Pakistan: The brutal assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti
Pakistan: The brutal assassination of Minister Shahbaz
Bhatti exposes
the nexus between the security agencies
and the Taliban
(The Asian Human Rights Commission
deplores the cold blooded murder
of Minister Bhatti)
Pakistan, the Asian Human Rights Commission and the world
at large
has lost a great advocate in the cause of human
rights in general and
religious minorities in particular
by the brutal assassination of Mr.
Shahbaz Bhatti, the
Federal Minister for Religious Minorities. Mr.
Bhatti,
the only Christian minister, was shot to death while
traveling
in his official car on March 2 in Islamabad
exactly two months after
the murder of Salman Taseer, the
former governor of Punjab. The
linking cause behind these
two high profile assassinations was their
support of the
proposed amendments to the blasphemy laws.
From his early
years, before he took up his ministerial duties
Mr.
Bhatti was a true human rights defender and activist
who fought for
the religious freedom of all persons. He
was a humanitarian that
believed in a hands-on approach
to his work and was not afraid to be
seen visiting,
speaking to and supporting others who were fighting
in
their own way.
His assassination shows how barbaric
the blasphemy laws really are in
that they make no effort
to maintain peace and order but rather
encourage
religious extremists who are fully aware that the
government
of Pakistan will take no real action against
them. This was made
evident by their lack of action
against the pamphlets distributed by
unknown persons
calling for the assassination of anyone opposed to
the
blasphemy laws. The fact that they were distributed
in the Minister's
neighbourhood shows a well planned and
premeditated attack on him.
The Taliban elements in
Pakistan made open threats, not only against
Mr. Bhatti
but also against any person or persons who support
the
proposed amendments to the blasphemy laws. These
threats have been
made publicly, but as is typical the
government has not instructed the
authorities to arrest
and detain the people concerned. Rather they
have chosen
to continue their policy of appeasement which has now
led
to the death of another good man. Prior to his
assassination Mr.
Bhatti reported several death threats
to the relevant authorities. In
fact, on January 27, 2011
the Daily Jang, the largest circulated
newspaper in the
country reported that according to intelligence
reports
Shahbaz Bhatti would be the next target of the Taliban
after
Salman Taseer. It therefore speaks to the most
unbelievable negligence
of the police and the security
agencies that no specific action was
taken to provide
additional security. Instead the police
officer
responsible for Mr. Bhatti's security, Wajid
Durrani, Islamabad's
police chief, has shifted the burden
of responsibility on Mr. Bhatti
himself by stating that
the security detail was withdrawn on the
Minister's
instructions. A claim which he cannot support with
any
documentary proof.
It has been observed that in
recent high profile assassinations there
has been a
considerable connection with the police to
the
perpetrators. This was plainly evident in the
assassination of Salman
Taseer who was shot dead in the
presence of his security detail by one
of his own police
guards. Similarly in the case of Benazir Bhutto
the
police officer responsible for her security was
removed by higher
officials shortly before her
assassination. The response to her death
by the military
government, then under Musharraf, was that it was her
own
fault for placing herself in danger.
There is an alarming
nexus between the Taliban, extremist religious
forces and
the police and security agencies which denies the
victims
their right, guaranteed by the country's
Constitution of protection.
This nexus also ensures that
no impartial investigations will ever see
the light of
day. Police reforms were halted during the reign of
the
military government and despite the fact that
Pakistan is now under a
civilian government the reforms
have not yet started. This is because
the government
itself has no control over the military and
security
agencies. This lack of control and command
responsibility has allowed
militant and religious
extremists to infiltrate their ranks.
Even parts of the
media have been used to instigate support for
religious
intolerance and hatred towards supporters of amendments
to
the blasphemy laws and secular thinking. They have
used their
facilities to glorify the killers as in the
case of Mumtaz Quadri, the
assassin of Salman Taseer who
was feted as a hero. Even the attitude
of the higher
courts shows no support for the amendments to
the
blasphemy laws in that they have given verdicts that
the parliament
should not continue with the amendments.
They also turn a blind eye to
the blatantly illegal use
of mosque loud speakers to spread the
messages of hatred
and make no effort to implement the law which has
been in
existence since 2004.
The assassination of Mr. Shahbaz
Bhatti, the Federal Minister for
Religious Minorities,
marks a dark day in the history of Pakistan. The
AHRC has
repeatedly called upon the government to take action
against
persons and groups calling for the death of
anyone supporting the
amendments to the blasphemy laws
and to leave behind, once and for
all, its appeasement
policy towards the religious extremists. It is
this very
policy which results in the political expediency that
allows
the government to live in peace with the religious
extremists and
militant elements in the country.
The
Asian Human Rights Commission calls upon the government
of
President Zardari to initiate an immediate and
impartial investigation
through an independent commission
into the death of Mr. Shahbaz
Bhatti. This must be done
to bring justice to the many persons killed
and harmed by
religious intolerance and to reveal to the
international
community that it is the government, not
the extremists or security
agencies that is in charge.
The government must also take strenuous and immediate
efforts to form
a high powered commission to purge the
police and security agencies of
the Taliban elements and
religious extremists. Reforms of the policing
system are
the most important need of the day.
The government must
also stand firm on the amendments to the
blasphemy laws
before more good men and women are killed while they
look
on. In this respect protection must be provided to Ms.
Sherry
Rehman, the former Minister for Information who
proposed the
amendments to the blasphemy law in 2010 and
who is the next person on
the assassination list of the
Taliban.
ENDS