News
Friday, January 21, 2011
EU parliament pays homage to late Salmaan Taseer
STRASBOURG: The European parliament on Thursday paid homage to assassinated Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer for his courage and force of character.
The European parliament decried the fact that tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Karachi to defend his killing and expressed great concern for the groundswell of support “in favour of religious intolerance”.
The Pakistani government must work “to stop the voice of moderates being reduced to silence by extremists in the country” and “purge from the security forces the extremist elements”.
It said parts of the army, the judiciary and the political class either tacitly or publicly supported religious extremists. Even government-approved school text books contained “hatred-inciting propaganda”.
The European parliament also urged President Asif Ali Zardari to pardon and release Aasia Bibi.
In a resolution adopted by the 736-seat assembly, the parliamentarians asked “the Pakistani authorities to free Aasia Bibi immediately” and urged Zardari “to use his constitutional authority to pardon her”. The 45-year-old mother-of-five was sentenced to death in November after Muslim women labourers who worked with her in the fields complained she made derogatory remarks about Holy Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him).
The European parliamentarians also called on “the Pakistani government once again for a sweeping revision of the country’s blasphemy law and their application”. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk