Pakistan police clash with supporters of assassin in Islamabad
People sympathizing with the assassin of a high-profile liberal politician in Pakistan have clashed with police during a rally in the capital, Islamabad, against the recent execution of the former.
Hundreds of Pakistanis from across the country poured into Islamabad to stage a sit-in around the parliament building on Sunday to protest the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, who was executed for the murder of Punjab Province’s governor Salman Taseer.
The gatherings, however, turned violent after police used tear gas and batons to disperse the stone-pelting crowd, some of whom tried to forcibly enter the high-security zone of the capital dubbed the red zone.
Over 60 people, the majority of them police officers, were wounded in the clashes.
According to a tweet by military spokesman General Asim Bajwa, the military had been called in by mid-evening on Sunday to secure the area.
Qadri was executed at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi last month after all his petitions and mercy appeals were rejected.
Qadri, who had been assigned as a bodyguard for Taseer — a high-profile member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Punjab’s then-governor — shot him 28 times in an Islamabad market in early 2011.
The governor had advocated clemency for Asia Bibi, a women accused of blasphemy.
Qadri’s supporters, who openly sympathized with him after the assassination, are now demanding that the government sentence Bibi for blasphemy — something authorities have resisted so far.
Blasphemy laws in Pakistan have raised concerns among rights activists and some liberal politicians like late Taseer, who say it is often exploited by extremists or those who want to settle personal scores.
Critics say hundreds of people languish in jails under false blasphemy charges. In most cases, even unproven allegations frequently stir mob violence and bloodshed.
Last year, some 210 cases of criminal blasphemy were filed. According to figures from a Center for Research and Security Studies report and local media, at least 65 people, including lawyers, defendants and judges, have been murdered in Pakistan over blasphemy allegations since 1990.
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