Assassinated ex-Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer remembered

Today marks six years to the brutal assassination of former Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer in 2011. A member of Pakistan Peoples Party, he was shot dead by his bodyguard, who opposed Taseer's views on the country's blasphemy law.

Arrangements have been made at his residence in Lahore today to remember him and offer prayers.

Meanwhile security around Lahore's Liberty Market, Kalma Chowk, Hussain Chowk, Main Market and Barkat Market, has been beefed up. Meanwhile, Sunni Tehreek has planned a rally from Liberty Market till Data Darbar. Heavy contingent of police is guarding the route to prevent an untoward incident.

Shimla-born Taseer was a businessman, and his murder garnered worldwide attention, as leaders at home and abroad condemned the incident. Heads of state of the US, France, and the UK expressed their condolences over Taseer’s shooting, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon labeled it a major hit to Pakistan’s progress.

Taseer believed that Pakistan’s blasphemy law needed to be rethought, which outraged a large number of people. In November 2010, Taseer met alleged blasphemer Asia Bibi in Sheikhupura jail, 45 days after which he was gunned down by his own bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri, who opposed his views.

Months after Taseer was killed, his son Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) en route to work, and was held captive for almost five years. Shahbaz was subjected to inhumane torture, flogging, and kept hungry for days at end.

However, he was handed over to Pakistan in March 2016 – days after Qadri was hanged to death – by Afghan Taliban, who had taken him prisoner after a dispute with IMU.

Taseer, son of M. D. Taseer, was born on May 31, 1944. His mother was a friend of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz's wife. He studied in Saint Anthony School in Lahore, with current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as his classmate, and was a chartered accountant by profession.

The leader formally entered the political arena in 1970 by joining PSF, and later became part of PPP in 1988. He was installed as Governor of Punjab on May 15, 2008.