A YouTube presentation recently found on the internet shows Mumtaz Quadri, the assassin of the slain governor, Salman Taseer, singing in the custody of the police during his interrogation. The officers are seen standing by and sitting next to him, enjoying the performance. Quadri was reciting ‘Naat’, a poem in praise of the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him. The Pakistani police are infamous for their inhuman and cruel treatment of the prisoners in their custody but Quadri is being given celebrity status. The video was recorded by one of the officers in the presence of a Superintendent of Police who arranged for it to be distributed in order to make Quadri a hero in the Muslim community.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Federal government to conduct the investigation into the assassination complained to the government that the Rawalpindi Police is not cooperating with them and they have rounded up the SP concerned for failing to carry out an investigation according to the law.
The seemingly relaxed attitude of the police is not that surprising given the similar attitude shown by the government towards his prosecution and the indifference shown towards the behaviour of the speakers at the recent rally in Karachi in which they openly incited the people to violence against any person or groups supporting the amendments to the blasphemy laws. (Please see the Urgent Appeal on this issue at PAKISTAN: Government must file FIRs for attempted murder against the religious leaders calling for the killing of innocent persons). Four days after the rally the higher authorities of the Sindh and federal governments have still not taken any action to rein in the speakers openly advocated the killing of anyone opposed to their ideas.
This is borne out by the testimony of Quadri to the arresting officers that Mufti Hanif Quereshi had preached a sermon in which he told his followers that anyone who killed Salman Taseer would go straight to heaven. The Mufti also said that the killer would be a hero of Islam. Quadri said plainly that he was ‘inspired’ by the sermon to carry out the Mufti’s wishes.
Despite the fact that an FIR was filed against a Mosque leader of Sultan Masjid, Karachi on January 11 no action has been taken to arrest him. In the same manner, as previously reported, the Mosque leader of Mahabat Khan openly announced a reward of Rs. 500,000/= for the person that kills Aasia Bibi, a Christian lady convicted of blasphemy. However, once again no action has been taken against after one month of making the announcement. Section 503 of the Pakistan Penal Code states clearly that it is an offense to threaten a person with injury; this law is in place so why has the government of Pakistan not enforced it?
This is an extremely volatile situation that the government of Pakistan is simply not handling. Whether it is because of political expediency or some other design to convert the society into a closed door Islamic state is not known. Neither is the government taking action against its own ministers who are adding fuel to the fire by issuing controversial statements in support of the Islamic fundamentalists.
The scenario exposes the weakness and inability of the government to deal with extremism and religious strife in the society. The inaction of the government against the religious extremists makes a mockery of the law. By failing to take action the government is showing tacit approval to anyone wishing to take the law into their own hands. The government must immediately take the Interior ministers of Sindh and the Federal government to task for failing to implement the law. By deliberately turning a blind eye to the murderous intentions of the speakers the ministers and authorities will be complicit in the deaths or injuries to person or property carried out by the speaker’s followers. They are also complicit in spreading religious hatred and intolerance. Neither has the government taken action against the Mullahs that use the Mosque loudspeakers to spread their messages of hate and incitement to violence.
