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Has anything changed since Taseer’s murder?
One year on, the judge who sentenced Qadri, the cleric who led Taseer's funeral prayers have fled the country.
The writer is Consulting Editor, The Friday Times raza.rumi@tribune.com.pk
One year after Salmaan Taseer’s murder, Pakistan still bleeds. The debate on laws introduced or amended by General Ziaul Haq has been muzzled. Progressives and moderate Pakistanis who mourned for Taseer continue to remain bewildered at the shameful support given to the Taseer’s murderer.
Contrary to many predictions, the trial court delivered a sentence against Mumtaz Qadri and that was a small ray of hope which reminded us of the innate possibilities of reforming and strengthening the state. Yet, the judge who sentenced Qadri has had to flee the country because he was facing death threats. Earlier the prosecutors were threatened and when the judge delivered the sentence, lawyers vandalised the court premises. The foot soldiers of the rule of law movement were never exposed better than in the Taseer episode when hundreds of Islamabad and Rawalpindi lawyers garlanded a murderer; and thus emerged the unfortunate image of our times — a smug killer celebrated, denoting the disturbing side of Pakistani society.
More importantly, the eerie silence of Pakistan’s moderate parties such as the Pakistan People’s Party, the Awami National Party and the PML-N on the issue of Taseer’s murder revealed how weak the political process is against the forces of extremism. The near-capitulation of the political class was evident when senators refused to offer prayer in the house. Only when a strong woman parliamentarian insisted and took the initiative, a prayer was held. These incidents will remain a shameful testament of how far we have allowed bigotry to rule us.
Reportedly, the PPP-affiliated cleric who offered the funeral prayers for Taseer has also had to leave the country. Furthermore, citizens wish to know what happened to the members of the elite police force who were apparently complicit in Qadri’s crime. Has the leadership of a force meant to protect people been asked to answer for this fiasco? Moreover, what measures have the federal and provincial governments taken to prevent similar incidents taking place in the future?
A year later, the media is yet to take stock of its questionable role in fanning misinformation and sensationalism about Taseer’s murder. One newspaper printed the copy of the fatwa against the former governor and a TV anchor called him a westernised liberal and almost a blasphemer. The media bodies, inactive as they are, have taken no cognisance of these ghastly cases of misconduct. It seems that the state and its strange ally, the media, are leading us towards further radicalisation.
Taseer’s family continues to live in fear and his son, since August 2011, is in the custody of his abductors, who according to media reports, are none other than the infamous militant groups hell-bent on destroying Pakistan. The establishment, the political elite and the media are, at best, pandering to the rise of radical ideologies, which merge with the global Islamist movements.
Should we let Pakistan slide into this extremist morass, deep into a sectarian abyss, or should we think of alternatives? Taseer’s murder and his son’s abduction are symptomatic of the easily identifiable fault lines that endangers Pakistan’s future. A year later, there is much to keep mourning about. Taseer was not an ordinary man — he represented the lost vision for Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2012.
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Reader Comments (30)
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Salman Taseer was no ordinary man but we are. We are ordinary and cowards who are too scared to rise up to these fanatics who will one day destroy this country. This shows that only PPP leaders have the guts to stand up for the minorities. Salman Taseer and Shiri Rehman. Where is the great Imran Khan. Why hasn’t he taken a stance on this issue?
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“Taseer’s murder and his son’s abduction are symptomatic of the easily identifiable fault lines that endangers Pakistan’s future.”
You are correct and looking at your questions, I scratched my head several times, every time I found myself helpless. You summed it up quite well. It is a broken society and the state has failed to stand by its Weberian premises. Regret to say but it is not a state, it is social aggregation but in Hobbesian state of “nature—-nasty, brutish, and selfish” (self-centered).
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the way salman taseer was disowned and abandoned by his party after he came out publicly with his stand was most saddening.one expected better from the ppp .they hung taseer out to dry,left him all alone to face the wolves which eventually caught their prey.
taseer was a brave man,it’s a tragedy their aren’t many more like him left in pakistan.
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I would suggest writing about WHAT HAS CHANGED IN 64 YEARS SINCE JINNAH GAVE US PAKISTAN.
We are going DOWNHILL.
