Opinion: Public reaction to Taseer killing depicts the real Pakistan

Although Pakistan's religious parties rarely do well at the polls- a fact often cited by those countering concerns that the country is going fundamentalist- their street power is considerable, and the furore over blasphemy appears to be partly in response to significant losses for the religious right in the 2008 elections.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Daily India | ANI
By ANI | March 12, 2011

Islamabad, Mar 12 (ANI): Celebration of former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer's assassination and garlanding of his murderer Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri with roses by hundreds of lawyers depicts the real Pakistan, Pak Institute for Peace Studies Director Amir Muhammad Rana has said.

"The Pakistan we saw in the wake of Taseer's killing is the real Pakistan," the Time magazine quoted Rana, as saying.

For the past two years, Rana's organization has conducted in-depth interviews with a broad spectrum of Pakistani citizens.


"They might dress Western and eat at McDonald's, but when it comes to religion, most Pakistanis have a very conservative mind-set," he added.

It is not news that Pakistan has a lunatic fringe, the article said, adding that what is disturbing is that after Taseer's murder, when the silent majority finally spoke up, it praised Qadri, not his victim.

The public reaction exploded the myth of Pakistan's moderate Islam; Qadri belongs to a mainstream sect that routinely condemns the Taliban, the article said.

Although Pakistan's religious parties rarely do well at the polls- a fact often cited by those countering concerns that the country is going fundamentalist- their street power is considerable, and the furore over blasphemy appears to be partly in response to significant losses for the religious right in the 2008 elections, the article said.

With the current government on the verge of collapse and popular sentiment against the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) mounting, the religious parties are betting on significant gains if fresh elections are called, it added.

The article said the case of double murder-accused CIA contractor Raymond Davis demonstrates the state of Pakistan's politics.

It has gone virtually unremarked in Pakistan that self-confessed murderer Qadri has been hailed as a national hero, while Davis, who seems to have acted in self-defense, is considered worthy of the death penalty, it added.

Over the past few weeks, street rallies led by the religious right have simultaneously called for the release of Qadri and the hanging of Davis.

"What is happening now won't matter in five years," said Taseer's daughter Shehrbano.

"It will matter in 25 years. What we are seeing now is the fruit of what happened 30 years ago. If people had stood up against [Zia-ul-Haq], we would not be here today. Because of that silence we have madrasahs spewing venom, a true Islam threatened by the same people who claim to serve it, and a cowed majority too afraid to speak," she added.


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