A Pakistani Christian politician, an MPA in the Balochistan Provincial Assembly Mr Handery Masih, was assassinated outside his home by his own bodyguard today. He died of his injuries in hospital shortly after. His nephew was also injured in the assault by bodyguard Ghulam Mohi-ud-din, according to reports from the scene.
The exact motivation for the attack is unknown, but it comes after a moderate Muslim governor Salmaan Taseer (click here) was assassinated several years ago by his own bodyguard for opposing the blasphemy laws, and the assassination of Pakistan’s most senior Christian politician, Federal Government minister Shahbaz Bhatti soon after, over the same cause (click here).
BPCA Chairman Mr Wilson Chowdhry said
‘I am saddened, but not surprised, to hear that another Christian politician has been gunned down in Pakistan. We may not know the precise reason, but this is doubtless yet another manifestation of the extreme anti-Christian bigotry that pervades Pakistani society and culture as a whole, an state of extreme moral bankruptcy.
I join with Christian politicians in Pakistan to hold the government to account for allowing such a situation to develop, and not doing nearly enough to uphold basic principles of human rights when it comes to Christians and other minorities in Pakistan‘.
