Mumtaz Qadri was regarded as a hero by thousands of his supporters, who paid their last respect to the former bodyguard in Pakistan. Qadri was hanged to death on Monday for killing Punjab's governor Salman Taseer in 2011.
BBC reports that about 50,000 mourners gathered at Qadri's funeral in Rawalpindi. Police authorities were positioned along the road of the procession and in Islamabad. Since Monday's execution of Qadri, his supporters protested on the roads of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, which is expected to be taking place until Friday. Protesters shouted slogan chants and blazed tires and called that day a Black Day. During the Qadri's funeral, markets and schools remained close. It also alerted more security all across the cities and towns.
On Monday, Qadri was executed in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. "I can confirm that Qadri was hanged in Adialia jail early Monday morning," police official Sajjid Gondal told the AFP news agency.
Qadri was bodyguard of Taseer and was a trained elite police commando. In 2011, he shot the Punjab governor 28 times. Qadri was charged and sentenced to death the following year. Qadri said that it was his religious duty to kill Taseer, who reportedly opposed Pakistan's blasphemy laws, Aljazeera cites. Qadri also alleged that Taseer supported Christian woman Asia Bibi who was indicted for insulting the Quran. From then on, Qadri gained supporters who thought that Taseer was a blasphemer.
"At this time, the sentiments of all Muslims have been injured, and our feelings have been badly hurt. For any Muslim believer - no matter what school of thought he belongs to - Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri is a hero of Islam," said Tahir Iqbal Chistie, president of Sunni Tehreek, Rawalpindi Chapter, during the rally.
Qadri was sentenced to death on the grounds of two counts for murder and terrorism in Oct. 2011. The trial for Qadri on the death of Taseer lasted for four years. Taseer's death was one of the highly-publicized assassinations since former Prime Mnister Benazir Bhutto was gunned down in Dec. 2007, Dawn reported.
Blasphemy is a highly-sensitive matter in Pakistan. Although there's no distinct definition of blasphemy in Pakistani's law, it says that anyone violating it would be punishable by death. Dozens of people linked to blasphemy had been convicted and killed since the 1990s. It is uncertain until when Pakistani streets will be cleared of protesters after Qadri's death. The judge who indicted Qadri the first time was forced to leave Pakistan after receiving tons of death threats.
