Justice prevailed ultimately, which also reflected the resolve of the society
TORONTO, CANADA: We have another sign of changing times in Pakistan. Mumtaz Qadri deprived Salman Taseer’s children of a father and his wife of a husband. One of his sons was kidnapped in the same year. Why was this family condemned to such an unfortunate fate? It was because a brainwashed person, whose very job was to protect Taseer, sprayed the man with bullets. The forensic analysis of Taseer’s interview found not a single sentence to be blasphemous. Later, it was sealed by a Supreme Court judgment whereby Taseer was found innocent.
Qadri’s case left so many scars on the face of the mutilated social contract that prevails in Pakistan. The actions of lawyers that showered rose petals on Qadri and affectionately coined the term “ghazi” for him, belong to a dark chapter in our legal history. The bigotry has seeped in to such an extent that people who were supposed to protect the victim were dancing with the killer. And if that was not enough, the retired chief justice of the Lahore High Court pledged to plead Qadri’s case in an attempt to refresh his politically-biased and guilt-ridden soul. The wider world was surprised over these whimsical actions from the very custodians of law, but somehow, many in Pakistan thought it as a service to the faith of the majority in the country. How much more wrong could have been done to the teachings of that faith system that emphatically mention that the killing of one innocent person is akin to killing humanity in its entirety?
Lastly, the role of the Pakistan People’s Party in the aftermath of Taseer’s murder was not up to par either. The head of the party even didn’t attend the funeral of his own governor. That cannot be termed masking sensitivity; it was a simply a cowardly act. Some might differ that the PPP’s hands were clamped and it was an open hunting season of PPP and ANP activists, but this is a lame excuse. If they couldn’t honour their own governor, then they should have simply resigned. The state’s body language shouldn’t reflect any weakness; otherwise, these elements become further emboldened. And exactly this happened a couple of months later, when another PPP minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, was assassinated in broad daylight in a similar context.
Nonetheless, justice prevailed ultimately, which also reflects the resolves of a society that wants to walk past these dark episodes of its national history and heal the wounds it has been afflicted with on its national psyche. It is a society that wants to get up from its sick bed and wants to breathe in fresh air.
Bahadar Ali Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2016.
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