Islamabad: Pakistan's Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian and vocal opponent of the controversial blasphemy law, was on Wednesday gunned down by Taliban militants as he drove out of his mother's house here, nearly two months after Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was killed for demanding reform of the harsh statute.
Three to four gunmen ambushed the car of 42-year-old Bhatti, a Catholic, at about 11.20 am local time and indiscriminately fired at him while sparing his driver, police said, adding at least eight bullets hit the minister.
Bhatti was attacked shortly after he drove out of his mother's house close to his official residence. Reports said he visited his mother every morning.
Only Bhatti and his driver Gul Sher were in the car, a dark-coloured Toyota Corola Altis, and the minister was not accompanied by any security guard at the time of the attack.
According to BBC, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack on Bhatti, the only Christian member of the Pakistan Cabinet who had been receiving threats to his life for seeking changes in the blasphemy law which imposes the death penalty for insulting Islam.
"This man was a known blasphemer of the Prophet (Mohammad)," the group's deputy spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told BBC Urdu service.
"We will continue to target all those who speak against the law which punishes those who insult the prophet. Their fate will be the same."
Bhatti is the second senior leader of the ruling PPP to be assassinated in nearly two months for opposing the blasphemy law. On January 4, Punjab Governor Taseer was gunned down by a police guard who was angered by his opposition to the controversial statute.
The gunmen who killed Bhatti threw several pamphlets in Urdu at the site of the attack that linked Bhatti's assassination to his opposition to the controversial blasphemy law.
The pamphlets, issued by 'Tanzim Al Qaida Tehrik Taliban Punjab', said any one who insulted Prophet Mohammed would be given the death sentence. They also said any sort of blasphemy or change in the blasphemy law would not be tolerated.
"There were three to four attackers who intercepted the minister's car a short distance from his home. The attackers targeted only the minister and not the driver," Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani told reporters.
The driver ducked below the dashboard as the gunmen sprayed bullets at the minister.
The attackers, who were travelling in a white Suzuki Mehran car, were clad in shalwar-kameez and escaped after the brazen attack in broad daylight.
An autopsy performed at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences showed that Bhatti was hit by at least 20 bullets in the face, chest and stomach,
Shahbaz Bhatti has become the second prominent Pakistani politician this year to die for his opposition to the country's blasphemy laws.
Bhatti, the minister for minorities and the only Christian member of the cabinet, was shot dead outside his home in Islamabad by four gunmen proclaiming themselves to be the "Punjabi Taliban".
Like Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab who was shot on 4 January, Bhatti advocated reform of the controversial laws, which can carry the death sentence for anyone who criticises Islam or the Prophet Muhammad. Because they do not require much concrete evidence, they are frequently abused to persecute minorities and settle personal scores.
The political tension over the issue flared up in November when a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, was sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad. Both men spoke out in her favour.
However, they were left politically isolated when the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) – of which both were members – distanced itself from those advocating reform.
Yousaf Raza Gilani told parliament at the beginning of February that his government would not touch the legislation. "We are all unanimous that nobody wants to change the law," he said.
The statement followed pressure from the religious right, which whipped up public sentiment with huge street rallies. However, giving such a major concession sets a dangerous precedent and indicates that the government is unwilling or unable to fight the extremists in the battle for public opinion.
It also suggests that the administration has learned little from the disastrous 2009 truce with the Taliban. Under that peace agreement, Islamabad agreed to let the Taliban implement Islamic law in parts of north-western Pakistan in the hope that it would decrease the violence in the region. Predictably, the Taliban became more audacious in its move inland, and the deal soon fell apart.
There are now fresh fears for Sherry Rehman, a former PPP information minister who has championed reform. Although the Taliban have declared her "fit to be killed", she has so far refused to leave the country. She has been in semi-hiding since January.
Poignantly, Bhatti was well aware of the danger to his life, and recorded a farewell statement four months ago in which he referred to threats from the Taliban and al-Qaeda. He vowed that he would continue to speak out for minorities:
I will die to defend their rights. These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles.
The government's decision to back down to religious clerics over this issue will be hugely fortifying to the country's extremists. It does not bode well for the future of Pakistan,
