[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 31 (Thursday, March 3, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E411-E412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WE HAVE LOST A FRIEND

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 3, 2011

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because of a tragic event--the 
March 2 assassination of Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minority 
Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, a heroic man of faith whose courageous and 
outspoken leadership against his nation's draconian blasphemy law made 
him a prime target of extremist Islamist elements in his country.
  Bhatti was the only Christian member of the Pakistani cabinet.
  We have lost a friend and an ally and our prayers are with Bhatti's 
family and those in Pakistan who mourn his loss and who stood with him 
in his fight against injustice and intolerance. Bhatti devoted his life 
to defending the most vulnerable--he is literally a modern day martyr.
  Among those whose causes he championed were Asia Bibi, a young 
Christian mother of five, who was sentenced to death under Pakistan's 
blasphemy law. Only after international intervention was her execution 
delayed. Her fate, however, remains unclear.
  Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used to victimize both religious 
minorities and Muslims. In fact, Punjab's influential governor, Salman 
Taseer was shot and killed by his own bodyguard who reportedly told 
police, ``that he killed Mr. Taseer because of the governor's 
opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.''
  With Bhatti's life tragically cut short, a critical moderating voice 
in Pakistan has been lost. And I fear others will be silenced if 
justice is not brought to bear in Pakistan. Bhatti spoke of the 
importance of these voices during a recent Washington Post editorial 
board meeting. I submit for the Record a piece by Post editorial page 
editor, Fred Hiatt, who recalled Bhatti's message, ``that millions of 
Pakistanis remain committed to a vision of a Muslim country living in 
peace with its neighbors and with non-Muslims within its borders.'' 
Hiatt continued, ``As it became increasingly dangerous for such people 
to speak up, they were becoming decreasingly visible. But they are 
still there, Bhatti told us, and he urged Americans not to forsake or 
forget them.''
  This must be our clarion call in the days to come.
  I urge the Government of Pakistan to seek justice in this case and to 
give Bhatti a state funeral, reflective of the import of his life and 
legacy. Similarly, I urge our own government to send a high-ranking 
delegation to attend the funeral and to carry Bhatti's torch in 
continuing to press for the repeal of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.
  I also submit an Associated Press story which references the fact 
that Bhatti was ``aware of the danger he faced, saying in a videotaped 
message that he had received death threats from al-Qaida and the 
Taliban.'' The video was recorded several months before his ultimate 
assassination and can be viewed at: http://www.guardian.co.ukworld/
2011/mar/02/pakistan-minister-shot-dead-islamabad.
  Bhatti pointedly says he will continue to speak out for persecuted 
Christians and other religious minorities. In a chilling allusion to 
future events, he says, ``I will die to defend their rights.''
  Indeed Bhatti's convictions cost him his life. He must not have died 
in vain.

              Another Moderate in Pakistan is Assassinated

                            (By Fred Hiatt)

       Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated outside his home in 
     Pakistan today, came to visit a few of us at The Post one 
     month ago. He was soft-spoken and matter-of-fact about the 
     dangers he faced--and about his refusal, almost his 
     inability, to trim his sails to lessen those dangers. The 
     risks he faced, as a voice for tolerance in an increasingly 
     intolerant country, were risks that Pakistan faced--and if he 
     and like-minded figures stopped speaking up, what future 
     would the country have?
       Bhatti was a Christian in an overwhelmingly Muslim country, 
     a minister in the government in charge of minority affairs, 
     and most of all an unimaginably courageous voice of 
     moderation. He opposed the nation's anti-blasphemy law, which 
     increasingly is being used to silence and oppress. When 
     another moderate leader, Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was 
     killed two months ago, his assassin frighteningly became a 
     hero for many in Pakistan. Bhatti was one of the few public 
     figures willing to forthrightly condemn the murder.
       Now Bhatti, too, is gone. There will be investigations, I 
     suppose, into why his police guard was absent when gunmen 
     surrounded his Toyota sedan this morning, despite calls from 
     many (including Americans like Virginia Republican Rep. Frank 
     Wolf) for increased security. There will be tributes and 
     mourning, but they will be muted. Hopefully there will be 
     deep thinking inside the U.S. government about what it can do 
     to better support the forces of moderation.
       On that subject, I remember two essential messages from 
     Bhatti's visit. He said Americans maintained too little 
     contact with the part of Pakistani civil society that 
     believes in interfaith tolerance, that sees Islam as a 
     peaceful religion willing to live alongside others. Bhatti 
     himself had organized a network of such people, he told us, 
     but U.S. officials were too busy dealing with the government, 
     army and intelligence agencies to show support or even 
     establish much contact.
       His second message was that millions of Pakistanis remain 
     committed to a vision of a Muslim country living in peace 
     with its neighbors and with non-Muslims within its borders. 
     As it became increasingly dangerous for such people to speak 
     up, they were becoming decreasingly visible. But they are 
     still there, Bhatti told us, and he urged Americans not to 
     forsake or forget them.

