Christians, government officials and secular groups have condemned the brutal assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the young Catholic minister in charge of minority affairs in Pakistan’s federal cabinet.
Bhatti, 42, was shot by unidentified gunmen who pumped bullets into his car from automatic weapons as he was being driven from his residence to his office in Islamabad this morning.
Bhatti, bleeding profusely, was rushed to a nearby hospital by his driver in the same car. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
But no Muslim clerics or groups.
I am afraid that Pakistan gives every appearance of becoming a failed state. The organs of government function only fitfully. The police are impotent. Assassination is a way of life – regarding Jon above, if any leading Muslim cleric condemned the murder of the minister then he too would become a target. Corruption is rampant. The resentment at Western involvement in Afghanistan and on Pakistan’s borders is immense. Can anybody see a glimmer of hope here? I cannot.