Not even a year has passed since the murder of former Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer, in Islamabad but recollections of the events which unfolded at the upscale Kohsar Market in Islamabad seem to have faded from the collective memory. (Kamila Hyat, The International News)

Only small events bring alive the horror of what happened on that January day just as the year began, and what it means for the future of our country.

In Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, where the trial of the unrepentant assailant Mumtaz Qadri moves forward millimetre by millimetre before a terrified anti-terrorism court judge, activists of extremist parties gather outside for each hearing.

Taseer’s son has faced a barrage of questions from the defence about his father’s personal life. It is unclear what all this has to do with the events of January 4. Taseer’s character and conduct in his private life should, after all, not be on trial.

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There has been silence from the government on the blasphemy laws for months – following the remarks from key members that they would remain as they are on the statute books and in fact protected at all costs.

Taseer’s stand against the blatant misuse of the blasphemy laws was obviously not shared by other leaders of the PPP. The party has in fact retreated from its former, bolder position on the matter following Taseer’s murder.

This attitude has been a factor in the deaths that have followed Taseer’s, including that in March of then federal minister Shahbaz Bhatti. That murder too remains unsolved.

Since then, three other people have been killed as an outcome of the blasphemy charges against them. Two of the victims were in prison at the time, one in Karachi, and the other in Lahore.

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Aside from the actual cases others have faced harassment after being accused of blasphemy. The situation, it seems, has not improved in the least over the past months.

More frightening still is the fact that so much has been forgotten already. It appears that Salmaan Taseer may have died in vain. There has been no attempt by the government to act on his remarks regarding the widespread misuse of the blasphemy laws in the country or the concern he had shown for Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who continues to languish in jail for alleged blasphemy, despite the increasing evidence that the charges against her were concocted.

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Ghosts and whispers from a forgotten past (The International News)

PHOTO CREDIT

Nomi887 on Wikipedia

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