The daughter of the slain governor of Punjab refuses to be cowed by Islamic extremism and is taking up the cause that killed her father: opposing Pakistan’s ultra-strict blasphemy law.
“I think I have an important story to tell: my father was assassinated in Pakistan six months ago because of his opposition to the misuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy law,” 22-year-old Shehrbano Taseer said in New York.
Her father was one of the most moderate voices in the main ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and personified the progressive elite, free from the emotive tug of conservative Islam but often criticised as detached from the masses.
Salman Taseer was killed on January 4 outside an Islamabad coffee shop by a bodyguard, who opposed his criticism of a blasphemy law that provides for the death penalty and has spawned numerous vigilante killings and assassinations.
His was the most high-profile political killing in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007.
It was followed two months later by the assassination of another vocal opponent of the law, Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s cabinet.
“I’m here to tell my story, to tell what happens and why it happens, to inform the public and maybe prevent new cases in the future,” Taseer said in an interview at a Manhattan hotel.
Like her father, Taseer uses the social networking site Twitter and public appearances to speak out boldly against the law, and she vows not to back down despite threats to her life from fanatics.
Taseer, who graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts and is now a journalist based in Lahore, said that Pakistan had reached a critical juncture and must choose between extremism or moderation.
“We are at a difficult point in our history,” she said, condemning “religious extremism” and the “cancer of terrorism.”
“Right now it’s difficult because as Pakistanis we are very much watching what is happening to our country and we feel very helpless about how to be a part of the solution.”
