Pakistan on High Alert amid Mumtaz Qadri’s execution

Security forces have beefed up the security across the country after the killer of former liberal governor Salman Taseer was hanged today.

Pakistan’s most infamous death row prisoner has finally met his ultimate end. He was hanged this morning in Rawalpindi amid tight security. This has risked enraging conservatives who regard him as a hero who killed to defend the honour of Islam.

Mumtaz Qadri was working as a personal body guard to former slain Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer. He shot and killed him back in 2011 because the governor was trying to reform the controversial blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Salman Taseer sparked anger and outrage among religious conservatives after he defended a poor Christian Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death after insulting the Holy Prophet Muhammad. He came under massive fire from the religious circuits and the extremists elements called for his head as a result of that.

Qadri was reportedly hanged at 4:30 am on Monday in a Prison in Rawalpindi. There was an appeal of mercy lodged to President Mamnoon Hussain but the news of his appeal’s rejection was not made public amid fear of public backlash. According to officials, the family of Mumtaz Qadri was summoned to the prison under the pretext that the prisoner is not feeling well. And the roads leading to Prison was blocked as well. Qadri enjoyed widespread support among Barelvi Muslims. Within hours of the news of Qadri’s execution, there were protests in Lahore, Rawalpindi and near the international airport in Karachi.

Qadri was infamously poured with rose petals and kissed by lawyers during his initial arrival in court following the murder of Taseer, who was shot as he was leaving a restaurant in the capital, Islamabad. And to make things worse, the judge who convicted Qadri of murder had to flee the country for his own safety.

However, the support of such extremist elements has reduced to a significant level in recent years due to a number of reasons. Zahid Hussain, an analyst and newspaper columnist, said the national mood had been changed in the last 18 months by a series of events, including the Taliban massacre in 2014 of more than 130 schoolboys in Peshawar and the ongoing military-led crackdown on militant groups in North Waziristan, a tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

“Before the army began its operations it seemed the narrative was controlled by extremists – people were terrified to even criticise them,” he said. “North Waziristan and the Peshawar school attack has changed the narrative completely.”

The execution of Mumtaz Qadri was greeted by the family of Salman Taseer who congratulated Judiciary for upholding their decision. Shaan Taseer, one of the former governor’s sons, reacted to the news of Qadri’s execution by writing on his Facebook page that “a principle had been upheld”.

“I commend the judiciary, the president and the police for staying the course and doing their duty. And I thank them for honouring his memory,” he wrote, adding in Urdu: “Long live Pakistan.”