Salman Taseer was killed on 4.1.11. Lessons to be learned.

4 Jan.2011. Salman Taseer (father of author Aatish Taseer -born to Him and Tavleen Singh-of India) of Pakistan was sprayed by just 27 bullets by his own body guard called Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. The sequence of events that led to that criminal event :

• One Aasia Bibi, belonging to a village near Sheikhupura in Punjab-where hers was the only Christian family-she got into an argument over drinking water at work. Her fellow Muslim workers did not approve of a Christian drinking from the same cup as them. Emotions soared, her co-workers targeted her religion and she targeted theirs.
• First the local cleric and then the police was involved, and soon Aasia was imprisoned. Because Pakistan’s Sharia system considers a non-Muslim’s testimony to carry half the weight of a Muslim’s, she had difficulty defending herself in court and was finally sentenced to death by a judge in Sheikhupura; thus becoming the first woman in their history, to be condemned to death on blasphemy charges.
• Taseer showed the courage to opine against that blasphemy law and speak up for a woman from a religious minority, who was imprisoned because of the blasphemy law. His courage was less than a small drop against the ever expanding ocean of fundamentalism in Pakistan, but at least he chose not to be neutral, as being neutral is worse than sympathising with the fanatics.
• This is what happens when religion is practiced not as a personal matter, not kept separate from the state and bigoted laws are introduced promoting prejudice and hatred.
• No, we should not live in the history, but we should also not forget the lessons it has taught.