Salmaan Taseer died because too many people for far too long stayed silent out of fear.
KARACHI: This is with reference to Sami Shah’s article of January 4 titled “We never learned”. Salmaan Taseer was murdered and his murderer got showered with rose petals, and the latters parents got rewarded with millions of rupees from various religious parties. Many in society hailed the murderer as a ‘ghazi’ and a hero. This should tell us a bit about the kind of society that we live in today because it seems that anyone who commits an act in the name of religion is showered with praise and adulation.
Salmaan Taseer died because too many people for far too long stayed silent out of fear in the face of a relentless attack by the forces of obscurantism and regression. Taseer died because the state long ago surrendered before the morality brigade. Taseer died because the media chooses to not criticise and highlight the atrocities committed in Pakistan by the fanatics. He died because of our fear and our apathy, but one thing is for sure, he did not die in vain.
Muhammad Bashir
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2012.
