In memoriam of Shahbaz Bhatti – by TLW
Federal Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti
Born – 9th September 1968
Murdered – 2nd March 2011
I feel this needs to be written. Even if its been two weeks since Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was murdered, and I know everybody feels the same way I feel, but this needs to be said loud and clear. I want to apologise to his family and friends and express my grief and regret. The sadness at this murder breaks my heart and runs over into my soul at the spectacle of murder my country at large has become a stage for. I once used to take solace in the fact that it was only Karachi that partook in large scale murder in this day and age. But with Pakistani imperial ambitions blocked in Afghanistan, and an insane Al Qaeda turning its strategic violence industry on Pakistan, the mad radicals have decided to exploit to the hilt, every faultline, every difference, every frayed nerve ending to get their message of vengeance across to the larger Pakistani public at large. This includes exploiting the fact that for some strange reason I still have difficulty fathoming, a section of Punjabi Pakistanis get more worked up on insults to the prophet, rather than sticking to their religious mandate to worship no God but Allah. Or maybe if they want to get worked up it could be over non-reporting teachers or raped and murdered children in the province of the serial killer Javed Iqbal. But no, it’s a law passed by Zia that is used to victimise people, steal their property or destroy their reputation, the preservation of which’s abusive nature is more important than any other social ill that plagues Pakistan.
And so it’s with regret that I write that another in a long list of Pakistanis has been felled by the fanatics nurtured by our society and its government. Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was killed 12 days ago on his way to work by Taliban gunmen. They were surgical about it, stopping the driver, telling him to get out of the car and then assassinating the Minister. He had not been given police guards, and simultaneously, an intelligence call came to him to inform him that his life was in danger. Allah. Yes geniuses at Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, we know Bhatti sahib’s life was in danger. What you people at the Jasoos Adda could have done would be to find the name of his killers, or maybe lodge cases and file for arrest warrants against everybody who had verbally or in writing made a threat against a sitting minister of the state.
My anger is overcome with sadness. The PPP should rabidly pursue the killers of their party member the way General Musharraf rabidly pursued those officers who tried to murder him, overturning entire careers if necessary. Yes I know that is a blasphemy, for civilians to challenge the careers of those in the government defence/intelligence sector, but I think it is necessary because too many high profile terror attacks have occurred for an example not to be made of in the government security bureaucracy.
This is part of the policy angle, and maybe some progress has been made. But I think more important is to speak about the human angle of the murder of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti, and this is painful to write. Mr Bhatti was a citizen of Pakistan. The community he belongs to, Pakistani Christians, are no less citizens of Pakistan, whether they are in Lahore, Pindi, Karachi or the insurgency hit Khyber district. In this day and age, with mass produced powerful weapons, more miniaturised, more sophisticated and more lethal in smaller doses, human thinking has to evolve beyond the barbarism of the 1940’s that it still seems stuck in. Mr Bhatti in his death has become a champion and symbol of victimisation for his community, against a policy instrument of persecution, of Muslims, Christians, Hindus and other human beings. His death placed the champions of the blasphemy law in a dark place, with Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman coming out and saying that maybe the law might need to be amended.
A dark way to get change.
Mr Bhatti was a brave Punjabi. The last post I wrote before his murder, I wrote in jubilation at Pakistan winning againstSri Lanka with our notoriously unreliable Cricket team. In it I wrote that Pakistan needs Brave Punjabis and smarter, wiser and more mature Pathans. In explanation I wrote, “A little more heart and soul in some brainy corners” in reference to Pakistan needing some bravery amongst its Punjabis. What more could I have possibly meant? That the smart Punjabis who have made their way up the corporate-bureaucratic ladder in Pakistan did so by staying silent about obvious displays of bigotry amongst Pakistanis and how these culturally normative prejudices were tolerated and accepted over decades. A time has now come to address these unspoken prejudices and hatreds. Mr Shahbaz Bhattispoke about these and paid what can be described as the ultimate price for it. For that I salute him.
And I still want the Blasphemy Laws repealed. I asked for a brave Punjabi, and God dammit we got them. We need more brave living Punjabis, and not dead ones, but now I ask for the repeal of those instruments of abuse, the Blasphemy laws.
Source: These Long Wars
Pakistan’s managers of security follow the Blue Book, but the threats and challenges have changed in the last three decades. It is therefore imperative to update the procedures in the context of new realities. Also, leaders must give up their casual attitude and fully observe the principles dictated by VIP security. Those potentially at risk should be sensitised about prevailing security threats. Furthermore, it is high time that an autonomous and centralised protection department were created. This would need to be equipped with modern techniques and technologies and follow international protection practices and ethics. This would not only protect the lives of our leaders but also improve the country’s image.
Security for leaders
By Mohammad Ali Babakhel
http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/17/security-for-leaders.html
WE SALUTE MR SHAHBAZ BHATTI FOR TALKING ABOUT MINORITY LIVING IN PAKISTAN
Koi Mussalman Toheene Risalat Ki Ijazat Nahi Dey Ga.
He was a brave Punjabi, not many like him around unfortunately.
Shahbaz Bhatti: a tribute to a brave heart
By Wajid Shamsul Hasan
Shahbaz Bhatti’s memorial meeting at the Pakistan High Commission on Wednesday was a profoundly sad occasion for all to remember a person who laid down his life for a united and strong Pakistan.
