Fifty Thousand Muslims March in Support of Death for Those That Insult Islam

Thousands demonstrate in support of Pakistan's blasphemy law
Thousands of people turned out in Karachi Sunday to show their support for Pakistan's current Blasphemy laws and warn the government against changing the laws. The rally, called by the leaders of several hard-line Islamic groups, closed main roads and markets throughout the city. Demonstrators demanded Pakistan leave its Blasphemy laws untouched. They make it a crime punishable by death to insult Islam, the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed. A number of banners at the rally stated support for...

Thousands Rally in Pakistan For Blasphemy Laws and To Praise Man Charged With Killing Provincial Governor
Opposed to any change in national Blasphemy laws Supporters of Pakistani religious parties wave flags during a rally to Protest against any attempts to modify Blasphemy laws, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011 Associated Press KARACHI, Pakistan - Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Pakistan's largest city on Sunday to oppose any change to national Blasphemy laws and to praise a man charged with murdering a provincial Governor who had campaigned against the divisive legis...

Islamic sermons motivated killer of politician who opposed Pakistani blasphemy law
While the Mainstream Media (and Hamas-linked CAIR) demonize Conservatives for a shooting by a flag-burning Leftist, they -- predictably -- ignore the clear Islamic motivations of this murderer, and the continued victimizing of non-Muslims in Pakistan by the Blasphemy law. "Sermons motivated killer of Pakistani politician," by Asif Shahzad for Associated Press, January 10: Islamabad - The confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani politician provided a judge Monday with the names of two men whose ...

Governor's children on 'frightening' Pakistan
The Bodyguard accused of shooting Pakistani Governor Salman Taseer has confessed in court to the killing. Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri told the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi that he had acted alone in the attack. The Governor is thought to have been killed for his support for a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for Blasphemy, but he had been an outspoken liberal voice on many issues. Mr Taseer's Children, Sara and Shehryar, told the BBC's Aleem Maqbool they kn...

Pakistani assassin pleads guilty
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A Pakistani Police Officer pleaded guilty Monday to charges he murdered the Governor of Punjab Province over a law banning criticism of the Prophet Mohammed. Mumatz Qadri, 26, told a judge in Karachi he was angered by Gov. Salman Taseer's opposition to the law, which carries a death penalty, and shot him 26 times while Qadri was assigned to the governor's security detail. Qadri's lawyer told the judge he had acted alone and was not linked to any Militant group...

Ethan Casey: Will the Real America Please Stand Up?
Seattle, JANUARY 8 -- Those of us who are concerned about the fate of Pakistan were still reeling from the January 4 Assassination of Punjab Governor and liberal newspaper publisher Salmaan Taseer in Islamabad, when we heard about the shooting of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson. What does one have to do with the other? All too much. On Friday I responded to a query from a Times of India reporter by calling the Taseer killing "extremely ominous." I followed that statement of the...

Pope decries attacks against religious minorities
In his annual "State of the World" address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict XVI spoke Monday about religious intolerance and Discrimination toward Christian Minorities around the world. The Pope voiced concern about the recent attacks against Christians in the Middle East and urged the region's leaders to take stronger safeguard measures. "Looking to the east, the attacks which brought death, grief and dismay among the Christians of Iraq, even to the point of in...

Karachi: Thousands Rally For Blasphemy Laws
(AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Pakistan’s largest city on Sunday to oppose any change to national Blasphemy laws and to praise a man charged with murdering a provincial Governor who had campaigned against the divisive Legislation. The rally of up to 50,000 people in downtown Karachi was one of the largest demonstrations of support for the laws, which make insulting Islam a capital offense. It was organized before the Governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, w...

Thousands rally in Pakistan for blasphemy laws
KARACHI, Pakistan - Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched in Pakistan's largest city in opposition to any change to Blasphemy laws and to praise the man charged with murdering the provincial Governor who opposed the Legislation. The rally of up to 50,000 people in downtown Karachi on Sunday was one of the largest demonstrations of support for the laws that make insulting Islam a capital offense. The march was organized before Punjab governor, Salman Taseer, was shot dead last wee...

Pakistanis back blasphemy laws
Pakistan'S religious tensions were on display yesterday as thousands of Muslims marched in defence of draconian Blasphemy laws, even as Christians gathered to mourn a politician murdered for defending a woman sentenced to hang for criticising the Prophet Muhammad. Protesters in Karachi carried banners celebrating the death of Salman Taseer who was shot dead last week by a member of his security team. His killer, Mumtaz Qadri, has been feted by hardline clerics and showered with rose petals, to...

Nick Cohen
If the circumstances were not so hideous, the successful attempt by Pakistan to persuade the UN Human Rights Council to condemn blasphemers who defame religion would have been a black comedy. Every word its Diplomats used in 2009 to Protest against Islamophobia turned out to be a precise description of the prejudices the Pakistani state was appeasing at home. They told the UN it must approve a universal Blasphemy law to protect religious Minorities from "intolerance, Discrimination and acts of v...

Pakistan: Cleric says assassinated governor "responsible for his own murder," as tens of thousands rally for blasphemy law
Tiny Minority of Extremists Update, and while we're at it, an Impotent Islamabad Update, as the Prime Minister reiterates Pakistan's commitment to doing nothing. "Thousands rally in Pakistan for Blasphemy laws," by Ashraf Khan for the Associated Press, January 9: Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Pakistan's largest city on Sunday to oppose any change to national Blasphemy laws and to praise a man charged with murdering a provincial Governor who had campaigned against the divisive l...

Sermons motivated killer of Pakistani politician
Pakistanis chant slogans supporting Mumtaz Qadri, alleged killer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, during a rally in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Salman Taseer was killed on Tuesday by his Bodyguard commando reportedly enraged by his opposition to laws decreeing death for insulting Islam. The confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani politician provided a judge Monday with the names of two men whose sermons allegedly sparked him to act, as YouTube footage emerged of the assassin ch...

