. Read the full story here.
Media appeared on the wizard of society as a sole competitor. With the opening of a chapter of media freedom in Pakistan it was restrained by a dictator but after the restoration of democracy and freedom of speech the media mammoth got a quantum speed. It was a better move but unfortunately Pakistan media failed to set priorities to reshape the society that was split in many school of thoughts. Lack of media ethics and code and conduct also played a vital role in betrayal of media.
After setting its hegemony a specific section of media assumed the leading role which ultimately took the shape of king maker. Devoid of ethics and boundaries media mongers with incorporated interests added fuel into already religion, cast, creed and faith based divided society. It played a critical role in inciting violence against certain schools of thoughts by promoting extremism and dogmatism. The backdoor meetings of some media pundits with extremist elements very much substantiate the mindset of media mongers in spreading violence. Whatever the objectivity of media was, it proved fatal for the already suffering society of Pakistan.
Factbox – Pakistan’s blasphemy law strikes fear in minorities
Pakistani Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had called for changes in the country’s controversial blasphemy law, was killed in a gun attack in Islamabad on Wednesday, officials said. The anti-blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since November when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death, in a case that has exposed deep rifts in the troubled Muslim nation of more than 170 million people.
While liberal Pakistanis and rights groups believe the law to be dangerously discriminatory against the country’s tiny minority groups, Asia Bibi’s case has become a lightning rod for the country’s religious right. In January, the governor of the most populous state of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was gunned down by one of his bodyguards angry about the governor’s stand.
Here some facts about the blasphemy law:
* The law has its roots in 19th century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the
military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
* Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty but activists say the vague terminology has led to its misuse. The law 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.”
* Christians who make up 4 percent of Pakistan’s population have been especially concerned about the law saying it offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and often these are linked to personal vendettas, they say.
Taliban say killed Christian Pakistani cabinet minister for blasphemy
Taliban militants on Wednesday shot dead Pakistan’s only Christian government minister for challenging a law that mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam, the latest sign of instability in a country where many fear radical Islam is becoming more mainstream. Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti is the second senior official this year to be assassinated for opposing the blasphemy law. Provincial governor Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own bodyguard in January.
These killings, along with frequent militant attacks and chronic economic problems have raised fears for the future of U.S.-ally and nuclear-armed Pakistan, where an unpopular coalition government is struggling to cope.
Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, was shot by men in shawls in broad daylight while he was travelling in a car near a market in the capital, Islamabad, police said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing, saying the minister had been “punished” for being a blasphemer.
Witnesses said the attackers scattered leaflets signed by “The Qaeda and the Taliban of Punjab” at the attack scene, which read: “This is the punishment of this cursed man.”
The blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since last November, when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death after her neighbors complained she had insulted Prophet Muhammad. 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.
Taseer’s killer was lionized by many in Pakistan, raising fears that mainstream society’s tolerance for secularists and moderates was being eroded by a more hardline version of Islam.
“This kind of attack was expected after the government’s response to Governor Taseer’s assassination,” said Amir Rana, director at the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. “Because of the government’s very weak response … it has encouraged the hardliners in society.” The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has repeatedly said it would not change the blasphemy law, and officials have distanced themselves from anyone calling for amendments.
NOW EVER ONE SHOULD KNOW THAT THERE IS A BULLET FOR THOSE WHO SAYS ABOUT THE ISLAM OR THE PROPHET WHICH THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO SAY!
Christian Pakistani minister shot dead in Islamabad ambush
Pakistani Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had called for changes in the country’s controversial blasphemy law, was killed in a gun attack in Islamabad on Wednesday, officials said. Police said the shooting took place near an Islamabad market. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, was the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet.
“The initial reports are that there were three men who attacked him. He was probably shot using a Kalashnikov, but we are trying to ascertain what exactly happened,” said Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani. A hospital spokesman said Bhatti had several bullet wounds.
The anti-blasphemy 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 presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was gunned down by one of his bodyguards.
Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say the vague terminology has led to its misuse.
Read the full story by Zeeshan Haider and Chris Allbritton here.
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Tunis march against Islamists, for harmony after Polish priest murdered
About 15,000 demonstrators have protested in Tunis against the country’s Islamist movement, calling for religious tolerance a day after the Interior Ministry announced a Polish Catholic priest had been murdered by an extremist group.
“We need to live together and be tolerant of each other’s views,” said Ridha Ghozzi, 34, who was among the protesters carrying signs and chanting slogans on Saturday including “Terrorism is not Tunisian” and “Religion is Personal”.
Tunisia’s Islamist movement has shown signs of organising since the overthrow of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who had surpressed them during his more than two decades of rule, and have pressured authorities to shut at least three brothels in recent weeks.
The Polish priest was murdered in the Tunisian capital on Friday, state media cited the Interior Ministry as saying, the latest sign of rising religious tension since last month’s revolution.
