The Last Man Standing

A very tragic story out of Pakistan, yesterday. The high-profile governor of Punjab Province, Salman Taseer was assassinated in broad daylight and at close range by one of his own bodyguards. According to the assassin – who immediately turned himself in – he committed the murder because the governor had been engaged in a campaign to amend the country’s blasphemy laws.

Salman Taseer had very publicly taken to defending a Christian, Pakistani woman who had been sentenced under the country’s blasphemy laws. He had even been photographed with her. Her sentence? Death.

Today, amid growing political unrest, Salman Taseer was eulogized and buried with full military honors in Lahore.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik represented the government and the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party amid tight security. But Mr. Taseer’s close friend and ally, President Asif Ali Zardari, did not attend.

Also absent were opposition politicians Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, fierce political rivals of Mr. Taseer, and religious party leaders and clerics, some of whom called for a boycott of the funeral because of Mr. Taseer’s stance against the religious parties over the country’s strict blasphemy laws.

Chris Hayes did a remarkable tribute to Salman Taseer last night, as guest host on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show. You can watch here.  The emphasis is mine.

In speeches and protests across Pakistan on Friday religious leaders warned the government about altering the blasphemy law, the one with the mandatory death sentence.  Most politicians tried to placate the religious extremists by assuring them that the government did not intend to change or repeal the law.  One politician did not do that.  One politician said he was unimpressed and called the protestors abusive.  That kind of honesty and courage is rare.  That kind of honesty and courage is especially rare in a place that is being torn apart by religious extremism.  Three years after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.  Nearly ten years into the war that the U.S. is raging right next-door if not increasingly inside of Pakistan.  Friends of governor said he knew he was risking his life by speaking out.  Fatwas were issued against him.  Today gunned down by his own bodyguard for defending a woman against a mandatory death sentence.  It cost him his life.  And he suspected it would.  And that is worthy of tribute.  That is worthy of the title of martyr.

“Worthy of tribute,” as Chris Hayes said. “Worthy of the title of martyr.”

Worthy of re-assessing whatever the hell we think it is we are doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan.