Salman Taseer: The governor that was
The former governor was walking back to his car after lunch at a restaurant in Islamabad when Qadri, an elite police force member, shot 27 bullets into him on January 4, 2011. Mumtaz Qadri said he killed the former governor because he wanted to change the blasphemy law. Treated by many as a celebrity, Qadri was showered with roses when he made his first appearance in court, so much so that hundreds of lawyers even pledged to defend him. No cleric could be found to lead Taseer’s funeral out of fear of extremists some of whom said Taseer was not even a Muslim anymore. Although some members of the civil society tried to counter the wave of intolerance but it hardly gathered momentum. The sad part is that the government, the army, political parties and the parliament have showed a lack of reaction to the incident and the only reaction that came was from Sherry Rehman now ambassador to the US. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011