Pakistan Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated Wednesday in Islamabad.
Bhatti was on his way to a cabinet meeting when attackers blocked his car while firing 20 rounds.
The attackers left pamphlets saying that Bhatti was shot by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and Fidayan-e-al-Qaeda for Bhatti’s objection to a strict blasphemy law that demands the death penalty for those who insult Islam, reports Asia Times (AT).
Bhatti was rumored to be a member of a committee formed to amend the blasphemy law but Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied such a committee exists, reports Pakistani newspaper The Nation.
TTP spokesperson, Ehsanullah Ahsan, contacted Islamabad’s media to claim responsibility for Bhatti’s death.
The only Christian in the Cabinet, Bhatti was head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance.
When he was appointed in 2008, Bhatti said he had dedicated his life to “struggle for human equality, social justice, religious freedom, and to uplift and empower the religious minorities’ communities,” reports AT.
Bhatti was on his way to a cabinet meeting when attackers blocked his car while firing 20 rounds.
The attackers left pamphlets saying that Bhatti was shot by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and Fidayan-e-al-Qaeda for Bhatti’s objection to a strict blasphemy law that demands the death penalty for those who insult Islam, reports Asia Times (AT).
Bhatti was rumored to be a member of a committee formed to amend the blasphemy law but Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied such a committee exists, reports Pakistani newspaper The Nation.
TTP spokesperson, Ehsanullah Ahsan, contacted Islamabad’s media to claim responsibility for Bhatti’s death.
The only Christian in the Cabinet, Bhatti was head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance.
When he was appointed in 2008, Bhatti said he had dedicated his life to “struggle for human equality, social justice, religious freedom, and to uplift and empower the religious minorities’ communities,” reports AT.
