Pakistan

Qadri's act inspired by sermons: Report

Qadri formally confesses to Taseer's murder in court; reportedly provides names of 2 individuals who motivated him.

Afp/express January 10, 2011

RAWALPINDI: Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the assassin of later Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, on Monday formally confessed in court to having murdered Taseer by gunning him down in Kohsar Shopping Centre in Islamabad last week.

According to an Associated press report, Qadri also provided a judge with the names of two men whose sermons inspired the assassination of Governor Taseer. The report cites Qadri as providing a written statement declaring he was motivated after attending a gathering hosted by Shahab-e-Islam, and specifically by Qari Hanif, and another member, Ishtiaq Shah.

Qadri appeared before court on Monday and was sent on judicial remand to Adiyala jail for the next fourteen days. He said he had committed the murder out of his own will. He said he had not planned or discussed the assassination with anyone and that he had been planning it for more than three days when he was deployed for the security of the governor.

Qadri admitted that he had carried out the assassination because of the statements Taseer had made about the blasphemy law.

Members of the main ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), to which Punjab provincial governor Taseer belonged, had suggested that his killing was part of a wider plot, and slammed security failures that led to his death. Questions have been asked about why no policeman or guard apparently made an attempt to overpower the 26-year-old gunman.

Police presented Qadri before Justice Malik Akram Awan in the Rawalpindi Anti Terrorism Court on Monday. He was brought into the court under a heavy contingent of police.

Qadri was not due in court until Tuesday, but officials said he was brought to a closed hearing in Rawalpindi a day early after officially confessing to the crime, infuriating defence lawyers who said they were not invited.

"The move was to avoid arguments from the defence," defence lawyer Malik Waheed Anjum told AFP. "None of our lawyers could attend the court because we didn't know about the proceedings."

But Joya told AFP, "They did not summon the defence lawyers because they did not feel the need. We did not deceive the defence, because we presented him in the court according to law."

Qadri will now be presented in front of the Anti Terrorism Court on January 24.

COMMENTS (41)

Haque | 13 years ago | Reply @jahil_awam: totally agreed with u man!

Syed Z Hasan | 13 years ago | Reply There is no doubt that Islam and its Prophet have enemies who would do and say any malicious things that they can come up with. However, death sentence for any criticism of the Prophet is quite un-Islamic, because the Prophet himself did never order a death sentence for anyone who attacked or insulted him during his lifetime. He always forgave such people in the hope that they would realize the wrongs of their ways and rectify themselves. Indeed God sent him to mankind not to judge or punish us, but to warn us about the hereafter since God wanted to give us the opportunity to rectify ourselves. When someone is killed that opportunity is taken away from that person, while only God Himself has the right to make that decision. The blasphemy laws of Pakistan therefore stand in God's ways and need amendment for that reason. The moderate Muslims of Pakistan need to confront the extremists not from a western ideological standpoint, but from the standpoint of the true interpretations of Qur'an and Sunnah. An article of interest on this point can be found on: "http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Blasphemy-and-the-Islamic-way/articleshow/7248000.cms"

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Talal | 13 years ago | Reply I dont know he did the right thing or not but i know one thing if goverment will not going to make plans to provide food n jobs to poor people these dramatic deaths will increase day by day.

zoya | 13 years ago | Reply why does anyone have to go out on the streets .are we the same like THEM alll who come out on the street Block the famous M.A Jinnah Road cause difficulty for People ,Ruin their Holiday or Cause traffic jams ???? What is the Difference then between THEM & US ????? isnt there any Humanity left???? isnt there any Justice there???? please all know whats Right & wrong have a vote on line lets decide for & against with educative reasoning please

zoya | 13 years ago | Reply now what is the PPP doing about this .Now where is the Chief Justice ????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

mohammed+abbasi | 13 years ago | Reply when even saudis start to regard taseer as a shaheed and the pakistani mullahs as jahil vermin (arabnews.com) then why is this not picked up by the urdu media and spread across the mullahs sheep and goat like followers?

