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| Slain Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti |
Source/Credit: The Telegraph & Argus
By Tanya O'Rourke | March 3, 2011
Religious leaders in Bradford have condemned the murder of Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti.
The 42-year-old minister, a Christian who was outspoken against the country’s blasphemy laws, was shot dead yesterday on his way to a cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
He visited Bradford last year and spoke to religious groups about the difficulties faced by minorities in Pakistan.
The Reverend Dominic Mughal, Bradford Moor community outreach priest, described Mr Bhatti as a friend.
He said: “It’s very shocking and tragic. He was here last year. I knew him from Pakistan. We had worked together towards religious freedom for everybody in Pakistan.
“He was a personal friend, a committed politician and he was a voice for the voiceless, especially religious minorities in Pakistan.
“He was a young man and he gave his life to politics and democracy.”
Mr Bhatti’s death comes two months after the murder of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who had also called for reform of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
Dr Abdul Bary Malik, spokesman for Bradford’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, whose members have expressed concerns about increasing persecution of the Ahmadi community and of Christians by extremists, said: “I want to express my shock and condemn this in the strongest possible words.
“I had the honour of meeting him and found him a really nice, sympathetic person, and highly intellectual."
Chairman of the Pakistan Asian Christian Welfare Association Bradford Jim Dutt said: “We want to call for proper protection for everybody who speaks out against blasphemy laws.
“He was a Christian, he was a very, very good man and he was trying to talk to the Government about repealing the blasphemy laws."
Read original post here: Blasphemy campaigner is latest to be assassinated by extremists
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