On a cold and dark day in Islamabad, an elite force commando snatched from this nation its most vocal, secular and liberal politician, the proudest supporter of minorities, a husband, a father and a friend of many (including yours, sir). In a province where no one other than the law minister enjoyed relations with a banned terrorist organisation — the manifesto of which, mind you, is to kill all Shias and Mr President they do not think otherwise of one in the highest office of the country either — Taseer condemned terrorism and sympathy for extremists. In a country where the 2-3 percent of minorities are persecuted by the majority without any fear of the law, he chose to become the voice of the oppressed fully knowing the consequences. In a country where the media gives airtime to obscure mullahs who preach hatred and declared head-money for people accused of blasphemy, he vowed to come to the defence of the tyrannized. Even after being declared an apostate, he remained fully resolved and graciously (and sadly prophetically) acknowledged that his fate might not be so bright. And yet, the party chose to remain silent. You and your party isolated Salmaan Taseer and Sherry Rehman. Babar Awan, Khursheed Shah and all others who said that the just stance of Taseer and Rehman was not the party position, fed Taseer to the dogs. Your very own prime minister deserted him; your party abandoned him when he chose to stand up for a dispossessed and poor woman. Cowing down in front of the wishes of the hate-mongering mullahs is the worst thing the Pakistan People’s Party can do, and has done. Finding opportunity in someone’s death and using someone’s death for personal or political gain is outright wrong. I cannot and must not claim that Taseer would have given his life to save the minorities from the wrath of the blasphemy laws, but I know he did the next best thing, the best thing a human could have done. Recognising all consequences, he chose to become the voice of the oppressed minorities and the bigots who declared him an apostate, who have killed hundreds of under trail and acquitted blasphemy accused, who have made this country a burning hell, killed him. If in his death you do not choose to honour his memory by coming out in support of an amendment in the blasphemy law — if not an outright repeal — you will let him have died in vain. The demagogues and fire-breathing talk show anchors have bloods on their hands as well. The flamed warped religious debate around the blasphemy law and allowed many a maniac to nearly call for Taseer’s death. The media should remain free, but there must be oversight to make sure that the self-styled guardians of public morality and conscience who did play an indirect role in Taseer’s assassination are incarcerated when they play bigoted tunes on national airwaves. In the aftermath of Taseer’s death, many an anchor chose to fake words of compassion for him. A month or so ago, nearly all of them could be heard provoking Taseer’s lynching and murder. Progressives in Pakistan are scared, and rightly so. It is a dark world with millions of Qadris strolling in the streets and with a media willing to give an unquestionably large amount of airtime to religious parties who hold a near negligible electoral representation; it provides the Qadris visible targets. With Salmaan Taseer’s untimely death, Pakistan has learnt that there is no space for tolerance and debate on the blasphemy laws. Even after his death, the Pakistan People’s Party has failed to initiate the essential and needed debate on blasphemy laws. The interior minister’s words that he will kill a blasphemer if he saw one are blasphemy to the very memory of Salmaan Taseer (and a crime itself since he is talking of taking the law in his own hands); he could not have been any more insensitive to the memory of the great man who never minced his words and did not wear a blanket of hypocrisy to cover his often controversial views. (To be continued) The writer is interested in history and public policy. He can be reached at shahid@live.com.pk