Tanveer | 13 years ago | Reply pakis are radicals in all facets of societies, cultures and religions.

The Only Normal Person Here. | 13 years ago | Reply In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan...Say NO to opinions

Fedup | 13 years ago | Reply This guy Qadri should be punished the same way he killed the Governor . Executed in full public view so that he can be a lesson to all those who stand against the state and the law. Same as the Taliban execute people who they think have committed crimes . But then again what am i saying it all falls on deaf ears nobody in Pakistan has enough guts to execute this Qadri.

Qaisrani | 13 years ago | Reply The Mullas, who are said to have "motivated" the self-confessed assassin for his heinous crime, will be certainly on the run and try to leave the country if possible. No Mullah shall ever motivate his own son to kill someone nor shall he allow his own son to become a suicide bomber. They motivate and compel the sons & daughters of others to do so. Their leaders daily vomit venom against America & West, but their own sons / daughters get education and reside in USA & Europe. So far as to curtail their mischief is concerned, snatch loudspeaker / amplifier from them. All over Pakistan, the law is existing that the use of loudspeaker / amplifier is prohibited, except for use in Prayer (NAMAAZ) and Juma sermon (KHUTBA) in the mosques, but the State functionaries seldom enforce this order / law.The Mullas continue making hate speeches and poison the un-educated / less educated. If someone from the lay persons doubts the existence of this law / order, he/she should try to use loudspeaker without permission of concerned authorities and then experience the "efficiency" of our law-enforcement machinery. Within a few minutes he/she will be behind the bars.But they do not go after Mulla. It is very very sad.

jahil_awam | 13 years ago | Reply @Nadeem Why Salman Taseer didn't stand up to: the corruption and oppression of his own government! bunch of Pakistani women who gets raped and killed everyday, but no one listens to their voice! drone attacks, which kill scores of Pakistanis almost everyday Why Aasia? just because he would have been hailed and earned some cheap reputation among liberal extremists!

Mir Asim | 13 years ago | Reply Well the lone gun man theory really does sound absurd..../what were the other security personnel doing while Qadri was spraying bullets from his automatic....talking of religion, what I know off it, our duty is of foremost importance..if my employer doesn't allow me to pray during work ours; I should either quit my job or if I can't then I shouldn't pray during work ours....this is Islam....Qadri's duty was to protect the GOVERNOR...this is the kind of people we have in the security forces,,,may God have mercy on us then,,,as then, no one is safe...A SITTING GOVERNOR, is gunned down in the Federal Capital in broad day light, on the street and Gunned down brutally like an animal and we need to Prove Mr Qadri wrong in a court of Law....I pity the aptitude of these people....was Taseer (may he RIP, and may Allah bless his soul) given the chance to prove anything....this is the worst example one can find of the intolerance in our society,,,much of which is given birth to by the MULLAH; the thekaydaar of Islam....what Qadri did is plain cold blooded murder under any constitution, be it the shariah or else...and he disserve the maximum punishment for it.... The only thing that needs to be proven is to whAt decree the lone gun man theory is correct and who else disserves the maximum along with Qadri......May Allah have mercy on this nation, may we be able to rise above these religious trivialities and frenzy. Don't know till when will we continue to kill and kill brutally in the name of religion. Long live Pakistan/../

Anoop | 13 years ago | Reply Just have a look at any Global Newspaper which has comments section to realize what kind of a name Qadri has given to,not just Pakistan, but Islam.

Aamir+Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Mumtaz Qadri is so disgusting. Punish him and those who inspired him. Brainless fools all of them.

Basit | 13 years ago | Reply @ Random, yeah... you want to say me to open my eyes and close my mind :))))) man! com'on, if you can use your own minds and even think a little and try to understand what is written in quran, not only read the arabic, then you dont need to follow anyone except Allah.... and that is how i can keep the so called mullahs from myself i hope you understand Mr. Random and start lookin inside yourself even before blaming a bad person...

