Taseer, the lion of Punjab

In Punjab there are many famous political figures but for me late Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab Province, was seen widely as one of the country’s most important political figures. Salmaan Taseer started his political career in 1960s while he was still a student; while doing student politics he became a close and active member of Zulifqarali Bhutto’s PPP, where he quickly surfaced as a prominent young Pakistani politician. He was a great leader and a courageous personality. He is my hero a person who sacrificed his life for poor woman. The day Salman Taseer become everyone hero that will be a day Pakistan become greatest nation of the world. However, January 4 and 5 are two days that every PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) supporter will remember, but for two very different reasons. January 5 is the birthday of their enigmatic party founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and January 4, remains one of the darkest days in our history of political murders – a day when a brave hero of Pakistan was murdered. Just to highlight for my readers that January 4, 2011, was the day when the serving Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was shot dead by his guard, because the guard was in disagreement with Taseer’s opposition to the blasphemy law. I was reading his interview for Newsline in which he thoroughly explained about the asiyabibi case and gave his opinion. To me, his defense of Aasia Bibi was a truly noble act. Salman Taseer was a man who believed in a liberal Pakistan. He believed in a country where freedom of speech was not frowned upon and where religious extremism was not ripe. A courageous man who spoke sense and stood against extremism as everyone else was surrounded by an ugly haze. A man with dapper dresser with jet black hair, he embraced the media and modern technology, becoming one of Pakistan’s most prolific users of social media website Twitter as an outlet for his bold views. It is because of these reasons that Salmaan Taseer should be remembered. His support within this particular case was not for votes or popularity, but because it was the right thing to do. I was most puzzled and amazed when few of the lawyers and right-wingextremists showered flower petals on his killer, and on the other hand very few wanted eagerly to defend him but they were afraid of the situation. However, just months after Taseer was gunned down, Pakistan’s Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the cabinet’s only Christian, was shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car. This was another incident took place of somehow same nature. He was a great leader and a courageous personality. He is my hero a person who sacrificed his life for poor woman. The day Salman Taseer become everyone hero that will be a day Pakistan become greatest nation of the world For my readers, in Pakistan’s blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam but critics say they have been used to persecute minority faiths and unfairly target minorities.Data provided by National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) shows a total of 776 Muslims, 505 Ahmedis, 229 Christians and 30 Hindus have been accused under various clauses of the blasphemy law from 1987 until 2018. From past many years amending the blasphemy laws has been on the agenda of many popular secular parties. Sadly, none has made much progress – principally because of the sensitivities over the issue, but also because no major party wants to antagonise the religious parties. As Muslims, let me ask my readers that that when you kill in the name of Islam and you are portraying Islam and his legacy in an extremely wrong way. The world will, and in fact already is, judging Islam by the way Muslims behave in the name of Islam. If we want the world to consider Islam as a peaceful religion then remember to act in such a way. Being violent, endorsing violence, giving apologetic defense to violence and then also demanding that world should not “stereotype” Muslims and consider Islam as a religion of peace won’t work.Instead of taking lives of innocent Ahmadies, Christians and other minorities lets show the real face of Islam. Last but not the least, Salman Taseer’s actions have defined the great schism in Pakistan society on a very sensitive subject. He will be remembered as a hero, not anyone would want to say and did what he said and did, because he had a mission, and lived and died for a cause he knew well what the consequences might be, he will be always remembered. While concluding I want to say that this is a funny world we are living in, you get killed for helping a helpless poor people. Men die, their actions don’t. Bullets do kill men but the ideology remains alive in the hearts of people. Rest in peace Salman Taseer. We love you. The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He has done his Maters and MPhil in Communication Studies.He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com, tweets at Salmani_salu