Facebook ‘praise’ for Taseer’s assassination

[DesiGuy]

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of Facebook users welcomed the killing of liberal Pakistani politician Salman Taseer as a strike against reformers of the country’s tight blasphemy laws.

The Punjab governor was shot on Tuesday by one of his guards, 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri, who confessed to the murder because of Taseer’s vocal opposition to the law that was recently used to sentence a Christian woman to death.

Analysts say the assassination underscores how deeply religious extremism has penetrated Pakistan’s conservative society, with even the Internet-literate elite resorting to Facebook to rally support for the killer.

Nearly 2,000 Facebook users joined one group on the social networking site praising Qadri, and dozens of “fans” joined other pages set up in Qadri’s honour in the hours after the shooting.

All the pages had been removed by Wednesday. Facebook was not immediately reachable for comment.

But other private account holders used their Facebook status updates to make comments such as: “We salute you Mumtaz Qadri,” “thank God he (Taseer) is not alive (any) more” and praise for the attacker as “a soldier of Islam”.

In a sign of mainstream media opposition, Pakistan’s leading Urdu-language newspaper, Jang, ran a front-page story declaring: “There should be no funeral for Salman Taseer and no condemnation for his death.”

“A supporter of a blasphemer is also a blasphemer,” said a sub-heading, reporting that 500 religious scholars and clerics had paid tribute to Qadri.

But voices also came out to denounce the gunman, and Facebook page named “I Hate Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri” had 70 “fans” with no comments or discussions.

Those Facebook users who spoke out in support of the politician expressed sadness over the growing Islamisation of the country.

“Sad over Death of Tolerance in Pakistan. Governor Punjab killed by his ‘lunatic guard,’” said one man on his status.

“Pretext: Late Governor Salman Taseer was bold enough to stand-up against Blasphemy law… extensively used/abused against religious minorities,” he added.

“It is sad. I shiver thinking where we are heading and in which society my kids will live their lives,” said another.

Police investigations are focusing on whether the bearded police commando acted alone or as part of a wider conspiracy.

A lawyer from Islamabad’s high court, Farooq Sulehria, told AFP that the assassin would find no shortage of support.

“We will provide all legal support to Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, we will fight for him in the court,” said Sulehria.
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[bluestocking]

It really indicates how much degenerated our society has been. Really pathetic. People are senseless and are devoid of deep understanding of Islam. Following article is a good piece regarding this issue:

Manifestation of overwhelming emotions?
By Mohammad Jamil

Emotions are what drive us, and also what drive us astray. But we must remember that Allah had sent Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as a great blessing for the world with the message of peace and above all the Truth.

Therefore while awarding death sentence to a person who committed act of blasphemy, it must be established that he or she was not framed by the vested interest or out of vendetta. If truth is not pursued then it is negation of the Islamic injunctions. One would not know whether Mumtaz Quadri, assassin of Governor Salman Taseer committing this heinous crime, or was he did it on somebody else’s behest, which will only be revealed after thorough investigation of the case. Meanwhile, the assassin has confessed to his interrogators that he committed this crime in reaction to Salman Taseer’s statements regarding blasphemous law; yet he had no right to take law in his own hands, and should not be condoned and projected as a hero. For his part, late Salman Taseer also should not have rushed to approach President Asif Ali Zardari to seek clemency for Aasia – a Christian woman – who was awarded death sentence under the blasphemy law by Sessions Court, as she had the right to go into appeal against the verdict to High Court and Supreme Court.

Having that said, the brutal assassination of Salman Taseer was tragic and grievous, because if there was something against the Governor, clerics and ulema should have approached the court instead of taking out rallies and creating hype and frenzy. Unfortunately, media men and even courts appear to be scared of the extremists and terrorists. Indeed there is consensus in all sects and fiqahs of Islam that anybody involved in blasphemy be awarded death sentence.
But it is also responsibility of the state that the law is not misused by any one.

Therefore, instead of discussing the existing law, another law could be passed to ensure that no innocent becomes victim of misuse of the law. Anyhow, blasphemy is a very sensitive and emotional issue, and all and sundry should be careful in expressing their views so that they are not misunderstood or misinterpreted by the fanatics to charge some one for blasphemy.
The problem is that Pakistan is an extremist society vis-à-vis extreme opulence and extreme poverty, and emotions rise high on even small issues because of despondency and impoverishment. Another reason for interfaith intolerance is apathy of Americans and Europeans, who never condemned the newspaper that published sacrilegious caricatures and had hurt Muslims’ feelings. They do not feel qualm over violations of human rights though they consider them as champions of such rights. Read the full article below:
Manifestation of overwhelming emotions? | PK ARTICLES HUB

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

This is sick .... a Facebook page commemorating the brave , departed soul should be started impromptu by all liberals who use the net . This is like a second assassination , mocking what the brave guy stood for.

 

[Zizou]

OP >>> Just what are you trying to achieve here ???

How many more threads do we need on this topic, seriously ???

 

[NmHqh2JbVo]

This is sick .... a Facebook page commemorating the brave , departed soul should be started impromptu by all liberals who use the net . This is like a second assassination , mocking what the brave guy stood for.

Highly "valued" by Goldman Sachs (And Goldman Sachs only?) doesn't make stuff(Stuff only?) posted on a yellow book of the Internet age worth commenting.

Aaaaaaaah, the yellow book. I guess that will make Google the 411 operator.