Another Tragic Death: Shahbaz Bhatti

This morning in Pakistan a courageous man was murdered. Shahbaz Bhatti, 42, the Pakistani Minister for Minorities and a devout Catholic, was gunned down in the street in Islamabad, apparently by Islamic militants who left a note at the scene: 

"Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claims responsibility for the assassination of Bhatti for speaking out against the blasphemy law." 

The TTP is an organization claiming to represent a number of Isalmist extremist groups.

Bhatti had been critical of Pakistan's blasphemy law which on many occasions has been used by Muslims to accuse Christian neighbors, usually unjustly through false accusations. He had also been particularly vocal in his support for Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy for her alleged comments about the "Prophet." Bhatti was not the first target of these Islamic extremists. They had also recently murdered the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, for the same reasons. Bhatti knew he was a target, but would not back down from his support of the freedom of religion supposedly guaranteed by the Pakistani constitution.

The following video is a portion of an interview Bhatti gave to Al Jazeera News.

As you can see in the above video, Bhatti was focused on all victims of discrimination in his society, and was chairman of the All Pakistani Minorities Alliance, an organization of the most marginalized minorities, particularly religious minorities, as well as the poorest of the poor. Speaking of his work, Bhatti stated, "I just want a place at the feet of Jesus. I want my life, my character, my actions to speak for me and say that I am following Jesus Christ." And in an interview on a recent visit to the US, he said, “But I will continue to follow the principles that I believe. I will continue to raise the voice of the voiceless. And I will not feel fear because of these threats because I follow Jesus Christ who has given his own life for us. So as a follower of Christ, my destiny is to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves.”

May his life be an example to others, and a sign of the power of God's love, a sign that will bring others in Bhatti's country to Jesus Christ.

Rest in peace.

You can read more on this story here: Shahbaz Bhatti Assasinated

And here's a Q&A interview with Bhatti conducted by The Christian Post last month in Washington, D.C.: Interview with Pakistan's Minister for Minorities