Bilawal calls Qadri, supporters real blasphemers

LONDON: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari turned fire on the supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, the elite policeman who assassinated Salman Taseer on 4th December in a posh market in Islamabad, and called them “the real blasphemers.”
Salman Taseer was killed after he was wrongly accused of committing blasphemy when he had only proposed reforms to the blasphemy law and expressed support for Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman who is alleged to have committed blasphemy.
Addressing a packed memorial service for the murdered Punjab governor at the High Commission of Pakistan here, Bilawal condemned the religious right for glorifying the murder of Salman Taseer and showering rose petals on the hate-filled policeman who is believed to have ties with an extremist Islamist group.
Addressing directly the supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, Bilawal said: “You, along with the killers of Shaheed Salman Taseer, are the real blasphemers. Because of you, the message of Islam is distorted in the eyes of the world.”
Mourners, including Labour and Conservative MPs, PPP activists and leading members of the Pakistani Christian community came to offer prayers from all parts of Britain. Bilawal quoted a saying of Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in which the last Prophet expressed solidarity with minorities and had vowed to fight on their behalf “on the day of judgement.”
Comparing the assassination of Taseer with his own mother Benazir Bhutto three years ago, Bilawal said that the bravery of Salman Taseer would “never be forgotten” as the liberal politician died “defending the message of Islam, died defending the words and actions of our beloved Prophet (PBUH)” and those who killed him “in fact bring disrepute to Islam by allowing usurpation of people’s rights.”
Through his speech at the High Commission in London, Bilawal has become the only person from the PPP to condemn in strongest terms the killer of Taseer. PPP has been widely criticised for abandoning - in the face of fire-spouting opposition and death threats from extremist religious leaders - not only Salman Taseer but also Sherry Rehman whose life is under danger. PPP has done nothing so far to take legal action against those who put fatwa on Taseer’s first and now on Sherry Rehman.
On the contrary Rehman Malik, the Interior Minister, bewildered the world when he said he will take law into his own hands and will kill the blasphemers. Bilawal called Taseer “the real lion of Punjab” and “one of the few heroic politicians left in the ever-depleting pool of brave Pakistani politicians.”
He branded the extremist followers of religious parties as “evil masqueraders as people of faith terrorising all those who oppose or disagree with them” and said through the killing of Salman Taseer the dark forces of extremism and bigotry wanted to send a message was being sent to all those who believed in the peaceful teachings of the Prophet (PBUH), in democracy and humanity that they will devour Pakistan.
But the Oxford student refused to bow down and be silenced by fear and called for unity to resurrect Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Pakistan. To those who have asked others not to pray for Salman Taseer, Bilawal called suppressors of religious freedom who have committed grave crimes against Islam and they must be defeated.
He strongly came out in defence of “Christian and other minority communities in Pakistan. “We will defend you. Those who wish to harm you for a crime you didn’t commit will have to go through me first,” he told in his emotional address.
Echoing the words he spoke following his mother’s death and which he often repeats, Bilawal said: “Democracy is always the best revenge.”He challenged the religious parties that it was easy to bring out people in the name of Islam on the streets but “they have never and will never enjoy the electoral support of the people of Pakistan.”
Others who spoke on the occasion included Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Christian leader and academic Councillor James Sherra, MPs Sir Gerald Kaufman, Sadiq Khan, Rehman Chishti, Anas Sarwar, Emma Reynolds, Mike Gibbs, PPP MNA Syed Nasir Ali Shah, and PPP UK President Syed Hasan Bukhari.
All of them said that Salman Taseer’s sacrifice for a liberal and enlightened Pakistan will never be forgotten and he will live on in the hearts of peace loving Pakistanis and the supporters of Pakistan abroad. They called Salman Taseer a Shaheed (martyr) who fought for democracy all his life and stood for the finest values of Pakistan.
Prayers were offered by the mourners on the occasion and a minute’s silence was held in his honour.APP adds: Bilawal said the only way to rid Pakistan of all its ills is to ensure that democracy prevails. “To those who dare attack my religion especially those who corrupt its peaceful message, you are what I call covert culprits and you will be defeated. This shall be our jihad. Jihad against those who use our religion as a tool to justify their violence, suicide attacks and mass murder. They believe erroneously that their crimes will take them to heaven.”
Bilawal pointed out that the assassination of Taseer is not about the liberal versus conservatives or moderate Islam against radical Islam. He told a large gathering which also included his aunt Sanam Bhutto that the people of Pakistan yearn for peace, security and prosperity and they do not vote for violence and bloodshed. “Those who preach hatred in the name of Islam have never and will never enjoy the electoral support of the people of Pakistan,” he declared.
Bilawal said like his mother who was martyred during her Jihad against those who had hijacked Islam and because she spoke against the oppressors both those who ran Pakistan and those who exploited Islam, Taseer, too, was gunned down because he, too, refused to be silenced.