The verdict is in. Almost nine months after the assassination of former Governor Salmaan Taseer, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) has awarded former Police Commando Mumtaz Qadri, his self-confessed killer, the death penalty on two counts of murder and terrorism.
The ATC's verdict, given under tight security at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, had been eagerly awaited. The Taseer family, already burdened with the new trauma of Shahbaz Taseer's prolonged kidnapping, needed this verdict to gain some closure on the 4th January atrocity. The tolerant citizenry needed to know that its state, including the judicial system, was not hostage to those who spread fear by abusing religion and violent intolerance.
This verdict is the third handed out by ATCs this year on highly publicised cases.Two other cases, the Sarfraz Shah murder in Karachi and the Sialkot lynchings, were also wrapped up in the last two months. The completion of these cases with a verdict to provide justice to the victims will give a boost to the tattered perception of, and restoring public's trust in, our justice system.
Even though the verdict has yet to pass the test of subsequent appeals, it has managed to send out a strong signal to Qadri's supporters that the state of Pakistan will not tolerate cold-blooded murders, no matter what the excuse. Mumtaz Qadri accused Salmaan Taseer of blasphemy, for which there was and still is no evidence. According to the statement he submitted in the court, Qadri believed that anyone who even defends a blasphemer, or opposes the penalty given to one, is liable to death. Such inciting and dangerous rhetoric which has no basis in the constitution or religion, if left unchecked, would have only served to curtail the legal rights of individuals.
If Qadri, who had taken an oath to defend the governor in the line of duty, had any qualms about Taseer's approach to the blasphemy law, he could have always utilised the option of going to the court. In doing what he did, he managed to undermine the very justification the supporters of Blasphemy Law use -- the law protects the accused since it deters people from taking matters in their own hands.
The recent disturbing trend of vigilante justice needs to be stemmed from the onset with a decisive hand. Justice Pervez Ali Shah, the judge who gave this ruling, must be commended for his courage in the face of a case so controversial that the government initially faced difficulty finding a prosecutor for it. He now needs to be provided adequate security to ward off any fanatic, would-be killer trying to walk in Qadri's footsteps. The demonstration in front of the jail by the radicals after the verdict was announced, chanting slogans in favour of Qadri, and claims of 1000 Qadris rising if he was hanged, should be enough to convince the authorities that the judge needs security.
There is almost no chance of Qadri getting acquitted in his appeal to the higher court. His initial confession should help put rest to these thoughts. What remains to be seen is whether his death penalty is overturned. In a country, which has seen many of its liberal leaders, from Liaquat Ali Khan to Shahbaz Bhatti, slain by invisible assailants, it is important to have at least one heinous murderer brought to the book. Otherwise it will just reaffirm the ordinary citizen's perception that since even the leaders are unable to find justice, there is no hope for them.
President Zardari's words, though written in another context in his op-ed in the Washington Post on the same day, are a poignant reaffirmation of moderate Pakistan's resolve to fight intolerance. "We will not allow religion to become the trigger for terrorism or persecution." Today, we have seen a small example of this very promise.
Published in Business Recorder (2 October 2011). Note: The indirect stance for death penalty reflected in this editorial represents the newspaper's position. Personally I am against death penalty.
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