Leading Pakistani politician slain by own guard

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Sometimes a topic lends itself to an argument religious zeal is not the motivation for actions, other times, this OP and the original story for example expose the reality that such an argument fails miserably in this instance.

I think this particular incident illustrates brilliantly what I have said over and over, there is a tremendous conflict within various factions in the Islamic faith. I continue to hope the side this poor murdered man wins.

This really has nothing to do with Islam, although I know you are deeply invested in continuing to see it that way.

[Dan and Judy 614]

This really has nothing to do with Islam, although I know you are deeply invested in continuing to see it that way.

An intelligence official interrogating the suspect, identified as Mumtaz Qadri, told The Associated Press that the bearded elite force police commando was boasting about the assassination, saying he was proud to have killed a blasphemer

The guy that shot him thought it had something to do with Islam

Edited January 7, 2011 by Dan and Judy

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Discussion. Yeah right...

Be clear we are off topic here, but I am addressing you and not seeking Mod intervention, but you constantly make direct accusations towards myself and other fellow posters. Ad nauseam. Consistently and persistently, without so much as contributing a false nod to the topics at hand.

In this very thread you are unable to help yourself from tossing out the same tired bigotry accusation as you complain about a Mods comment. Absolutely amazing!

[ready4ONE 5,400]

This really has nothing to do with Islam, although I know you are deeply invested in continuing to see it that way.

Your statement flies squarely in the face of the fact this assassination was based on his stand on a law complete with the death penalty for defaming what? ISLAM

His killer answered calls for his death from leaders of which religion? ISLAM

Leaders of which religion warned mourners from attending his funeral services? ISLAM Why? Accusations he was an apostate of which religion? ISLAM

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Be clear we are off topic here, but I am addressing you and not seeking Mod intervention, but you constantly make direct accusations towards myself and other fellow posters. Ad nauseam. Consistently and persistently, without so much as contributing a false nod to the topics at hand.

In this very thread you are unable to help yourself from tossing out the same tired bigotry accusation as you complain about a Mods comment. Absolutely amazing!

Oh we are off topic, because you don't like being called a bigot - despite offering and applauding opinions that show you to be exactly that.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

The guy that shot him thought it had something to do with Islam

Islam doesn't dictate the act, nor does it approve of it. That has been said, too. It's notable that there is such weight put on what murderers say, but none put on anyone who tells you they are wrong.

Do you consider terrorists, murderers and those who support their bad acts to be the scholars of Islam?

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Your statement flies squarely in the face of the fact this assassination was based on his stand on a law complete with the death penalty for defaming what? ISLAM

His killer answered calls for his death from leaders of which religion? ISLAM

Leaders of which religion warned mourners from attending his funeral services? ISLAM Why? Accusations he was an apostate of which religion? ISLAM

Your preference for violence and your insistence that the second largest religion on earth advocates it comes only from terrorists and their supporters. That you persist in siding with them is fascinating and puzzling to me. I'm curious as to why you refuse to consider that you may be wrong and that your tendency toward terrorist philosophy is a serious impediment to joining with people who are seeking peace, since you're unable of identifying with their perspective.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

ISLAMABAD — The governor of Pakistan's powerful Punjab province was shot dead in the capital Tuesday by one of his guards, who told interrogators afterward that he was angry about the politician's stance against the country's blasphemy law, officials said.

The killing of Salman Taseer was the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since the slaying of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, and it rattled a country already dealing with crises ranging from a potential collapse of the government to Islamist militancy.

The killing could also add to concerns about inroads by Islamist extremists and fundamentalists into Pakistan's security establishment.

Taseer was a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and a close associate of President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower. The governor was vocal on a range of subjects, even using Twitter to get across his views.

In recent days, as the People's Party has faced the loss of its coalition partners, the 56-year-old Taseer has insisted that the government will survive. But it was his very public stance against the blasphemy law that apparently led to his killing.

Rights groups say the law is often exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores. Islamist groups have been angry over what they believe were government plans to change or scrap the law.

The killing came as Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani tried to muster support for the government after a main coalition partner quit over government fuel price policies.

Proud killer?

An intelligence official interrogating the suspect, identified as Mumtaz Qadri, told The Associated Press that the bearded elite force police commando was boasting about the assassination, saying he was proud to have killed a blasphemer.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the record.