Thanks to the Military, PPP, PML-N and Other Ruling Elite that have made Pakistan a mess..
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@sick of this nonsense: the Great Kaptaan has taken a stance on the blasphemy issue. ET covered it here http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/8941/yes-we-khan-but-should-we/
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the way our tv channels are scared to death to even mention salman taseer’s name is disturbing and shows the extent of fear the religious fascists have generated in the common man’s minds.no one talks about the blasphemy laws now because eveyone’s scared to death that some religious person is going to murder them in broad daylight as taseer was.
the silence of the media in the face of an ever advancing religious rightwing that is hell bent on taking our society back several centuries.salman taseer paid the ultimate price for standing up for what was right,his sacrifice will never be forgotten by the saner elements of pakistani society.
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When the two Sikh bodyguards assassinated Indira Gandhi because of her operation and defilement of the religious place of Sikhs, the Sikh celebrated them as heroes and after they got death sentence they were called martyrs by the Sikhs. Why doesn’t anybody talk about that? Thousands of people die everyday. Nobody talks about those Pakistanis.
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A bold and clear write up. Your closing sentance was a little over-the-top and could have been left out.
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Our deepest sympathy with the departed soul of Salman Taseer and his family. May God help his abducted son to be soon back home with his family. Als!Every thing is gone up-side down and no one feels safe and secure here. Yes,only daylight killers are free to kill and live in society ruled by the weakest of all incompetant/irresponsible rulers of last six decades.Governor ST believed in and sacrificed his life for the ideals of Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan.
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@Salsal for the love of God don’t bring India into every argument.
@asif mehmood you are absolutely right but the print media brings up these wonderful articles from time to time after a disclaimer!
@mohmmad adnan: The whole nation abandoned him not only PPP. I don’t see any leader supporting him too.
@biloo. my friend you just proved my point yourself. Imran khan changed his stance faster then a F1 car!
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I think this case is yet to be decided because it’s still in court.So it will be wise not to comment on this issue that much.It’s an ULTRA SENSITIVE ISSUE.So please have patience and see what eventually happens.
And remember , ‘We are muslims and in that respectRecommend
It’s interesting to see how liberals such as the likes of the author remain stuck in their Marie Antoniette bubble – wondering why the masses are so unkind towards their type. Yes the circumstances under which the governer died were unfortunate, but singing heroic paens for the governor whilst airbrushing the not so nice facts about the governor is abit hypocrite. This very same champion of democracy and human rights Salmaan Taseer, supported Musharraf during the lawyers movements and imposed Governors Raj to stifle protests, and cracked down on protesters. Such one-sided biased, brushing the past under the carpet approach is exactly why the liberals find themselves cornered.
But then again this is the same author who jumped to defend Raymond Davis’s diplomatic rights under the Geneva Convetion, whilst mocking the public’s conspiratorial hysteria, when the writing on the world was so obvious.
Instead of writing patronising articles, I suggest the liberals get out in the public and get themselves in touch with the sentiments of the public and adjust according. Otherwise they wont know what hit them just like the Mubarak and Ben Zinedins circle did not.
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Problems started when we changed the name of this country and then introduced the Objective Resolution thus ending Jinnah’s Pakistan and starting the long journey downhill. Salman Taseer RIP belonged to the minority who still believed in Jinnah’s dream and was man enough to say it in public. Salman Taseer died like a man of honor whereas his murderer was and shall remain a coward who chose to shoot an unarmed man in the back. I hope and pray for the younger Taseer and wish his family strength in these trying times.
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“Why hasn’t he taken a stance on this issue?”
He has though, hasn’t he? He wants to keep the law and he rubs shoulders with radicals. Also, he’s clearly pro-Taliban.
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@Salsal
Good point. But there is a significant divergence here.
First – What Indira Gandhi did was significantly more extreme than what Salman Taseer did. The sikhs celebrated her killing not because Indira Gandhi had spoken offending words against them; but because there had been killings in Punjab at her behest and sacrilege was committed against their most sacred temple. Salman taseer merely said what he believed in – and which most neutral people will agree with.
