The murder of Salmaan Taseer

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

The governor of Punjab died as he had lived: controversially. In the hours after his death, police officials continued to insist that the possible motives needed to be assessed. But most people had already reached what was the only obvious conclusion – the remarks Salmaan Taseer had made a few weeks ago on the blasphemy laws and on the need to amend them were enough for someone to kill him. While Taseer may have angered or annoyed people, while his sometimes bombastic manner may have been irritable, there can be no doubt that he was a courageous man, willing to speak out on issues that few choose to address due to the growing fear forced on us by religious extremists.

It appears, at least at these initial stages, that the member of the Punjab Elite Force who shot him formed a part of a growing army of extremism. His act seemed to be a carefully planned one, with fire initially opened on the governor’s vehicle and the victim then shot in the chest as he, perhaps unwisely, stepped out. The shooting is evidence that it is not necessary for extremists to be in the garb of the Taliban, with their beards and turbans. They exist everywhere and come in all forms. And even those in the police may form a part of their ranks. The incident means several things. On many issues we have for years, indeed decades, been reluctant to speak our thoughts. Some taboos have only now begun to lift. The killing of the governor by a member of his own security team could mean that even fewer will speak out on such issues. Those who have already done so – Sherry Rehman comes to mind – run a risk of falling victim to bullets. The situation is awful. Taseer’s death highlights just how grim it is, and how difficult it will be to change our country for the better. The challenges are already immense. They grow greater by the day. We have already lost our right to express opinion freely. Extremism holds us in a vice. Will we ever be able to break free? That is the question we must ask before more bodies fall on our roads, staining them with blood that will perhaps never be fully washed away.