T. MUGHAL / EPA Policeman Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, (center, background) sits in a police vehicle after being detained by colleagues following the killing of Salman Taseer. Qadri is 26 and from Barakhao, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

A witness at the scene said Taseer was stepping out of his car at a shopping area when he was shot.

"The governor fell down and the man who fired at him threw down his gun and raised both hands," said the witness, Ali Imran.

The shooting left blood stains on a parking area on the edge of the Kohsar shopping center, which is popular among foreigners in Islamabad.

"It was one shot first and then a burst. I think nine or 10 shots," said R.A. Khan, another witness who was drinking coffee at the time. "I rushed and saw policemen over another police commando, who was lying on road with his face down."

Taseer was believed to be on his way to see someone for a meal, Malik said. Other members of his security detail were being questioned, Malik said, who added that the security for Taseer was provided by the Punjab government.

"We will see whether it was an individual act or someone had asked him" to do it, Malik said of the attacker.

Sense of crisis

Taseer, a liberal and charismatic politician close to President Asif Ali Zardari, had no role in day-to-day central government but his killing will compound a sense of crisis.

The blasphemy law came under the spotlight after a court sentenced a Christian mother of four, Asia Bibi, to death in a case stemming from a village dispute.

Story: Cleric offers reward to kill Christian woman

The law enjoys widespread support in Pakistan, which is more than 95 percent Muslim, and most politicians are loathe to be seen as soft on the defense of Islam.

But Taseer had visited Bibi in prison in a campaign for her release.

"I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightist pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I'm the last man standing," Taseer wrote on his Twitter page last Friday.

His assassination in broad daylight will reinforce the impression that the government is nowhere near to stabilizing the country.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40905882/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

That nation is indeed in a strange twilight-zone. Taseer was NOT killed 31 years ago for adultery (for which shariah states penalty is death by stoning) but was killed when he decided his country really needed to move away from the Robespierrean law (blasphemy law) railroaded-through by an unremorseful war-criminal dictator (Zia ul-Haq had been District Commander for Comilla District for part of 1971). Of course, given that a considerable percentage of that country's population (I strongly suspect that Mumtaz Hussain Quadri falls into this percentage) revere a Mianwali-born cricketer-turned-pol who is a PROVEN serial adulterer...

As far as the "government" (de-facto tyrant now is Ashfaq Kiani, army-chief--who railroaded-through LAST year an extension of his term, AFTER he had railroaded-through a removal of presidential authority to appoint/fire armed-forces-chiefs) with no real authority "stabilising" the country, the concept is quite laughable (edit: by years-end it may no longer be--expect to see Kiani take de-jure authority as well by then).

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Oh we are off topic, because you don't like being called a bigot - despite offering and applauding opinions that show you to be exactly that.

Have you commented on the topic? Nope again with direct application of the B word.

[luckytxn 2,263]

Have you commented on the topic? Nope again with direct application of the B word.

It won't change. It is the only ammo they have. To me the ammo are duds because I choose it that way.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Your preference for violence and your insistence that the second largest religion on earth advocates it comes only from terrorists and their supporters. That you persist in siding with them is fascinating and puzzling to me. I'm curious as to why you refuse to consider that you may be wrong and that your tendency toward terrorist philosophy is a serious impediment to joining with people who are seeking peace, since you're unable of identifying with their perspective.

Actually I identified the assassination victim as a proponent of peaceful Islam. I made no comment denying there are Muslims whose flavor of Islam, including this victim, is indeed peaceful. I applaud his willingness to voice a contrary opinion on both the blaspheme law, and it's application in this case.

I feel bad for him, his family, his supporters.

However using verbal jujitsu to try and pretend there isn't a very real violent flavor of Islam, or that there aren't Muslims who support the law featuring a death penalty no less for blaspheme of Islam, nor spiritual leaders of this violent flavor of Islam calling for death upon all who fail to support the law does not work against the real facts of this case. Trying to misrepresent what I have said is equally unworkable.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Actually I identified the assassination victim as a proponent of peaceful Islam. I made no comment denying there are Muslims whose flavor of Islam, including this victim, is indeed peaceful. I applaud his willingness to voice a contrary opinion on both the blaspheme law, and it's application in this case.

I feel bad for him, his family, his supporters.

However using verbal jujitsu to try and pretend there isn't a very real violent flavor of Islam, or that there aren't Muslims who support the law featuring a death penalty no less for blaspheme of Islam, nor spiritual leaders of this violent flavor of Islam calling for death upon all who fail to support the law does not work against the real facts of this case. Trying to misrepresent what I have said is equally unworkable.

