Islamabad honoured Salmaan Taseer’s grave sacrifice for the freedom of thought and speech in Pakistan by remembering him on the anniversary of his assassination.
Though some call it a sacrifice, others feel it is more of an injustice, which unfortunately has changed little in its wake.
During a candlelight vigil organised outside the National Press Club, Ahmed Durani, 23, said, “Even though I think such acts of remembrance are important, I still feel empty, because I look at the state of the country and find that not much has changed since his assassination. Maybe things are even worse.”
Others echoed these sentiments. Ali Kazmi, 22, elaborated that “295-C [the blasphemy law] should be abolished not only because it is misused but also because it is a by-law in itself, which creates further complications and issues”.
In addition to remembering Taseer, the vigil addressed other injustices taking place in the country, such as honour killings in Balochistan, genocide of Hazaras at the hands of the Taliban and subjugation of transgenders. A victim of the blasphemy law, Asia Bibi, who received full support from Taseer, also came under discussion. Notable speakers included Tahira Abdullah and Marvi Sirmed.
Alongside the vigil, friends and well-wishers of Taseer held a remembrance ceremony at the site of his assassination in Kohsar Market. They lit up the market carrying candles in baskets, adorning it with bouquets of flowers and pictures of Taseer.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2012.
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i was never a fan of Mr Taseer,infact, most educated people disliked him for his affections for PPP, however, his assassination has not only exposed utter criminality and sheer stupid and threatened morals of our socalled Islamists, but also other apoligists who agree to kill someone just because their thoughts might disagree with yours. There are many then, who are going to keep defying socalled religious limits as set by our religious elite in Pakistan.........baghawat zindabad!
the way our tv channels and the ppp itself chose to ignore taseer's first anniversary was shocking.salman taseer fought for ppp against its political rivals bravely but ppp out of fear of the maulvis chose to ignore taseer's anniversary.The media also, largely ignored the traumatic atrocity that took place a year ago.everyone is keeping silent because of the fear of the religious section of our society,but this will only embolden the religious fanatics to carry out their regressive agenda further.