Funeral held for assassinated Pakistani politician

Thousands of Pakistani police were on high alert in Lahore on Wednesday ahead of the funeral for Punjab’s provincial governor, Salam Taseer.

Taseer was assassinated by one of his security guards Tuesday in Islamabad because of his opposition to the nation’s controversial blasphemy law. The governor had also requested a pardon for Asia Bibi, the Christian mother of five sentenced to death under the law.

“Taseer was a vocal and bold and courageous man,” says Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Minorities and member of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

A group of 500 moderate Pakistani religious scholars have warned that anyone who expresses grief over the assassination could suffer the same fate, saying that those who oppose the blasphemy law should learn a lesson from Taseer's death.

“I believe that this cowardly act of violence cannot create fear and cannot stop us from raising the voice for justice and raising the voice for the protection of minorities and innocent people of Pakistan,” Minister Bhatti told Vatican Radio.

Listen to Shahbaz Bhatti’s interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: