KARACHI – Salmaan Taseer’s assassination has sent shock waves across the country, particularly amongst circles that are backing the blasphemy law amendments which were tabled by former federal information minister Sherry Rehman.
Taseer’s death is a grim reminder of the stakes involved in opposing fundamentalism in Pakistan; civil liberties cannot be taken for granted in a country that is at war with its own self and is fighting multiple battles for survival. “I think his death is a clear signal to everyone that there will be no alternative views in Pakistan,” said Zebunnisa Burki, a lawyer.
“I also think this is a very sad day for the media. I strongly believe that the way the media handled the blasphemy case was unethical to say the very least; and Pakistan’s second favourite punching bag [Taseer] took it in a stride and continued to stand by his opinions. No matter where he stood politically, he always made it clear that he stood against religious extremism of any kind,” she added.
“It is ironic that both sides will have a shaheed, don’t you think,” according to ‘a retired blogger, a human being who just wants peace and quiet and economic prosperity’, adding, “The Pakistan People’s Party will call [Taseer] a shaheed; and the Mullah fundos will call the killed a shaheed if he is hanged. No one wins.” Abid Hussain, a journalist, told Pakistan Today, “When the educated lot in this country don’t realise the ramification of this dastardly incident, there is very little hope.”
He said that when regard for freedom of opinion, standing up for social justice, is non existent, this is what happens. “This calls for a bigger retaliation against the mullah brigade – the right-wingers. We need to stand up for humanity, not for murder in the name of god,” he added. “This is a great national tragedy has struck. We have lost the scion of a family that always defended liberal and progressive thoughts. He was a staunch liberal and advocate of minority rights,” journalist Malik Siraj Akbar said.
“Taseer was a man who wore several successful hats at the same time. He was an entrepreneur-turned-controversial-outspoken politician. He was killed by the same mentality which jeopardises the very integrity of this country,” he said. Others also expressed concern for the safety of Sherry Rehman. “The powers-that-be used a brainwashed fundamentalist to try and further their anti-democracy agendas,” a Karachi-based blogger said.
“But now that the ball has been set rolling, who is going to rein in this madness? Why do they continue to nurture monsters which come back to bite us? Who will protect Sherry Rehman?” Defence analyst Ikram Sehgal told Pakistan Today, “Seeing as how this was an inside job, Taseer’s security personnel should have been vetted more carefully,” adding, “Religious issues are sensitive. Take for example, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, to which this incident is being compared. She was killed by one of her Sikh guards soon after the Golden Temple issue.
He said that Taseer had also been very vocal about matters pertaining to religion; and whoever was responsible for his security should have made sure that the people around him were not influenced by these matters in the way the guard who killed him obviously was.” Sehgal said that Sherry Rehman has also been extremely vocal about the same issues as Taseer. “As such, she might be a potential target as well, and should also make sure that her security detail is vetted adequately,” he added.
While many on Twitter will miss Taseer’s principled stance on the way minorities are treated in Pakistan, and his witty takes on the society and polity of the country, Ambassador Hussain Haqqani says that he will particularly miss the governor’s “early morning phone calls starting with ‘Brother…'”. “He had clarity of thought rare in Pakistan politics,” Haqqani said. “Let all of us who oppose obscurantism speak out against fatwas and labels used by extremists in media and politics.”
