Pakistan Mourns Slain Christian Pakistani Minister
- 13 years ago
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The body of the Pakistan government minister who was gunned down Wednesday will be flown to his home village for burial. Hundreds of distraught relatives and fellow villagers are preparing for a mass prayer for the slain Christian minister.
The last rites of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's only Christian government minister who was assassinated two days ago, began on Friday.
Bhatti was gunned down by Taliban militants in broad daylight in Islamabad on Wednesday. He is the second senior official to be assassinated this year for challenging the country's controversial blasphemy law. The law sanctions the death penalty for insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammad.
In the village of Khushpur hundreds of distraught relatives and locals, chanting "Shahbaz, your blood will give rise to a revolution," waited for the body to be brought home for burial.
Christian women cried in grief and angry youth shouted "death for the killers."
Bhatti's body was carried to a church in Islamabad where a large number of government officials and foreign diplomats had gathered to pay their last respects to him.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani attended the funeral.
Bhatti's assassination threatens to further destabilize Pakistan where non-Muslim politicians are threatened by a growing wave of Islamist extremism.
Condemnation poured in from around the world after news of Bhatti's killing broke, with the Church of England and the Vatican decrying the violence against Christians in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Gilani announced a three-day official mourning and said country's flag would fly half-mast on Friday to mourn Bhatti's death.
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The body of the Pakistan government minister who was gunned down Wednesday will be flown to his home village for burial. Hundreds of distraught relatives and fellow villagers are preparing for a mass prayer for the slain Christian minister.
The last rites of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's only Christian government minister who was assassinated two days ago, began on Friday.
Bhatti was gunned down by Taliban militants in broad daylight in Islamabad on Wednesday. He is the second senior official to be assassinated this year for challenging the country's controversial blasphemy law. The law sanctions the death penalty for insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammad.
In the village of Khushpur hundreds of distraught relatives and locals, chanting "Shahbaz, your blood will give rise to a revolution," waited for the body to be brought home for burial.
Christian women cried in grief and angry youth shouted "death for the killers."
Bhatti's body was carried to a church in Islamabad where a large number of government officials and foreign diplomats had gathered to pay their last respects to him.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani attended the funeral.
Bhatti's assassination threatens to further destabilize Pakistan where non-Muslim politicians are threatened by a growing wave of Islamist extremism.
Condemnation poured in from around the world after news of Bhatti's killing broke, with the Church of England and the Vatican decrying the violence against Christians in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Gilani announced a three-day official mourning and said country's flag would fly half-mast on Friday to mourn Bhatti's death.