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Blasphemy

January 4, 2011 by · Comments Off on Blasphemy 

Blasphemy, (APP): Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government will thoroughly investigate the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer if it was an act of another person or hidden hand “The accused, arrested the care used to escort him to Rawalpindi normally. Done for previous 5 or 6 times and has been identified as Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, “said Rehman Malik, while speaking briefly to reporters Tuesday.” The culprit was arrested and is currently under examination InProgress and he admitted he had committed the “murder,” said Malik.

According to the accused, he differed with the views of Governor of Punjab on blasphemy laws which, according to accused him furious, “said Malik.
“But we will thoroughly investigate the matter if it was his individual act or there was another force behind this assassination,” he added.
The Interior Minister said that the provision of VIP protocol has always been criticized, but the government has given utmost importance.
“All members of elite forces stationed for the protection of VIPs are carefully selected,” he added.
The protocol was supposed to be the responsibility of the Government of Punjab and it will be studied, he added.
Malik said that all staff escort the governor had been placed under arrest.
He said the former governor on Tuesday visited the chairman of the House, after which he went to the Senate and then met with the Minister of Information and had lunch at a restaurant with his friend and was on the path from s’ sit in the car when the Elite Force personnel shot him and handed over to enforcement of the law.
He (the governor) has been given security by the elite force of police in Islamabad, but one of the security men put his gun to the Governor of Punjab.
“But we will probe whether it was his individual act or any other force is behind this act,” said Rehman Malik.

Salman Taseer

January 4, 2011 by · Comments Off on Salman Taseer 

Salman Taseer, (UKPA) – The governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province has been shot dead by one of his guards apparently for criticising the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.

The killing of Salman Taseer was the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was shot in December 2007, and it rattled a country already dealing with crises ranging from a potential collapse of the government to Islamist militancy.

The suspected killer was taken into custody and there were conflicting reports as to whether he was wounded.

Mr Taseer was a member of Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party and a close associate of President Asif Ali Zardari, her widower. The governor was vocal on a range of subjects, and frequently used Twitter to get across his views.

In recent days, as the People’s Party has faced the loss of its coalition partners, Mr Taseer insisted that the government will survive. But it was his stance against the blasphemy laws that apparently led to his killing.

Interior Minister Rahman Malik said the suspect had surrendered to police and told them he killed Mr Taseer because “the governor described the blasphemy laws as a black law”.

“He was the most courageous voice after Benazir Bhutto on the rights of women and religious minorities,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, an aide to Mr Zardari and friend of Mr Taseer. “God, we will miss him.”

Pakistan’s blasphemy law has come under greater scrutiny in recent days after a Christian woman was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

Under pressure from Islamist parties, the People’s Party said recently it would not pursue changes to the law, which has long worried human rights activists.

Mr Taseer was shot after he reached Khosar Market, a shopping centre in Islamabad popular with Westerners and wealthy Pakistanis. Five other people were wounded as other security personnel responded to the attack.

Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

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