Fr. Marek Rybinski was found dead at the School of Our Lady in Manouba where he worked, Tunisia Africa Press reported. His throat had been cut. The school is run by the Salesian order of priests. The Polish section of the Salesians said on their website he was 34 years old and had worked in Tunisia since 2007. They also said the priests at the school had received a death threat in an anonymous letter on January 31.
“The Ministry of the Interior condemns this act and regrets the death. Based on results of the preliminary investigation, including the method of assassination, it believes a group of terrorist fascists with extremist tendencies was behind this crime,” the ministry said.
“These extremists are taking advantage of an exceptional situation to disturb national security and plunge our country into violence,” the ministry statement said. It did not say what form of extremism it suspected.
Musharraf says Pakistan’s blasphemy law cannot be changed
Former President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws could not be changed, but that the man who killed Punjab Province Governor Salman Taseer over his opposition to them must be punished.
Musharraf, who is planning to return to Pakistan to fight elections due by 2013, said blasphemy was an extremely sensitive issue for the people of Pakistan. “Therefore doing away with the blasphemy law is not at all possible and must not be done,” he told Reuters in an interview at his London home on Sunday.
Taseer was killed by his security guard this month after backing amendments to the blasphemy laws, which are often misused to settle personal scores. The man who confessed to killing him, Mumtaz Qadri, has been treated as a hero by some in Pakistan and religious parties have led demonstrations against any changes to the blasphemy laws.
Musharraf said that, rather than amend the laws, Pakistan needed to find ways to make sure they were not misused.
Read the full story here. For more recent Reuters coverage of the blasphemy issue in Pakistan, see:
Bishop’s murder in Turkey shocking and worrying
Journalists are supposed to be a pretty thick-skinned bunch, but it’s hard not to be shocked and saddened when you find out that one of your contacts has been murdered. That was the case for me when I heard that Bishop Luigi Padovese had been stabbed to death at his home in southern Turkey on Thursday. Although I never met him in person, we spoke several times over the phone about his efforts to reopen the church in Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul. Click here for that story.
Padovese was always courteous, helpful and positive about his difficult mission there. According to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) charity group, he finally won approval for regular religious services to be held in the Tarsus church recently. “He sounded so happy,” said ACN’s Projects Head for Asia-Africa Marie-Ange Siebrecht, who got a call from him less than two weeks ago. “Ever since the Year of St. Paul he had wanted to enable services to be held regularly at this important place of pilgrimage for the Church.”
Given the difficulties that religious minorities still face in Turkey, it was probably natural that some kind of nationalist or Islamist extremist was behind the murder. Both the Vatican and the local government quickly rejected that, saying the main suspect, Padovese’s driver, had been depressed and confused. “Political motivations for the attack, or other motivations linked to socio-political tensions, are to be excluded,” chief Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said on Vatican Radio.
Pope Benedict, who was due to meet the bishop during a visit to Cyprus that he began on Friday, quickly mentioned the next point of concern about the murder to journalists on his plane to the Mediterranean island: “What is certain is that is was not a religious or political assassination, it was a personal issue. We are still waiting for a full explanation of events, but we do not want this tragic situation to become mixed up with dialogue with Islam or with all of the problems of our journey. It is a separate issue, one that saddens us deeply, but one that should not in any way obscure dialogue in its widest sense.”
Here is our report on the murder from Thursday and Philip Pullella’s reporting from Cyprus on the pope’s comments.
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Cannes film follows French monks killed in Algeria
The unsolved murder of seven French monks in Algeria during the brutal civil conflict of the 1990s is recounted in “Of Gods and Men,” a sombre and reflective entry at the Cannes film festival.
The seven members of a Trappist order, who lived in a monastery in Tibehirine south of Algiers, disappeared in 1996 during a savage wave of killings by both Islamist militants and government forces. Only their severed heads were ever recovered and the exact circumstances in which they died are unclear.
Director Xavier Beauvois takes no side in the controversy over who to blame, focussing instead on the unhurried rhythms of life in the monastery and ending the film as they disappear with their captors up a snowy mountain path.
As the violence that pervades the country comes closer to their community, the monks are forced to choose whether to stay or leave and Beauvois shows clearly the fears and doubts they experience as they wrestle with their choice.
POLL: the right verdict in slain Kansas abortion doctor case?
A man accused of gunning down one of America’s few late-term abortion providers was found guilty of first-degree murder on Friday after he said he had to act to stop the doctor from performing more abortions. Give us your opinion in the online poll below.
The judge initially allowed Roeder’s defense team to argue for a voluntary manslaughter conviction by proving he had “an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force.”
But after Roeder openly admitted on the stand to shooting Dr. George Tiller to death with premeditation, the judge told the jury it could not consider that option.
Having reasons for murdering someone is not the same as having a defence for murder.
After all, people usually have a reason for murdering someone. Or they wouldn’t have wanted them dead in the first place.
Manslaughter implies an accident, or a temporary loss of sanity. He admits it was no accident, and admits it was premeditated. So the only real option is murder.
Still, at least his judgement will be humane. Which is more then he gave for the man he killed.
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