[[Page E412]]

             Militants Kill Christian Minister in Pakistan

                  (By Nahal Toosi and Chris Brummitt)

       Islamabad.--Militants gunned down the only Christian in 
     Pakistan's government outside his widowed mother's home 
     Wednesday, the second assassination in two months of a high-
     profile opponent of laws that impose the death penalty for 
     insulting Islam.
       Shahbaz Bhatti was aware of the danger he faced, saying in 
     a videotaped message that he had received death threats from 
     al-Qaida and the Taliban. In it, the 42-year-old Roman 
     Catholic said he was ``ready to die'' for the country's often 
     persecuted Christian and other non-Muslim minorities.
       The slaying in Islamabad followed the killing of Salman 
     Taseer, a liberal politician who was gunned down in the 
     capital by one of his guards. Both men had campaigned to 
     change blasphemy laws in Pakistan that impose the death 
     penalty for insulting Islam and have been loudly defended by 
     Islamist political parties.
       The Taseer slaying triggered fears the country was buckling 
     under the weight of extremism, especially since the 
     government, fearful of militants and the political parties 
     that champion their causes, did not loudly condemn the 
     killing or those who publicly celebrated it.
       Wednesday's slaying will only reinforce those concerns and 
     further undermine confidence in the government, which appears 
     paralyzed by political rivalries and unable to fix a stagnant 
     economy or provide basic services for the country's 180 
     million mostly poor people.
       The turmoil comes despite attempts by the Obama 
     administration to support Pakistan, which it sees as key to 
     ending the war in neighboring Afghanistan and defeating al-
     Qaida, whose leadership is believed to reside in the 
     mountainous northwestern regions.
       Pakistani government ministers usually travel with police 
     escorts, but Bhatti was without such protection when he was 
     killed as he and a driver left his mother's home. Bhatti, who 
     was minister for religious minorities, had been given police 
     and paramilitary guards but had asked them not to accompany 
     him while he stayed with his mother, said Wajid Durrani, a 
     senior police official.
       A friend of the politician, Wasif Ali Khan, said Bhatti was 
     nervous about using guards after the Taseer killing and had 
     requested a bulletproof car, but had not received one.
       Bhatti had just pulled out of the driveway when three men 
     opened fire, said Gulam Rahim, a witness. Two opened the door 
     of the car and tried to pull Bhatti out, Rahim said, while a 
     third fired a Kalashnikov rifle repeatedly into the dark-
     colored Toyota, shattering the windows.
       The gunmen then sped away in a white car, said Rahim, who 
     took shelter behind a tree.
       Bhatti was hit with at least eight bullets and was dead on 
     arrival at hospital.
       In leaflets left at the scene, al-Qaida and the Pakistani 
     Taliban Movement in Punjab province claimed responsibility. 
     They blamed the government for putting Bhatti, an ``infidel 
     Christian,'' in charge of an unspecified committee, 
     apparently in reference to his support for changing the 
     blasphemy laws.
       ``With the blessing of Allah, the mujahedeen will send each 
     of you to hell,'' said the note, which did not name any other 
     targets.
       Government officials and political party workers condemned 
     the killing, but made no reference to the blasphemy law 
     controversy. Muslim clerics contacted by The Associated Press 
     or interviewed on Pakistani TV either offered a tepid 
     condemnation or claimed the assassination was part of an 
     American-led conspiracy to drive a wedge between Muslims and 
     Christians.
       Bhatti, a soft-spoken minister who rose to prominence 
     defending a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, 
     often spoke of the threats against him from extremists. Very 
     few Pakistani politicians were willing to talk about changing 
