Pakistan charges killer in blasphemy case

(February 14, 2011) A Pakistani court charged a police guard on Monday with the murder of a politician who opposed the country's notorious anti-blasphemy laws, a killing that exposed deep fissures in Pakistani society. Mumtaz Qadri, who admitted to killing Punjab governor Salman Taseer on Jan. 4, gained wide support, especially from Islamists who see liberal politicians such as Taseer as straying from Pakistan's Islamist credentials. Taseer, who was close to President Asif Ali Zardari, had championed the cause of a Catholic woman, Asia Bibi, who has been sentenced to death under the blasphemy law. Critics say the law has often been misused against Pakistan's tiny religious minorities and to settle personal scores. Taseer had sought changes to the law, angering hardline Islamist groups. After Qadri pumped 27 bullets into Taseer in broad daylight at an Islamabad shopping centre, he was viewed as a hero by many Pakistanis, highlighting how deeply religious extremism has penetrated mainstream Pakistani society. Last November, Pope Benedict XVI had appealed for the release of Asia Bibi and in January had urged Pakistan’s leaders to take the necessary steps to abrogate the blasphemy laws because, he said, they serve as a pretext for acts of injustice and violence against religious minorities.