Second – Though Sikhs celebrated their killer, but at no point were the government/executionary etc. hand in glove trying to protect or avoid the criminals. In case of Salman Taseer, the very fact that the other bodyguards are not charged with complicity of murder shows that there is some kind of avoidance to give justice.
Thirdly – You are wrong to state that nobody talks about teh sikhs celebration at that time. But after more than 25 years, it will be nigh stupid to keep talking about the same thing all the time. Time heals the wounds and diminishes the memory.
And finally no one talks about the other pakistanis – well for one no one celebrates their killing like the country did at Salman Taseer’s death!!
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@SalSal: Indira Gandhi did not defile the Golden Temple, it was defiled by Bhindranwale when he and his group occupied it and stored arms there. Temples are places of worship and not war. Therefore Indiraji had no other choice but ask the army to attack. Those Sikh bodyguards who murdered Indiraji are by no means martyrs but who went against their oath to protect her and those who call them as such are misguided and do not understand the meaning of the word.
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“Progressives and moderate Pakistanis who mourned for Taseer”
yeah a total of 10 people lol atheists should let it go.
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@TheGeneralPublic:
Do you actually know what you are talking about? If you are a lawyer, shame on you and your likes, and who appointed you the spokesperson for 180 million general public?
Political discourse can only take place in a civilized environment. Fascism does not condone such acts of the citizenry. So if Mr. Taseer did things that you mention, the punishment for that is murder? Have you lost your mind?
See a psychiatrist at the earliest possible. I have more to say but I do not argue with idiots.
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“Taseer’s murder and his son’s abduction are symptomatic of the easily identifiable fault lines that endangers Pakistan’s future.”
Are you going to give in to the militarists or are you going to fight them? You know that currently you can’t depend on the state to fight them for you or Taseer’s murderer’s accomplice policemen would have been put on trial as well.
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@SalSal: adding to wat others have already mentioned above, i think the whole incident was an eye opener to us, that religious extremism shouldn’t be tolerated at any cost, that’s the point which Indra Gandhi highlighted for which she risked her life. I hope the politicians of all the countries remember that.
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My question is where is the christian woman who Salman Taseer allegedly supported?? There is never any news about her.. the Punjab governor died, Qadri’s been sentenced (thankfully!) but what about that woman who actually started this all ???
And needless to say the situation in our country is very disturbing.. we kill a female political leader (Benazir) in broad daylight and her murderer is still nowhere to be found, we support an Islamic extremist who killed a capable governor, … and the list goes on :(Recommend
Simple question: weren’t all those who stood around until there were no more bullets left to fire complicit in the murder? Who are they and where are they?
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Has anything changed since ?
RecommendYes !
The murderer has become a saint
And the gun he was killed with
A HOLY GUN
You laugh or cry it is your choice
We are a nation of idiots ! Unfortunately leaders like BB & ST were way too ahead for these people since we are very happy with shallow leaders like Sharif Brothers & Imran Khan.Recommend
Hira, We are not a nation, we are just a crowd of illeterate people assembled together for reasons dictated by the establishment. We have no idea, where are we coming from (Jinnah) and where are we headed. Jinnah wanted a secular Pakistan but unfortunately nobody in Pakistan has the guts to say so in public. Nation headed for destruction!
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even taseers son is in hiding due to family property disputes. if he was kidnapped, why assume he is alive/why wouldnt the radicals kill him?what are they waiting for??or is this just a pan to make him into a ‘good muslim’? illogical and weird.
he is reported to be in murree.hes alive and well, holidaying in luxury, using his fathers death and the resulting cries of the fundamentalists being after the taseers. cashing in on his fathers death.pitiable.
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Just heard the news that Mumtaz Qadri’s gun is being termed the “holy gun.”
Still in shock and disbelief.. Can we go any more low?!?!?
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Q: Has anything changed since Taseer’s murder?
A: No.
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Salman Taseer was a truly secular and liberal person. Always fought for justice and fairness.
He was against discrimination of any kind particularly on the basis of religion and he led by example.Recommend
Nothing has yet Changed.more secular voices shall be made silent before this “monophonic society recognize the “pluristic scope” of religion islam.
But optimism lies ahead ,as the murderer could not gain the “heroic status”
Certainly mr Taseer was brave man and he couragesly lived and died
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