ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The assassination of a liberal Pakistani governor, while condemned by some in the country, helped unite a number of Islamic groups, observers say.
Last week's killing of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer by his security guard, Mumtaz Qadri, and subsequent rallies showed the rising popularity of radical Islam, The Washington Post reported.
Qadri, who pleaded guilty in a Pakistani court Monday to killing Taseer, was lionized as a defender of Islam by a number of religious groups during street demonstrations. Qadri said he killed Taseer because of his opposition to Pakistan's harsh blasphemy law, which makes it a capital crime to criticize the Koran or the Prophet Mohammed.
The Post report said the aftermath of the Taseer killing raises questions about Pakistan's democracy at a time when the United States relies on the government as an ally in the fight against the Taliban.
"Mumtaz Qadri sacrificed himself to protect the sanctity of our prophet and every one of us here is ready to do the same thing," a seminary student told the Post while defending the blasphemy law.
The outpouring of support for Qadri has scared Pakistan's affluent and professional groups and its small Westernized elite, even as the government of President Asif Ali Zardari has given up any idea of reforming the law, the report said.
Sherry Rehman, a liberal legislator who had introduced a bill to amend the law, has been declared a non-Muslim by an Islamic leader.
"I was trying to find a middle ground but now no one wants to touch the issue," she told the Post. "I think this retreat is going to set the country back for years to come".
"The silence of the so-called liberal establishment is criminal," said Haider Abbasy of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement party. UPI