Pakistan bodyguard admits killing
Who is to blame for Taseer's death? The Bodyguard accused of shooting Pakistani Governor Salman Taseer has confessed in court to the killing. Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri told the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi that he had acted alone in the attack. He was whisked into court a day earlier than scheduled to prevent supporters showing up, correspondents say. It comes a day after 50,000 Protesters marched in Karachi against proposed amendments - backed by the slain Punjab Governor - to the b...

Sermons motivated killer of Pakistani politician
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani politician provided a judge Monday with the names of two men whose sermons allegedly sparked him to act, as YouTube footage emerged of the assassin chanting Islamic verses in police custody. The slaying of Punjab province Gov. Salman Taseer nearly a week ago shocked many around the world, but tens of thousands of Pakistanis have expressed support for 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri, who said he killed the Governor for criticizing laws t...

Daily brief: Pakistani assassin says he acted alone
Roiling reactions The assassin of Salmaan Taseer, the Governor of Punjab who was shot to death last week in Islamabad because of his support for reforms to Pakistan's Controversial Blasphemy laws, Mumtaz Qadri, formally confessed to the Murder in court today and asserted that he was not influenced by any Islamic or Militant organizations (AFP, AP, ET). Authorities are searching for a Rawalpindi cleric who is believed to have inspired Qadri, who is due back in Rawalpindi's anti-terrorism court ...

Zardaris Defense of Taseer Comes at Crucial Moment for Pakistan
The international community has been shocked and sickened by reaction in Pakistan to the Assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. Support for the Governor’s murderer was found not only within the religious parties but also from lawyers, parts of the media, and even some politicians from the mainstream political parties. This has been a wake-up call for U.S. policymakers, who now see that support for Extremist ideologies is much broader and deeper in Pakistani society than previously u...

Sudanese president: "Sharia law has always stipulated that one must whip, cut, or kill"
He said it. Is Omar al-Bashir some kind of Islamophobe? No, he is looking forward to using the outcome of southern Sudan's independence Referendum to ramp up Sharia law within the remainder of the country. Religious Minorities in the north are rightfully afraid (along with all Minorities who will be further marginalized under Bashir's intended campaign of cultural Arabization), given the subjugated status Islamic law prescribes for them (Qur'an 9:29). The entire population can look forward to ...

Pope urges Pakistan to scrap blasphemy law
Stumble This! Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called on Pakistan to scrap a Controversial law against Blasphemy, saying it served as "a pretext for acts of injustice and violence against religious Minorities." "I once more encourage the leaders of that country to take the necessary steps to abrogate that law," the leader of the world's one billion Catholics said in a traditional New Year's address to ambassadors to the Vatican. "The tragic Murder of the Governor of Punjab shows the urgent need to m...

The Invention Of Islamophobia
Anyone who suggests that there is a war being waged by Muslims in their own lands and in the lands in which they have settled—these last, by the way, are the really aggressive “settlers”!—against rationalists and true liberals, traditional Conservatives and Islamic dissenters, Christians and Jews is likely to be labeled an “Islamophobe.” I have been, and thousands of you out there, perhaps millions, have been so labeled...or almost. And, at dinner with friend...

Pope urges blasphemy law repeal
Pope Benedict XVI has called on Pakistan to Repeal its Blasphemy laws, which can carry a death sentence for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. He said the laws served as a pretext for acts of injustice and violence against religious Minorities. The Pope referred to Pakistani Governor Salman Taseer, whose Assassination last week was blamed on his support for changes to the Blasphemy laws. A Bodyguard of Mr Taseer has confessed in court to his killing. Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri told the Anti-Terrori...

Thousands rally against blasphemy law reform in Pakistan
Stumble This! More than 50,000 people rallied in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Sunday, police said, against the Controversial reform of a Blasphemy law that was behind the killing of a senior politician. Religious groups blocked a main thoroughfare in Karachi's teeming metropolis holding banners in support of the police commando who shot dead Punjab Governor Salman Taseer on Tuesday over his views favouring an amendment of the law. Taseer had called for reform of the Blasphemy law that...

Rally held to support blasphemy law
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Religious groups held a huge rally in support of Pakistan's harsh Blasphemy law, days after a leading liberal was killed for seeking reforms to the statute. A CNN report said thousands took part in the demonstration Sunday in the southern port city of Karachi, with some demonstrators carrying banners in support of Muhammad Mumtaz Qadri, the personal Security Guard accused in last Tuesday's Assassination of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, who wanted to change the ...

Pakistans Sherry Rehman Fit to Be Killed Say Pakistani Imams
(NDTV) — Several clerics have issued fatwas against former Pakistani minister Sherry Rehman and declared her an infidel for calling for changes in the Blasphemy law, prompting civil society Activists to register a complaint with police in the port city of Karachi today. Media reports said the imam of Sultan Masjid, one of Karachi’s biggest Mosques, declared Rehman a ‘kaafir’ (infidel) and ‘wajib-ul-qatl’ (fit to be killed) while delivering a sermon after the F...

Tens of thousands rally against changes in blasphemy law
By Faisal Aziz Karachi | Sun Jan 9, 2011 11:34am EST Karachi (Reuters) - Up to 50,000 people from various religious parties rallied in Karachi on Sunday to oppose any changes in a Controversial Blasphemy law, police said. The show of strength highlighted how hard it would be to roll back a tide of religious Conservatism after the Assassination on Tuesday of the Governor of the largest province for supporting changes in the Blasphemy law. Salman Taseer, the Punjab governor, was killed in Islam...