(January 05, 2012) Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday to remember Salman Taseer
a year after the Punjab governor was assassinated by his bodyguard for speaking out
against the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. In Lahore, Pakistan about 300
students, lawyers and human rights activists joined the slain governor’s family in
a candlelight vigil at Liberty Chowk, a well-known gathering point in the city. At
the same time, workers from the Catholic Bishops’ National Commission for Justice
and Peace, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance and the Centre for Human Rights Education
spoke out against the blasphemy law and demanded the “safe” recovery of one of Taseer’s
sons who was abducted last month. “We are of his blood, we shall continue his mission,”
other children of Taseer said after placing a candle in front of a giant poster of
their father. Elderly Christian women, in tears, later greeted them and assured them
of their support. Faiza Ahmed Malik, a member of the provincial assembly demanded
that the death sentence handed to assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, be carried out swiftly.
“The delay will encourage similar murderers,” she said. Meanwhile, across town, about
1,000 Muslim hardliners gathered at a shrine in support of Qadri. There they demanded
swift punishment for Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy, and
who Taseer had tried to support. They also claimed Taseer’s murder was justified
because it was carried out according to Islamic dictates.