Daughter of Murdered Politician Warned About Blasphemy Campaign
The leader of an Islamic political party in Pakistan has issued a chilling warning to the daughter of a high-profile politician murdered because of his campaign to pardon a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.
By Rob Crilly
01/12/2011 Pakistan (The Telegraph)-Many Muslims celebrated last week’s murder of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, and marched in support of Mumtaz Qadri, the police officer who fired a volley of bullets into his back.
However, Shehrbano Taseer, 21, has taken up her father’s cause and spoken out against misuse of the country’s blasphemy laws to target minorities.
Shadab Qadri, head of the Sunni Tehreek organisation, said that she should stop criticising the killer’s actions.
“We read the statement of the slain governor’s daughter in a newspaper. She should refrain from issuing such statements and must remember her father’s fate,” he said.
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On Wednesday, Ms Taseer spoke to the BBC Today programme to say she hoped the killer would be brought to justice.
“My father’s stance has been misrepresented and has been misquoted because he simply said these laws are being misused and they target the poor, the dispossessed and the voiceless.
“He said it’s a man-made law and these things should be debated in parliament,” she said. “That has been misconstrued into saying that he has been blasphemous.”
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