A Christian politician in Pakistan has been assassinated in Islamabad, following recent threats from extremists after his outspoken opposition to the country’s notorious blasphemy law. Reports state that his car was sprayed with bullets as he travelled to work through a residential area of the capital.
Shahbaz Bhatti was the Pakistan Government’s Minorities Minister and had already said that he would be willing to die for the rights of Christians and other persecuted minorities in Pakistan rather than compromise his strongly held beliefs.
The murder of Mr. Bhatti follows the assassination of another high profile campaigner against Pakistan’s blasphemy law, Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, who was shot dead by one of his bodyguards at the beginning of this year.
Many believe that the blasphemy law, which forbids comments against Islam, is being used to unfairly persecute Christians, often in unrelated disputes. There are fears that the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti has extinguished any hope of the blasphemy law being repealed in the near future. There is also great concern following Mr. Bhatti’s death for the safety of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death under the blasphemy law in November last year and who currently remains imprisoned. There have been widespread appeals for her release, but so far to no effect.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, himself a native of Pakistan, released a statement yesterday saying:
“I am horrified to learn of the murder of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti, the Minister for Minority Affairs in Pakistan, and the only Christian in the Cabinet. I knew him well and saw him last December when I visited Islamabad.
“This is yet another instance of the Talibanisation of the country. Within two months two leading figures in the secular-minded Government have been killed (the Governor of the Punjab, Salman Taseer, was killed a few weeks ago). Extremists are now operating with impunity in every part of the country.
“The constant teaching of hate in the text books, in sermons and devotionals in radicaslised mosques and madrassas and on the streets is the background to this situation. Moderate Muslim opinion has been cowed by the ever-present threat of violence and the non-Muslim communities are helpless in the face of unwillingness by the Government and the army to really tackle extremism.
“The Christian community, which has contributed out of all proportion to its numbers, in the fields of health and education, is feeling very insecure. It is already excluded from much of public life and there is discrimination in education and employment - leading to unemployment or being forced to take jobs no one else wants.
“The immediate task must be to protect Christians and churches from attack by those who have murdered Mr Bhatti but, ultimately, the answer lies in tackling the gun-culture which has grown up around extremist movements and putting an end to their activities. Only the armed forces are capable of doing this but have they the will to do it? We shall have to see.
“The answer also lies in revising text books, reforming madrassas and regulating mosques so that people are not continually being drip-fed with extremist ideology and the conflict it creates in cities, towns and villages”.
Pakistani Christians will hope that Shahbaz Bhatti’s death will act as the grain of wheat whose death will end up bearing much fruit.
Source
BBC: Pakistan Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti shot dead [2]