Five years on: Shahbaz Bhatti’s ‘widow’ demands recognition

Salma Peter John demands justice for “husband”

LAHORE: On the fifth death anniversary (March 2) of former federal minister for minorities’ affairs Clement Shahbaz Bhatti, his self-proclaimed widow has demanded justice for him.

In a letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, written to Archbishop of Lahore Sebastian Francis Shaw from the United States—where she has been granted asylum—Salma Peter John said, “Why are the killers of my husband still at large?” She said there had been no progress in the trial of his assassins despite the passage of five years.

In the letter, copies of which have also been sent to Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader and Archbishop of Karachi Joseph Coutts John said she wanted to come back to Pakistan to pursue the case. She also called on the Church to recognise her as Bhatti’s widow. John said the United States had acceded to her asylum request as she was his wife.

She said she had been married to Bhatti for 15 years. Despite this, John said, he was not able to muster the courage to take a stand for her in face of his family’s opposition.

Salma John on Shehbaz Bhatti's grave. PHOTO: EXPRESS

She said she had also undergone an abortion. John said she had evidence of this in the form of hospital records among other things.

Bhatti had no aspirations for sainthood, she said. John said her in-laws had been trying to have him declared a saint despite this. She said his family had not really been aware of the man he was. John said he had kept them at an arm’s length over his political career.

She said Bhatti had put her up at a room in an Islamabad hotel between 1995 and 2001. John said he had chosen to get married to her on the International Human Rights Day in 1995. She said Bhatti’s father was averse to their marriage as he was a first cousin of her deceased father. John said this was why they had gotten married without informing him.

The former minister’s self-proclaimed widow claimed that she used to pen his speeches and handle his foreign correspondence. “I taught him English,” she said. John claimed that even his last speech contained references that she had made him commit to memory. “I also wrote to various donors for funding. I know all of them but they do not know her,” John said. She said Bhatti’s foreign correspondence and bank letters were delivered to her mother’s residence.

On the day of his assassination, I was in mourning but Bhatti’s family told me to keep away from his funeral, John said. She said she had later managed to visit his grave. John said they dared not mistreat her while Bhatti was alive. Following his assassination, she said, she had been left fearing for her life.

John said a museum was being established in Bhatti’s ancestral village in his memory. “I wonder whether my name or 15-year-long contribution will be recognised in the story of his life,” she mused.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2016.