You pretend to be qualified to critique Islam and its "flavors", but you have no real credibility or understanding to do so. That you continue to lecture me as to what I need to accept about whose Islam is valid proves that fact on its face. To put it simply, when you speak of Islam, you, among others, apply a strict double standard that makes you sound ignorant. That you insist on flaunting your ignorance is unfortunate. I can't sugar coat that, sorry. I do wonder why you would rather be ignorant when you have the opportunity to change it.

[alienlovechild 75]

Others include Ronald Reagan, who survived a murder attempt in 1981. San Francisco mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, both killed in a single event in 1978. Larry Flynt, porn publisher and candidate for CA governor, and George Wallace, candidate for president, were both permanently paralyzed by shooters during their election campaigns in 1978 and 1972, respectively.

President Gerald Ford survived two attempts on his life in 1975. In 1994, there were two foiled attempts to breach White House security, one by a pilot who crashed on the White House lawn, and one in a plot to murder President Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal. In 2001, shots were fired at the White House at close range by a man who was wounded and subdued by security. A number of lesser known American politicians have been killed or wounded for their stands on sensitive issues.

Last, but not least, let's not forget the anthrax attacks leveled at several prominent journalists and US Congressmen in 2001, which killed five people and caused a national panic. Those were attributed to a disgruntled Army scientist.

Mostly apolitical nutjobs except for from Saddam's Hussein's assassination attempt on Bush Sr. back in 1993 but that had nothing to do with domestic extremism.

Never heard about this one:

"November 2006: In anticipation of the former president's visit to Manila in the Philippines, al Qaeda operative Ramzi Yousef, who claimed to have been instructed by Osama bin Laden supposedly planned to blow up his motorcade. The plan was thought to have been aborted due to heavy security"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots

Flynt wasn't a serious politician but he was shot for having interracial porn so he was shot for his beliefs.

Arthur Bremer who shot Wallace did for fame not politics as he wanted to shoot Nixon earlier.

Francisco Martin Duran wasn't mad about Clinton's Lewinsky scandal (that's a political issue?) and the story broke in 1997 when Duran shot on October 29, 1994.

"Duran pleaded not guilty and mounted an insanity defense, claiming that he was trying to save the world by destroying an alien "mist," connected by an umbilical cord to an alien in the Colorado mountains."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Martin_Duran

The anthrax mailer, Dr. Ivins, did it to save his job be some kind of hero.

"With respect to motive, I'll point again to with respect to the motive, the troubled nature of Dr. Ivins. And a possible motive is his concern about the end of the vaccination program. And the concerns had been raised, and one theory is that by launching these attacks, he creates a situation, a scenario, where people all of a sudden realize the need to have this vaccine."

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/08/justice_department_concludes_d.html

A number of lesser known American politicians have been killed or wounded for their stands on sensitive issues.

I'll give you Larry Flynt as your best and only example so there's no comparison in motive, scale, or some kind or organizing principle for political extremism which you claimed was somehow growing in this country.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Actually I identified the assassination victim as a proponent of peaceful Islam. I made no comment denying there are Muslims whose flavor of Islam, including this victim, is indeed peaceful. I applaud his willingness to voice a contrary opinion on both the blaspheme law, and it's application in this case.

I feel bad for him, his family, his supporters.

However using verbal jujitsu to try and pretend there isn't a very real violent flavor of Islam, or that there aren't Muslims who support the law featuring a death penalty no less for blaspheme of Islam, nor spiritual leaders of this violent flavor of Islam calling for death upon all who fail to support the law does not work against the real facts of this case. Trying to misrepresent what I have said is equally unworkable.

Whether Taseer advocated a "more peaceful" Islam is neither-here-nor-there.

However, he had observed how this Robespierrean law promulgated by ultra-sadistic dictator Zia ul-Haq (nearly poetic justice that he was murdered 1988/08/17 by Aslam Beg, another war-criminal of 1971) was used as a discriminatory instrument against non-Muslim citizens, and even as an instrument of murder against Muslim citizens (such as the 1998 Lahore case of a landlady using it to bump-off a tenant, so that the rented-property could be signed-over to a higer-payer--which was impossible under Brit-inherited rental-laws), and wanted it repealed for those reasons.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Have you commented on the topic? Nope again with direct application of the B word.

There's no requirement to post to your satisfaction.