Mumtaz Qadri Pleads Guilty To the Murder of Former Punjab Governor; People Proclaim Him a Hero

Mumtaz Qadri pleaded guilty on Monday in a Pakistani court in the case of Punjabi former Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassination, arguing that he considered killing the governor because of his stance on the controversial blasphemy law in Pakistan, which makes it a crime to criticize the Prophet Mohammed.

Qadri was a police officer assigned to protect the former governor as he was passing through the capital of the country, on January 4. He shot him 26 times, causing his death.

He told the Rawalpindi judge he had acted alone and was not influenced by any religious group, as the members of Pakistani People’s Party had alluded soon after the assassinate was committed.

However, the criminal act committed by he who was expected to protect and serve triggered many opposite reactions inside the Pakistani society.

While the political elite condemned it without any doubt, numerous Islamic groups consider it a cornerstone for a renewed Islamic Pakistan.

Qadri was declared a hero by thousand of Pakistanis, who showered him with rose petals as he was taken to the court where he appeared before the judge. Reports indicate that his house is already a shrine where people come to pay respects, and supporters are marching the streets uttering their public backing for this kind of behavior.

It is no doubt that the scope and intensity of such radical yet profound display of support on one hand and contempt on the other is also due to the high profile of the victim.

Salmaan Taseer, flourishing businessman and media tycoon, was one of the most visible members of PPP and political figures in the land, even though many disagreed to various extends with his controversial opinion on Islamic laws.

A result of death was that the political coalition in power was on verge of collapse, and that the democratic order in Pakistan was brought into question.

Pakistan is going through a turmoil period determined by economic instability created by the devastating floods last summer, when almost 20 million people lost their homes and belongings.

The country’s foundations were shaken and the Islamic groups found a way to influence more and more people, especially as the government failed to manage the humanitarian disaster.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that someone like Qadri is proclaimed a hero and an inspiration for many of the people of this country who did no see in his act an assassinate but merely the punishment of a blasphemer.

The blasphemy law was adopted in the 1980s during the regime of Mohammed Zia ul-Haq and was since misused on various occasions to oppress minorities, Christians most of the time.

One of the most renowned cases is the one of Asia Bibi a woman reported to the authorities by her neighbors over a skirmish. She was accused of having offended the Prophet and is still waiting for the President of Pakistan to pardon her after being sentenced to death.

A doctor was accused of blasphemy for rejecting the card of someone whose name was Mohammed.

That prompted the Parliament of the country in the recent months to reduce the punitive capacity of the law and make it more precise.

After the assassination of Taseer, the president of the country toned down his support for the reformation of this law.

Yesterday, speaking before the ambassadors sent to Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI urged Pakistan to revise the law and provide conditions for Christians to worship in peace.