This tribute to him is a humble acknowledgement – in solemn gratitude – of his selfless struggle for high and noble ideals he so cherished. Those ideals that have been a clarion call for every Pakistani to make his country — our country – a place where every citizen has equal rights without fear.
Bhatti laid down his life at a time when he was most needed by the country. In his official capacity, he represented the interests of Pakistan’s religious minorities. However, Bhatti also stood for the vision of Pakistan’s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, martyred Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto that in Pakistan all its citizens will enjoy equal rights—irrespective of caste, creed, colour or gender. Its politics to be characterised by pluralism, rule of law, freedom to practice all faiths and that religion will have nothing to do with the running of the business of the state.
Therefore, it would not be a befitting tribute to the fallen hero if he is just branded as a leader of the minorities or Christians. He belonged to all those brave hearts ready to sacrifice for the alleviation of the sufferings of the common people. Late Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer died for the same noble ideals. So did Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who gave her noble blood to singe obscurantism from Pakistan.
The assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti has been a great blow to Pakistan. And what is more shocking is the lukewarm attitude of the great majority including the intellectuals, liberals and members of civil society. Lest we have forgotten, let us remember the famous statement of Martin Niemoller. If we keep silence we could all be next.
“First they came…” is the famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group as follows:
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
“Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
“Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
“Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me”.
A this juncture of our history when we are in a battle to “do or die” all Pakistanis will have to rise and raise our voice in full throated thunder to counter those who are hell-bent in destroying Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan. Nation’s best revenge would be to revert and revive Jinnah’s vision of a tolerant, progressive, liberal and egalitarian Pakistan ensuring Islamic social justice to all its citizens – irrespective of caste, creed, colour or gender.
We have to repair over 30 years of damage, which the Afghan crisis has unleashed on our peace loving people that has distorted our socio-economic and political moorings. We never had religious intolerance in our society prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The religious bigotry received boost during the dictatorial regimes of General Zia and General Musharraf because these usurpers lacked domestic support and needed legitimacy from foreign masters to sustain themselves in power with outside help. Unfortunately, these dictators and extremists flourished together with the support of our Western friends.
As a youth, Shahbaz Bhatti was the rising star as the crusader for the rights of the less privileged. His life and academic career itself speaks volumes about a person who was cut above the rest; he knew what he was up against but he also knew his ideas would resonate in the country despite temporary setbacks.
Bhatti founded the Christian Liberation Front (CLF) in 1985 while still being a student leader. The CLF initiative was a brave decision to counter the deteriorating treatment of non-Muslims under the regime of General Zia (1977-88). His group was violently opposed from the start. In 1992, CLF launched the first national campaign against the blasphemy laws introduced by General Zia to castrate the political will of the nation.
In 2002, Bhatti and comrades founded the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), and was unanimously elected to lead this nationwide coalition of minority representatives and NGOs. It succeeded in convincing the government to replace the separate electorate system, described as “religious apartheid”, under which religious minorities could vote only for candidates of their own faith.
As federal minister, Shahbaz Bhatti was always on the move for his people. His achievements include a 5 percent increase in quota for minorities in government jobs, the first minority seats in the Senate and a 24-hour minorities helpline. He further launched a network of “district interfaith harmony committees” to encourage dialogue and unite communities through common concerns.
Inspired to carry forward his mission by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Shahbaz sought to acquire for Pakistan a lead role to be emulated by others in a state of deprivation. Just as the Zia regime imposed blasphemy laws he fought against for so many years are not and should not be portrayed as a ‘religious minority issue’, so too his death reflects a problem of relevance to all Pakistanis.
Bhatti sought to address both the laws and the social attitudes that were abused for individual and collective selfish motives. His focus was to stop abuse of religions as a divisive force, seeking to lessen the misty space in which hate speech thrives. He encouraged open dialogue and cooperation between neighbours of different backgrounds and opinions by ushering in interfaith harmony.
It is a thought-provoking truth that the most important aspects of Bhatti’s work were never covered by the media. Over the course of 2010 he quietly and consistently negotiated possible amendments to the blasphemy laws with his political colleagues, including those most naturally opposed to change of any kind. He sought a consensus from which a bill of amendments was to be launched and approved by the National Assembly. Most importantly, he saw Pakistan leading the way by example through its ‘District Interfaith Harmony Committees’ and other such initiatives.
It is time for us to make a resolve that the work Shahbaz had started would not be abandoned. As a living monument to his memory, his dream for the establishment of an International Centre for Interfaith Harmony in Islamabad must soon become a reality. We must also hope that it will become possible for the other brave voices to step forward; for there are undoubtedly many already working diligently to improve the plight of their less privileged countrymen.
Let there be no doubt that overwhelming majority of Pakistanis will defeat the forces of obscurantism with determination and resilience. In conclusion, I will refer to a verse of holy Quran:
“…If anyone kills a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people” (Qur’an 5:32).
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=20113\18\story_18-3-2011_pg7_23
I feel so bad about the murder of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti. This discrimination must end.
A brave man!
Jang Group & GEO TV Murdered Salman Taseer & Shahbaz Bhatti (Abbas Athar BBC URDU) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oezMKgwsG0
Jang Group & GEO TV misguide & malign JUDICIARY (Column Kaar 16 October 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFKing5PMSY