Birth anniversary: Shahbaz Bhatti remembered

‘Dictators had promoted fanatics to prolong their rule in Pakistan’

LAHORE: Assassination of former federal minister Shahbaz Bhatti and former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer alarmed the world about minority rights in Pakistan.

Both were assassinated for speaking about sufferings of the minorities and demanding equal rights for them, speakers at a seminar on Bhatti’s birth anniversary on Friday said. Bhatti’s party, the All Pakistan Minorities’ Alliance, had arranged the ceremony.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) secretary general Sardar Latif Khosa said that insulting Islam or any other religion was a crime under the law. He said that double standards with regard to respect for Islam and other religions in the country had defaced Pakistan’s narrative. He said that dictators promoted fanatics to prolong their rule in Pakistan.

Advocate Abdullah Bhatti said assassinations of former premier Benazir Bhutto, Taseer and Bhatti had alarmed the world. He said that these leaders had laid down their lives for the marginalised segments of the society. He said that murders of these political figures had forced the world to speak about the safety of religious minorities and marginalised segments of the society in Pakistan. He said that Sir Zafarullah, Dr Abdus Salam, Justice (r) AR Cornelius, Justice (r) Bhagwandas, Cecil Chaudhry and Shahbaz Bhatti were some of the heroes from the minority communities who had served Pakistan.

Najmi Saleem, vice chairman of the APMA, said Bhatti had played his role for the welfare of religious minorities. He had got five per cent job quota for minorities and seats for them in the Senate. She said that Bhatti got August 11 declared as the National Minorities Day.

PPP leader Jahan Ara Wattoo said these were difficult times for minorities in Pakistan. She said the Quaid-i-Azam had spoken in many of his speeches about equal rights for minorities. She said the PPP government had given the minorities more rights than any other government in Pakistan.

Fr James Chanan said that Bhatti was a hero for the minorities. His killers must be brought to justice, he added.

Pakistan Hindu Welfare Council chairman Manohar Chand said that Bhatti had worked for the welfare of all minorities in Pakistan.

Bishop of Lahore Irfan Jamil said that Bhatti had stood for unity.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2016.