Q&A With Shehrbano Taseer

Shehrbano Taseer, the daughter of murdered Pakistan’s Punjab governor Salman Taseer, says she is determined to continue his campaign against the misuse of Pakistan's blasphemy law. I recently spoke to her for RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal and here is the full interview.

Is your family satisfied with judiciary/court procedures that are taking place in the case of your father’s killing?

We are confident that Qadri [Mumtaz Qadri who killed Salman Taseer] will be punished for what he did. The state has intentionally kept the case out of the media, and we would respect everyone's compliance with this.

How do you cope with the loss of your father? Especially you live in the same country and to be more specific in the same province where the killer and his supporters celebrated the murder!

We try to take it one day at a time. For everyone else it was the Governor of Punjab and their leader and hero, but for me it was my father. It has been very difficult.

It was sickening to watch the lawyers garland Qadri because these men are supposed to be the vanguards of justice in Pakistan and it makes one wonder just how independent our judiciary really is. 

The Deep Roots Of Pakistan’s Extremism

by Bashir Ahmad Gwakh

Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s murder by his security guard was an obvious act of religious extremism and a clear sign that Pakistan has changed little in the more than 80 years since a carpenter killed a Hindu for allegedly publishing a book that insulted the Prophet Muhammad. A country that was founded on the basis of religion remains in a dark morass presided over by insidious, violent ideologies.

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Salamn Taseer’s murder and furthermore the glorification of his murder is a proof of the widespread extremism in Pakistani society. The murderer, Mumtaz Qadri is given the title of a hero by many.

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