JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: Two years have passed since that cold morning in Islamabad when a religious extremist, Mumtaz Qadri, pumped bullets into Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer’s body, killing him on the spot. Since then, Qadri’s trial has dragged in the courts while the world watched in astonishment as a murderer was garlanded by the supposed protectors of the law — the lawyers of Islamabad. The judge who sentenced Qadri to death had to flee the country. Qadri was supposed to be hanged on October 9, 2012. However, powerful quarters are ensuring that this sentence is not implemented. A medical board comprising a cardiologist, a dentist and a general physician has been constituted and it will not be a surprise if it finds another excuse to delay the execution.
One may wonder who the main culprit is — Qadri, the lawyers who garlanded him, those who are finding excuses to delay the capital punishment, or those scholars who influenced Qadri into believing that killing someone is a gateway to paradise.
During the two years since Mr Taseer’s assassination, fanatic crowds are busy trying to find shortcuts to paradise. In July last year, a mentally unstable, homeless man was beaten to death in southern Punjab for allegedly burning pages of the Holy Quran. In December, another mob stormed a police station in southern Sindh and set a man ablaze. The victim was suspected of desecrating the Holy Quran. A 14-year-old Christian girl was accused of blasphemy after charred pages with Quranic verses on them were found in her bag. Later it was found that these charges were framed by a local mosque’s prayer leader.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing to eradicate it. The loss of one good man must not deter others. Pakistan’s future depends on it.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2013.
