LAHORE – Leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) foresaw a political controversy behind the assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and called it a “political murder”, as the deceased was laid to rest at the Cavalry Grounds graveyard on Wednesday.
Leading the enraged onslaught, PPP Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz said the Punjab governor was killed for political reasons and his murder highlighted the failure of the provincial government. He said it was surprising that the constitutional head of the province was not provided screened security personnel. “The killing of Salmaan Taseer is not a religious, but a political murder. The PPP has a history of sacrifices and Taseer’s name has been added to the list of martyrs,” Riaz said.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that sectarian differences were being stoked in the country and people needed to shun extremist attitudes.
Malik said investigations into the killing would be carried out on merit. He said the government had repeatedly clarified its stance on various occasions that it had no intention to amend the blasphemy laws, adding that religion was being misused to unleash chaos across the country.
Malik said no amendments would be made in the blasphemy laws, but a law would be made to ensure that no extremist element made its way into the security forces in the future.
Law Minister Babar Awan said it was important to find out whether Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassination was a security lapse or a conspiracy to destabilise the country. He lamented that authorities concerned had failed to provide adequate security to Taseer, adding that the incident had left many questions unanswered.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zarari told a delegation of PPP parliamentarians in Karachi that it was yet to be established whether the assassination of Salmaan Taseer was a conspiracy against the system and the country under the fa
