Murder of Shabaz Bhatti

This week, unidentified gunmen in Islamabad shot dead Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.

The assailants sprayed bullets at Bhatti’s car after he came out of his mother’s home in a residential area of Islamabad to attend a cabinet meeting.

Bhatti, a 42-year-old bachelor, was Pakistan’s only cabinet-level Christian and an outspoken critic of the country’s widely condemned blasphemy laws. Suspected Islamic extremists from Pakistan’s Taliban and al Qaeda reportedly left a letter at the scene saying those who try to change Pakistan’s blasphemy laws would be killed.

The murder comes two months after Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was killed by his bodyguard for supporting Asia Bibi, the first Christian woman to be sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges.

Bhatti had defied death threats after the assassination of Taseer, conceding in several interviews that he was ‘the highest target right now’, but vowing to continue his work and trusting his life to God. The federal government had provided bodyguards for Bhatti, but they were not present at the time of the attack.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Bhatti had said he was ‘ready to die for a cause’ as a Christian. "I am living for my community and suffering people, and I will die to defend their rights," he said. “These threats and warnings cannot change my opinion and principles."