The Guardian:
Supreme court says Mumtaz Qadri should be executed for shooting dead Punjab governor who backed reform of country’s hardline blasphemy laws
A former police bodyguard revered as a hero by Pakistani conservatives for killing a politician who criticised the country’s blasphemy laws has had his death sentence upheld.
In ordinary circumstances there would never be any doubt about which way the supreme court decision would go: Mumtaz Qadri is unrepentent at having shot dead Salmaan Taseer, then governor of Punjar, as he left a restaurant in a busy Islamabad market in January 2011. But moderates have claimed the ruling is a sign of a change in official attitudes towards religious extremism.
In the months before his murder, Taseer had sparked anger among religious conservatives by taking up the cause of Asia Bibi, a poor Christian woman who had been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the prophet Muhammad.
Categories: Anti Islam act by Muslims, Asia, Blasphemy, Free speach, Free Speech, Pakistan, Religion
The family of slain Salmaan Taseer, then governor of Punjab,Pakistan must have taken a sigh of relief.The supreme court Justice Mr. Khousa said that there would be no law in the country if every one starts taking decisions like this with their own intelligence or conscious.Finally the justice prevailed.
Mumtaz Qadri (MQ), the killer took an innocent life easily. Now he is fighting to keep himself alive. He loves his own life. Judge has given a good decision. It is surprising that many lawyers were supporting the murderer MQ. And a retired judge had been fighting the case of MQ.
Here is a news item: Maulvis are protesting against the Supreme Court Judgment.
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KARACHI: Several religious parties on Friday staged a sit-in against the Supreme Court judgement upholding the decision against Mumtaz Qadri, the Elite Force commando who assassinated former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in Jan 2011, and demanded that the government review the conviction handed down to the self-confessed killer.
The protesters warned the relevant authorities that Qadri’s execution would cause anger among the people who love Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) more than their lives.
The demonstration, which was organised outside the Karachi Press Club by Tanzeemat-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat (an alliance of several parties representing the Barelvi school of thought), was attended by a large number of people holding placards and portraits of the convict.
The alliance represents the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Noorani), Pakistan Sunni Tehreek, Jamaat Ahl-i-Sunnat, Sunni Alliance, Sunni Ittehad Council and others.
“Mumtaz Qadri is not a terrorist who has blown up a public place in the name of Islam or killed innocent people without any reason for an undefined ideology,” said Shahid Ghori of the Sunni Tehreek.
“We are not opting for agitation or violence on streets, but we have arguments to prove our point. That’s the reason we are challenging this conviction against him.”
Mufti Mohammad Abid Mubarak said that any segment of society that believed the conviction was justified could have a debate with him on the subject. The parties under the Tanzeemat-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat had enough points to prove him innocent, he added.
“We are making a case for dialogue and for not confrontation. We respect Pakistan’s institutions whether they are law enforcement agencies or the judiciary,” said prominent cleric Pir Muzaffar Hussain Shah. “But one must understand that blasphemy is itself a crime set by these institutions and laws of Pakistan. So how one can be penalised for rising against that crime?”
Allama Rehan Amjad Nomani, Mufti Ghulam Ghaus Baghdadi and Maulana Qari Khalil-ur-Rahman Chishti also spoke.
JI support for Mumtaz Qadri
The Jamaat-i-Islami also threw its weight behind Mumtaz Qadri and described him as the hero of the Pakistani nation.
In a statement issued on Friday, senior leader of the party Asadullah Bhutto called for the removal of terror charges against the convicted killer. “Mumtaz Qadri is the hero of the Pakistani nation,” he said. “We respect the Supreme Court verdict, but keep every right to challenge it.”
Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2015
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