     the blasphemy law because of the danger.
       ``They (the Taliban) want to impose their radical 
     philosophy in Pakistan. And whoever stands against their 
     radical philosophy, they threaten them,'' he said in the 
     video message, which was posted on the website of the First 
     Step Forum, a Finland-based group that promotes religious 
     harmony, rule of law and democracy.
       ``These threats and these warnings cannot change my 
     opinions and principles. I'm living for my community and 
     suffering people,'' said Bhatti, who was an adviser to the 
     group and had asked that his message be released in the event 
     of his death.
       The slaying robbed Pakistani Christians of their most 
     prominent advocate.
       ``We have been orphaned today!'' wailed Rehman Masih, a 
     Christian resident of Islamabad. ``Now who will fight for our 
     rights? Who will raise a voice for us? Who will help us?''
       Christians are the largest religious minority in Pakistan, 
     whose population is 95 percent Muslim. They have very little 
     political power and tend to work in lower-level jobs, such as 
     street sweeping.
       As Christians took to the streets Wednesday to protest in 
     several cities, relatives and friends went to Bhatti's home 
     to pay their respects. ``Tell the mullahs that the man who 
     was the voice of the Christians is silent. Where are they 
     now?'' Samuel David, one of the visitors, shouted to a 
     television crew.
       The assassination drew condemnation from Christian and 
     government leaders.
       A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, called the 
     slaying a ``new episode of violence of terrible gravity,'' 
     saying it ``demonstrates just how justified are the insistent 
     statements by the pope regarding violence against Christians 
     and religious freedom.''
       Lombardi noted that Pope Benedict XVI had met with Bhatti 
     in September.
       President Barack Obama condemned the slaying, saying Bhatti 
     ``fought for and sacrificed his life for the universal values 
     that Pakistanis, Americans and people around the world hold 
     dear''--including rights to free speech and religious 
     freedom.
       In Britain, leaders of the Anglican Church expressed shock 
     and sorrow and urged Pakistan's government to do more to 
     protect Christians.
       U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the 
     attack was ``not only on one man but on the values of 
     tolerance and respect of all faiths and backgrounds.''
       The blasphemy laws were originally framed by the Asian 
     subcontinent's British colonial rulers but were toughened in 
     the 1980s during the military rule of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-
     Haq, who pushed a politicized, austere brand of Islam.
       Human rights groups have long warned that the laws are 
     vaguely worded and open to abuse because people often use 
     them to settle rivalries or persecute religious minorities.
       Right-wing Islamist parties, looking for an issue to rally 
     their supporters, have campaigned against any change to the 
     laws, accusing those who seek to amend them of blasphemy--and 
     creating an environment that led to the latest killings.
       ``Bhatti's murder is the bitter fruit of appeasement of 
     extremist and militant groups both prior to and after the 
     killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer,'' said Human Right 
     Watch. ``An urgent and meaningful policy shift on the 
     appeasement of extremists that is supported by the military, 
     the judiciary and the political class needs to replace the 
     political cowardice and institutional myopia that encourages 
     such continued appeasement despite its unrelenting bloody 
     consequences.''
       Another prominent opponent of the blasphemy laws, ruling 
     party member Sherry Rehman, recently dropped her bid to get 
     them changed. Rehman, who has said she had to abide by party 
     leaders' decisions, faces death threats and has been living 
     with heavy security.

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