It was simply outrageous. The gruesome murder of Governor Salmaan Taseer has traumatised the nation already shaken by terrorism which has claimed thousands of innocent lives over the past decade. The slain Governor, brutally assassinated by his own bodyguard the other day, was regarded as a liberal voice publicly espousing his views against the excessive abuse of the Blasphemy Laws since they were incorporated into the Constitution by Zia. No Muslim can think of being disrespectful to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but then there is no moral justification for anyone to kill a fellow human being after declaring him guilty of an offence.
Thats what precisely happened to Salmaan Taseer. The fault he committed was that he went to meet a Christian woman, condemned to death by a trial court on charges of blasphemy, in jail, and sought presidential pardon for her on humanitarian grounds. It was in fact his media managers who incited the religious right by managing the live coverage of the event. Another mistake made by the slain governor was that he failed to elaborate what exactly he meant by expressing his reservations about the Blasphemy Laws: it was about removing the flaws that often result in implicating the innocent people on false charges. This line of reasoning is endorsed by religious scholars who believe that the Blasphemy Laws being man-made can be amended.
Mr Taseer was an ardent advocate of rational discourse in a society riddled with intolerance. Imbued with a sense of humour, he would come up with pithy statements in public in response to offensive onslaughts by his opponents. But you could find him genuinely concerned about the plight of the poor and the downtrodden. Thats what transpired in my two detailed interactions with him. The first took place after I wrote a column soon after the lifting of Governors Rule in the Punjab suggesting that he step down voluntarily for having given a free run to the terrorists to strike as and where they desired. It was in the context of a terror attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team and the subsequent storming of the Police Training Centre on the outskirts of Lahore in a months period that he was discharging his duties as chief executive of the province with his administration busy arm-twisting the political opponents to switch over to the PPP.
The Governor could answer every question I had raised. And he knew the art of articulating his point of view without getting impatient or losing his cool like fellow politicians who do it more often than not. He was right in that the dual scourge of terrorism and extremism cannot be eradicated overnight. But what actually perturbed him was the patronage being extended to such elements by top functionaries of the PML(N) government. What would you say about the government which has assigned the portfolio of Law and Parliamentary Affairs to the least literate of all the cabinet members? Rana Sanaullah was his pet aversion not because of his disconcerting demeanor or badmouthing but because of his links with extremist outfits and his illegal activities.
Mr Taseer also shared with me the contents of the letters he had been writing to the Punjab Chief Minister from time to time, which were not meant to give him offence but to guide him on matters of financial discipline. But my effort was not taken in a good stride, he emphasised. It reminded me of the late President Ghulam Ishaq Khan once telling a media team accompanying him on a foreign visit: Every time I give a piece of advice to Nawaz Sharif it is greeted by him by such remarks as Baba pagal ho giya hai (the old man has gone mad). The Governor then questioned the CMs claim of ensuring good governance to the people of Punjab. You cant say so when you are running the province on a huge overdraft which runs into billions. Only the sasti roti scheme had cost the provincial exchequer Rs 40 billion. In order to have good governance you first need to have governance, which is missing. And he knew that the Punjabs ruling leadership would not stop raking muck on him so long as he kept telling it to put its house in order.
Later when I met him after quitting a certain media group, he congratulated me on having extricated myself from the yoke of a so-called ideology that supports the elements perpetuating intolerance. Mr Taseer was opposed to the hackneyed approach that focused more on propounding the extremist views than learning the art of living in peace with others. He was outspoken to the extent of opposing indoctrination of flawed religious beliefs and lost his life while preaching tolerance. That moderate voice is no more but has left many to mourn it.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.