Governor Punjab, Salman Taseer, Killed.

[greatsequence]

^^^ I am already sick of PPPs shaheeds.

 

[pak-marine]

@Omar :: i disagree if we give up to these biggots just because they can kill any body as they like than why are we fighting a war against extremism in this country? infact they will than have the right to kill the secular minded

 

[s90]

If freedom of speech is there to say bad things against Prophet (SAW) then people will die like this !

Why u guys say then that ur religion is peaceful? - Peaceful it is with certain conditions i guess.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

Are you Muslims?

What has happened to the thought of Muslims? Are you going to support people who have said bad words against the Prophet SAW.

Should tolerance be used here!

Moderation in Islam is not what you are talking about. Agreed that this is not the right way to do it but shouldn't Salman Taseer have been arrested for supporting people who used bad words against Prophet SAW. When you are not going to uphold the LAW people will do what should have been done!

 

[umed nau]

He was responsible???? HELLOOOOO..... He was governor not CM of Punjab.....

so why he appeared on the tv after attacks and explaining the failures to capture terrorists??

 

[Veeru]

Outspoken Pakistani governor assassinated; security guard arrested

By Karin Brulliard

Washington Post Foreign Service

Tuesday, January 4, 2011; 9:31 AM

KARACHI, PAKISTAN - The governor of Pakistan's largest province was assassinated Tuesday at a genteel market in the nation's capital--allegedly by one of his own security guards, angered by the governor's support of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Police said Salman Taseer- a sharp-tongued supporter of embattled President Asif Ali Zardari and an outspoken critic of religious extremists - was shot multiple times at the shopping plaza, which is near his home in Islamabad and is frequented by foreigners.

A Pakistani news station quoted a witness who said he saw a security guard get out of Taseer's vehicle, raise a Kalishnikov rifle and fire through the window of the vehicle.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said one of the governor's guards surrendered to police after the shooting, and told them he was angered by Taseer's recent public endorsement of a pardon for a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.

That position had earned Taseer threats from Islamist parties, who held a strike last week against proposed changes to the nation's controversial anti-blasphemy laws. Taseer stood by his stance, posting on Dec. 30 on his Twitter account: "I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightest pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I'm the last man standing."

The Pakistani government announced a three-week mourning period for Taseer, the highest-profile politician slain in the country since the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto three years ago.

Authorities said the arrested security guard was a member of the so-called "elite force," a Punjab police commando unit tasked with providing VIP security.

Militancy "has infiltrated and creeped into every segment of society, whether they are police force or army or bureaucracy," Khwaja Asif, a leader of the political opposition, told Pakistani reporters Tuesday. "This intolerance has become a sort of disease in our society."

The assassination sent new tremors through Pakistan's political scene, which has been rocked by political crisis since a key partner in the U.S.-allied governing coalition led by defected to the opposition on Sunday. That move cost the coalition its parliamentary majority.

Taseer was a close adviser to Zardari, and was known as a firebrand protector of progressive views in a country where conservative religious groups increasingly hold sway.

In an interview last June following the massive bombings of two minority sect mosques in Lahore, Taseer said the only solution to religious extremism was the "continuous, functional position of a democratic system."

"Extremist people are not in the majority," Taseer said at the time. "This is a very narrow minority, but…they are always prepared to do and die. That is their strength."

In November, an alliance of religious political parties issued a decree calling Taseer an "apostate" and calling for his dismissal.

"The governor of Punjab was the bravest person in our government, and the stand he took for women, minorities and on the blasphemy law were incredibly brave and will never be forgotten," said Farahnaz Ispahani, a Zardari spokeswoman. "The government is going to mourn him."

Around the time of the shooting, the nation's main opposition party, which dominates in Punjab, was holding a news conference to demand that the federal government implement a list of reforms within three days or risk collapse.

The U.S.-allied government has been on the rocks since Sunday, when Pakistan's second-largest political party left the ruling coalition led by Zardari's Pakistan People's Party. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement cited government corruption and a recent gasoline price hike as the reasons it left the government and joined the opposition.

Zadari's options for salvaging his government include trying to win the support of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, headed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

But Sharif said Monday that Zadari's party must implement corruption verdicts against government officials, slash government spending and reverse the gasoline price increase.

