What Do You Think?

[amberford]

got to love that islamic way of peaceful thinking.
"Mumtaz Qadri is not a murderer, he is a hero,"


copied from:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/thousands-rally-for-bodyguard-accused-of-governors-killing/story-e6frg6so-1225984917983

Thousands rally for bodyguard accused of governor's killing

By: Zahid Hussain and Michael Evans
From: Times Online January 10, 2011


TENS of thousands of people rallied yesterday in Pakistan's largest city to demand the release of a police bodyguard charged with killing a high-profile politician who had campaigned to amend the country's blasphemy laws.

Many marching through the port city of Karachi carried large portraits of the alleged assassin and chanted slogans hailing him as a "warrior of Islam" for apparently gunning down Salman Taseer, the provincial governor of Punjab, last week.

"Mumtaz Qadri is not a murderer, he is a hero," read one banner praising the man who had been part of Taseer's security detail.

The crowd blocked the main thoroughfare in the city as speakers warned the Government not to alter the blasphemy laws that Taseer, 66, had campaigned to reform.

The governor of Pakistan's most populous province was shot dead in a fashionable shopping district of Islamabad. Qadri later told the police that he killed Taseer because of his comments against blasphemy laws.

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"The murder of the governor should be a lesson to all those trying to change the Islamic laws," said Munawar Hasan, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest Islamic party, as he addressed the rally.

The demonstration was organised by an alliance of hardline Islamic groups including Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is accused of planning the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November 2008.

"We can't compromise on the blasphemy law. It's a divine law and nobody can change it," said Qari Ahsaan, a leader of the group.

Taseer, an outspoken critic of religious extremism had provoked the rage of radical clerics for supporting a Christian woman sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Islam's prophet. There have been frequent allegations that the controversial laws have been regularly misused to punish Christians and other non-Muslims.

The murder of one of the country's most effective secular leaders has further polarised Pakistani society. Clerics have seized the opportunity to whip up support for their campaign against progressive politicians, intellectuals and journalists.

As tensions continued to rise, it was revealed yesterday that America will give more money to Pakistan to encourage the Government to intensify its efforts against extremists.

Despite concerns that US aid to Pakistan has not been properly accounted for, President Obama has decided that an increase in military, intelligence and economic support is vital.

Joe Biden, the Vice-President, will announce the plans during a visit to Pakistan this week, according to The Washington Post. Since 9/11, the US has donated more than $US22 billion to Pakistan. Although 140,000 Pakistani troops were deployed to border regions with Afghanistan to stem the flow of Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters, insurgent leaders in Afghanistan still enjoy safe havens in Pakistan.