New Delhi: Fourteen years ago in Pakistan, an influential man decided to protect a Christian woman from false accusations of blasphemy. Just for supporting her, his bodyguard shot him dead in broad daylight at an Islamabad market. The influential man was none other than Salman Taseer, the 34th Governor of Punjab.

The perpetrator, Mumtaz Qadri, was hailed as a hero among a large section of the hardliner Pakistani masses. Countless protests were staged throughout Pakistan to protect the so-called ‘Ghazi’ (warrior of the faith).

A heavy presence of forces was ensured to prevent the protest from turning into riots. But the justice took its due course, and Qadri was hanged in 2016. The pronouncement of execution disheartened many, but a Barelvi cleric took it on a mission to demand even s

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