Anyone challenging the Blasphemy Law puts his life at risk, Lahore Archbishop says

(January 06, 2011) Salman Taseer fought for the release of Asia Bibi and spoke for the repeal of the blasphemy law. I think this was the main reason for his murder,” said Mgr Lawrence John Saldanha, archbishop of Lahore, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan and head of the National Justice and Peace Commission. “In Pakistan, the number of people whose life is threatened is growing. With this murder, it is clear that anyone that opposes the blasphemy law is at risk,” said the archbishop, who sent a letter of condolences to Governor Taseer’s widow on Wednesday. A member of the Pakistan People’s Party, Salman Taseer was appointed governor of Punjab Province in 2008. He was killed Tuesday by a member of his security detail outside a café in Islamabad. Local media quoted his assassin as saying that he killed the political leader because of his criticism of the blasphemy law. “The entire Christian community is concerned about what happened. It condemns the murder of Taseer, who was a great man,” Mgr Saldanha said. For the archbishop, everyone should raise their voice against intolerance and extremism, including the media. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the governor’s murder, expressing grief and alarm at his death and calling it a manifestation of growing intolerance in society. Minority Affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, also condemned the killing, saying that the governor’s stance against the Blasphemy Laws led to his death. In the last few months, Taseer pleaded on behalf of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman from Punjab sentenced to death for blasphemy, and this despite criticism from his own party.