Saharanpuri | 13 years ago | Reply What has Pakistan turned into since independence.? A failed state to say the least where Muslims are killing Muslims on some pretext or another. To think that cream de cream of Indian Muslims comprising almost all the landed,educated,rich n business class had migrated to this Utopia of theirs n must be turning into their graves on present state of affairs. Only poor ,illiterate ,artisans Muslims remained in India out of no choice who are now progressing to middle class thanks to peaceful atmosphere n India’s booming economy.Gujarat was an aberration but even Muslims there are progressing a lot. The problem in my opinion is that there is still feudalism in pakistan due to which huge nos of extremely poor muslims remain who have no optio nbut to rot n dream about 72 virgins waiting in paradise implies an easy exit option. just Imagine how lucky India was as partition happened.Just imagine if 40 crore more muslims of pakistan & bangldesh would have added to 20 crore Muslims already residing in India who would have ruled.Jinnah cud hv never imagined this scene & Gandhi,Nehru were the biggest idiots to hvae rejected Jinnahs offer of population exchange.India would have permanently solved its minority problem just teh way pakistan thought it had only to run into more new minorities like Shia,Ahmedis,Secular,Progressive,Sindhi,baloch,Pashtun,hindko,Saraiki,Kashmiri,Punjabi------ n the line never ends

realMuslim | 13 years ago | Reply @Saima Khan, u r absolutely right! What were the other "Security" guards were doing?

Reza Khan | 13 years ago | Reply J. Shah, the onus is on the onlookers. The "silent majority" is silent because the piper has worked hard at religious indoctrination. The society has made rodents for the piper to lead. All of this happened gradually due to a severe lack of good leadership.

Jaff | 13 years ago | Reply Qadri must be hanged and made an example for everyone so no one would kill anyone anymore like this in the name of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Quran and hadith are saying to protect people " its better to free 99 culprits than hanging/killing one innocent". Nowhere in Quran or Hadith from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says to KILL anyone who disrespect or say anything comes under blasphemy. there is not even a single Verse from Quran or a hadith/saying from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) which says to do such act is right. By killing anyone like this this Qadri and all of them who re praising him are actually denying what Quran & Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said and shown us during his life to forgive. Where is that group gone now who says follow Quran only? please for God's sake bring tolerance yourselves and in our society and get ourselves out of this extremist guns and bullet's life. live peacefully and let other's live too, thanks.

Tayyab Ali | 13 years ago | Reply The guys who motivated qadri are now hiding from police and at large, if these so called mullahs are really true Islam lovers and preachers should stand and face the music and face security agencies and justify their sermons with which they are brain washed innocent citizens and using them for there cowardly acts.

Rizwan | 13 years ago | Reply our corrupt political set up has been a real motivational factor for such type of acts as this system allows clarics to use the poor in accordances to their wishes. TO WHOM WE BLAME!!!!!!!!

Irfan Rana | 13 years ago | Reply Who will tame the piper and pipe its tunes for good?

Irfan Rana | 13 years ago | Reply One must take care to note the machinations of the puppeteers in khaki, hand in glove with the bigots with extended facial hair. The khaki ‘piper’ is leading his rodents in to the abyss and with that the hapless pitiful onlookers who have no say in the games they play.

Farid | 13 years ago | Reply i absolutely hate to say this but..Pakistan = the next Afghanistan

Sara | 13 years ago | Reply Its difficult to admit that he was alone. If one is giving follow up to this news, the fact is clear.

Jahanian Shah | 13 years ago | Reply One must take care to note the machinations of the puppeteers in khaki, hand in glove with the bigots with extended facial hair. The khaki 'piper' is leading his rodents in to the abyss and with that the hapless pitiful onlookers who have no say in the games they play. Who will tame the piper and pipe its tunes for good?

Thaqalain | 13 years ago | Reply if this guy is not punished for his crime. , I am looking PAK will soon be changed in to ghost state of mass murder of millions at hands of Talibanized Mullas

Random | 13 years ago | Reply @ Basit, if you cant see the Mullahs you must be blind or living in your own isolated world How about using your eyes.

