Salman Taseer’s violent death adds another bloodstained chapter in this young country’s history. Salman Taseer born May 31, 1944 in Simla Himachal Pradesh, India and died on January 4, 2011 was a businessman and politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination. He was Preceded by Lt General Khalid Maqbool and Succeeded by Sardar Latif Khosa. He was born to a mixed race family being of Kashmiri descent on his father’s side and of English descent on his mother’s side.
Mr. Taseer was member of the Pakistan People’s Party and was elected to Punjab Assembly from Lahore in 1988. Mr. Salman served as a minister in the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro during 2008 election. He was appointed as the governor of Punjab on 15 May 2008, when peoples’ party government came in to power. During his governorship, he emerged as an outspoken defender of human rights and famously took on Asia Bibi’s case.
Taseer studied at the St. Anthony’s School and Government College Lahore he went on to do his CA at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In 1994, he established KPMG, Taseer Hadi an accountancy firm backed by the Smith Barney . In 1996 he founded the World Call group, Pakistan’s largest telecom and cable operators. Later in 2000s he ventured into media and real estate, launching Business Plus, this paper the Daily Times, AjjKal, Wikid plus, Zaiqa and Sunday magazine all the while erecting shopping malls and residential real estate projects.
In the late 1960s, a young Taseer became politically active, while being enamored, by Zulifqar Ali Bhutto’. He ran freedom movements against his imprisonment and death sentence. Taseer authored a number of articles and later even authored a book on Bhutto: A political biography.
Upon becoming governor in 2008, he declared that he wanted to turn Lahore into Larkana for the PPP. (Lahore is where Bhutto had launched the Pakistan Peoples ‘party from)
Many publications around the world described Taseer’s murder as one of the most traumatic events in recent Pakistani history. Soon after his assassination, his son, Shahbaz, was kidnapped from Lahore in 2011. After a grueling four and a half years; andjust days after Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging, Shahbaz was re united with his family in 2016
After taking many human rights positions throughout his career, Taseer took up Asia Bibi’s case. He spoke passionately about a young lady, Asia Bibi who had been sentenced to death under Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law… her sin was drinking water out of a well. The situation had gotten so bad that Taseer even contemplated on seeking a presidential pardon for her.
Just eight hours before his assassination, he tweeted an Urdu couplet by Shakeel Badayuni: ‘My resolve is so strong that I do not fear the flames from without, I fear only the radiance of the flowers, that it might burn my garden down.’ Salman Taseer embraced the media and modern technology revolution, becoming one of Pakistan’s most prolific users of social media (Twitter).Taseer often updated his thousands offollowers hour-by-hour, if not minute-by-minute on his thoughts, activities and reaction to public events.
On 4 January 2011, the governor was assassinated at the Kohsar Market in Islamabad, a stone throw away from his home by a member of his police detail, Mumtaz Qadri. Taseer had famously stood resolute as the only voice against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. A nationwide three-day state of mourning was held, and his funeral prayers were held at the Governors House Lahore.
Many publications around the world described Taseer’s murder as one of the most traumatic events in recent Pakistani history. Soon after his assassination, his son, Shahbaz, was kidnapped from Lahore in 2011. After a grueling four and a half years; andjust days after Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging, Shahbaz was re united with his family in 2016.
In the years to follow, Asia Bibi’s case became high profile and the eyes of the entire world tuned in.It was then the Supreme Court of Pakistansuspendedher death sentence in a landmark judgment which not only vindicated Salman Taseer but also freed Asia.
Salman Taseer was a rare politician in Pakistan. He was intelligent,moderate and fearless. He always stood as the voice of thedowntrodden. Nine years on while Salmaan Taseer rests in peace the void he left behind remains un fulfilled. Pakistan’s both, political and business spheres greatly misses him.