Islamabad: Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, has died in Islamabad after his car was shot at by men who are yet to be identified. They opened fire on his car as he was leaving his home.
Mr. Bhatti was the only Christian in his country's cabinet. Along with Salmaan Taseer, the Punjab governor who was assassinated, Mr. Bhatti was a vocal advocate of amending Pakistan's tyrannical blasphemy laws. After Mr. Tasser was killed in January, Mr. Bhatti organized several memorials for him.
Some Pakistani TV channels report that Mr Bhatti's assassins pulled up in a white car, and asked a woman and child travelling in Mr. Bhatti's vehicle to step out of the car before they opened fire on the minister. The fact that Mr. Bhatti was traveling without any security is now being questioned.
Mr. Bhatti was rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead upon arrival.
Local media reports that he had been receiving death threats for campaigning for justice for a group of Christians whose homes were set on fire for allegedly committing blasphemy. The Christians were attacked, reportedly by Muslims, in August in a town in Punjab named Gojra. More than 50 houses were set on fire. Seven Christians died in the violence.
Like Mr. Taseer, Mr. Bhatti was asking for the release of Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who is in jail and has been given the death sentence after Muslims in her village accused her of insulting the prophet Muhammad. She was convicted largely on the basis of hearsay, sparking an international campaign that includes the Pope.
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Pakistani minister assassinated in Islamabad