SKATZ | 13 years ago | Reply @Fiaz: What you are actually asking us to do, if I understand your limited English correctly, is that we give Mumtaz Qadri, the benefit of a trial which is something he did not give to Salman Taseer. I cannot believe you have the gall to suggest that someone comes in and proves him wrong in court while at the same time defending what he did (committing broad daylight murder) was something he liked. The fact is that Islam never condones self righteous vigilanteeism nor taking the law into your own hands. If anything else Mumtaz Qadri has proven that if you're going to start giving out fatwas yourselves and kill whosoever you please, there is no need for any Blasphemy Law simply because no one should wait for the law to take its course and simply kill whosoever they please.

Nadeem | 13 years ago | Reply Imagine..what will a young man of 2050..3000, 3050 AD think of this whole incident? What will be Mumtaz Qadri to him and what will be Salman Taseer to him? He will hate Qadri without an iota of doubt...because he is a ruthless, mindless, illetrate killer..and Taseer sab was a brave man. Aasia's hanging would have made no difference to Taseer..he just stood by her for a just and noble cause..he was killed because he supported a poor christian woman..he will live in history forever.

Mulla Toofhan | 13 years ago | Reply Those who kill defense-less and unarmed people are no friend of Islam, they are simply dangerous criminals and should not be treated as heros. The Mulla are using these people to demonstrate their power and impose their way of life . @...... Pen is mightier than the Sword. We as Pakistani should try harder to resolve matters in a more civilized fashion then come down to street level After all we are not Mullas.

Muhammad Fiaz | 13 years ago | Reply why are you all crazy about this issue. He Qadari do what he like. And if you people don't like it than come to the court and prove him wrong.We all are first Muslim and then moderate and secular.

Saima Khan | 13 years ago | Reply How pathetic and predictable. The lone gun-man theory. Simple, neat, no complications, no ragged edges. If they ever find BB's killer, he too shall be a lone gun-man. This man sprayed bullets from his automatic for several seconds while others stood around. No one reacted. No one shot him. The killer confessed he had asked his colleagues not to fire on him till he had finished the job because he would lay down his arms. So how were these people who colluded in murder?

Who cares | 13 years ago | Reply The longer this case lingers, more ignorant Pakistani's will believe in this murderer. The court should set an example of of such people and I for one think that he should not get away with this as it seems highly likely given the current scanarion in the country.

Basit | 13 years ago | Reply To QuranVsHadith, Well you are giving lame arguments... its a way to hide your own weak points behind someone else... who are MULLAHS??? i can not see them... if you think someone is doing bad and they manipulates you... then GOd gave you mind.. USE IT!

Danish | 13 years ago | Reply The content of the khutba given by imams in various mosques needs to be monitored and approved by the government to avoid hate messages being spread through this medium. This is the practice in many other muslim countries and should be enforced here too, considering our low education level.

Zuhair | 13 years ago | Reply Go out on streets if you all are against Qadri - there is no point wiring it here and complaining. If you have the guts - go on the street and protest

Farooq | 13 years ago | Reply This is presenting Pakistan as a society which has no tolerance to listen or to debate important issues. Its a failure of our education system, our syllabus must be changed to creat democratic thoughts and willingness to hear difference of opinion. No one seems to listen to a different point of view. Its really disturbing.

Shahryar+Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply He has set a very wrong & dangerous precedent, we all need to wake up & stand against these kind of sick people who bring not only a bad name to our religon, but also set a totally adverse image of Islam.

Iftikhar-ur-Rehman | 13 years ago | Reply Why are people of Pakistan bent upon making this murderer a hero? He should be hanged and without any further delay.

QuranVsHadith | 13 years ago | Reply Qadri is just the front man for the Mullahs!!! if you need to stop this kind of thing from happening again we need to go to the source and nip the issue in the bud!! these Mullahs need to be heald accountable for this murder... unfortunately these mullahs are allowed to roam free!!

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