If those steps are not taken, Sharif said, his party could form a united opposition with MQM, which could force a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and potentially trigger early elections.

Sharif's party controls the provincial government in Punjab, where Taseer, as an appointee of Zardari, held little actual power. He was much more influential in Islamabad.

Taseer's security was provided by the Punjab government, and it seemed likely in the hours after the killing that suspicion would fall on his political opponents. Malik, the interior minister, said the government would investigate whether the security guard accused of shooting Taseer had been "asked" to carry out the killing.

Punjabi Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif--brother of Nawaz Sharif and a leader of the same opposition party--visited the hospital where Taseer's body was taken and promised an investigation of the assassination.

Outspoken Pakistani governor assassinated; security guard arrested

 

[Ahmad]

because he is responsible for the future of millions of people not like a common citizen, passing bad statements against islamic laws while being drunk is no good..

but we dont know if he was drunk at that time, do we?

 

[umed nau]

Why u guys say then that ur religion is peaceful? - Peaceful it is with certain conditions i guess.

yeah islam is not peaceful.........

 

[A.Rahman]

My friend, i have seen alot and alot of people drinking alchohol and smoking hashish in pakistan and that includes many ordinary citizens, why pick on him only?

because he is the ruler of "Islamic Republic of Pakistan"

 

[nescafe]

aur tu Mr. salman sahab key damagh main awam ke falah ke koi baat nahin ayee...aur ayee bhe to sirf blashphemy law...

he was only consistent towards basant, roaming around with socialites and boasting about asia bibi...

in my personal view, i support the assassination...not for blashphemy, but because, it serves as the message that our politicians cannot simply get away with corruption and carelessness and tyranny any more.

i would also support assassination of more naked tyrants.

this is my personal view and i might be wrong.

 

[umed nau]

but we dont know if he was drunk at that time, do we?

lollzzzz....

 

[Meengla]

She is doing it for a long time now. But she knows what to say and what not to.

PPP this time will have tough time because the guy is alive and he is just a common man with no association with any organisation. Taliban bashing will not work this time. A common man has killed salman taseer and this will be a problem for them.

I don't know what some of you are implying here by making the PPP as a party trying to cash-in on another 'Shaheed'. Listen you wise guys: PPP does NOT NEED SHAHEED to be in power. Give it fairplay. No 'agencies' involved. The power came to power many times before and was the largest party in Musharraf-held 2002 elections. Shaheeds go only so far: Even in the 2008 elections, despite BB's murder, PPP did not even win 100 seats directly. If you want to talk about 'martyrs' then look at what Congress gained after Indira was assassinated in 1984.

So get off this eternal horse of political conspiracies. You hate the PPP, fine. Don't vote for him. But don't insult a brave man's death by coming up with various conspiracy theories.

Fact is that Taseer has been condemned many times EVEN in this so-called liberal forum for being too lose. His drinking. Pictures of his daughters.... Fact is that Taseer was threatened many times after the Blasphemy case. And fact is that he refused to bow down. He was the Governor of Punjab. Anything he did or say about the Ms. Aasia case was bound to made headlines because, in the graveyard of silence in Pakistan, not only he was a leading figure but he was also touching on a very hot topic: The Blasphemy Law.

Why should it be so surprising that he was killed because of the Blasphemy Law? As I follow news today I see plenty of bloggers openly justifying his killing at Pakistaniat.com and some are implying it here. Not to mention that Professor's article above (and many others).

 

[Manticore]

im sad at the death and pray to God that the repercussions dont blow out of proportion , both internally and external to pakistan

 

[mjnaushad]

Are you Muslims?

What has happened to the thought of Muslims? Are you going to support people who have said bad words against the Prophet SAW.

Should tolerance be used here!

Moderation in Islam is not what you are talking about. Agreed that this is not the right way to do it but shouldn't Salman Taseer have been arrested for supporting people who used bad words against Prophet SAW. When you are not going to uphold the LAW people will do what should have been done!

Just tell me we all want to follow prophet's footstep. Then what happens when it comes to blasphemy. Prophet himself on several occasion forgive blasphemers. Prophet visit to Taif is a good example.

Plus there is a law in case you didn't notice....

 

[A.Rahman]

yeah people will die without any proof of their guilt... ...... Happy killing spree.....

Ppl are dying everyday in drone attacks without the proof of guilt