Shahbaz Bhatti

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Shahbaz Bhatti

Clement Shahbaz Bhatti ( Urdu شہباز بھٹی; * September 9, 1968 in Lahore ; † March 2, 2011 in Islamabad ) was a Pakistani politician from Panjab . He was the first Christian to be minister for minorities , but was murdered two years later by a splinter group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) because of his campaign for more religious tolerance .

Life

Shahbaz Bhatti was one of six children in a Catholic family. His father Jacob Bhatti had served in the army and later worked as a teacher. Shahbaz studied law at Faisalabad University and later in Lahore. Influenced by the tolerant religious policy under Prime Minister Ali Bhutto , he worked a. a. for cultural initiatives of the Christian minority of Pakistan (approx. three million). When, after the coup of Zia-ul-Haq enacted strict Islamic laws and several Christian villages and three churches were torched by extremists, he founded in 1985 in Faisalabad the Christian Liberation Front (CLF) . It soon became active in other cities and began to cooperate with other oppressed minorities. Bhatti also sponsored an annual Christian cultural festival , which was bombed in 2008, and an aid organization for political prisoners .

Policy for the minorities

Around 1990 Bhatti founded the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) together with organizations of Christians, Hindus , Sikhs and Baha'i and was its chairman for many years. He was committed to fair cooperation between Christians and Hindus as well as Sikhs and Parsees and their activities against the Islamist Hadood Ordinances . Shahbaz Bhatti was a member of the Pakistani People's Party (PPP).

The politician had been a Member of Parliament since 2008 and Minister for Minorities in the government of President Asif Ali Zardari from November 2, 2008 until his death . He was the first Catholic to hold ministerial office in Pakistan and the only Christian in the Zardari cabinet.

Shahbaz Bhatti received several death threats after he voted for a reform of the blasphemy law , which has been in place since 1986 and is often used against Christians . Nevertheless, he managed to convince 46 of 87 senators, but a two-thirds majority would have been required. He had also repeatedly campaigned for Asia Bibi , who had been sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy . On March 2, 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti was shot dead by terrorists on his way to work in Islamabad. The "Tehrik Taliban Fidayan Mohammad Punjab", a subgroup of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan from the Punjab province, claimed responsibility for the crime. The assassins were never identified.

Two months earlier, the liberal politician Salman Taseer had also been murdered for the same reasons. His murderer surrendered and was sentenced to death, but is considered a hero by Islamist circles.

Awards

Shahbaz Bhatti received several honors. In 2004 Bhatti was awarded the International Religious Freedom Award in Finland .

The Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Prize is a reminder that he stood up for the rights of all minorities. It was awarded to Pope Francis in 2014.

A university is planned in Islamabad to be named after Shahbaz Bhatti.

As the protector of the Pakistani minorities, Bhatti is widely venerated as a martyr . The country's bishops have requested his canonization in Rome . On March 2, 2016, the fifth anniversary of Bhatti's assassination, the Diocese of Islamabad opened its beatification process.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Profiles: Shahbaz Bhatti. Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b Ö1 Radio Conference February 26, 2012, Persecution of Christians in Pakistan
  3. ^ Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, is the new minister for the defense of minorities. Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  4. ^ Vatican condemns attack on Christian minister. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011 ; Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Pakistan's minister for minorities assassinated. Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Death Sentence in Pakistan: Criticism of Blasphemy Law. Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Pakistan minorities minister shot dead in Islamabad. Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Shahbaz Bhatti murdered for defending Asia Bibi. Retrieved March 2, 2011 .
  9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040506064536/http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=59058
  10. ↑ Worldwide Evangelical Alliance honors Pope with Shahbaz Bhatti Prize , kath.net, news from November 7, 2014.
  11. ↑ Pakistan: Shahbaz Bhatti University. Retrieved March 5, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Pakistan: cause opens for beatification of slain government official, Shahbaz Bhatti. Catholicculture.org, March 2, 2016, accessed January 24, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Bhatti, Shahbaz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pakistani politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Lahore
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 2011
Place of death Islamabad