PARAMEDICS DEMO/ SHAHBAZ BHATTI

MULTAN, March 3rd: More than 150 workers and paramedical staff on Thursday organised a protest rally to condemn the murder of Minorities Affairs Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti.The rally was led by Iqbal Ta'ir, Aslam Masih, Barkat Masih,and Rana Aamer.THe protestors burnt tyres to block the traffic and shouted slogans against terrorism, extremism and violence.Para-medical staff boycotted their professional duties and marched on the roads with banners and placards inscribed with slogans," Protest the religious minorities," we hate extremism,"Speaking on the occasion, the leaders of the protest demonstrations strongly condemned the murder of the minister and demanded that the culprits be put behind bars.They termed the incident a cold-blooded murder and questioned the efficiency of the law enforcement agencies. They said it was a matter of grave concern for the entire nation that a harmless and peace-loving person had been killed. Christian leaders said that the minorities in Pakistan were being compelled to migrate. They were of the view that the culprits of Bhatti’s murder will not be arrested as until today no murderers of any high-profile personalities had been apprehended, including those of Benazir Bhutto.They said that the minister had been receiving life threats for several days. He said though it was the duty of law enforcement agencies to find out if there was a connection between the murders of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and Bhatti, however it was a fact that both were victims of a series of killings, which should be stopped immediately.Bishop of Multan, Dr Andrew Francis exander, also condemned the murder in a statement issued on Thursday. He further said that the murder of Bhatti was not a loss of one family or the minorities, it was a loss for the whole country and society as a whole. On the occasion, minority leaders announced three-days of mourning, during which all missionary organisations, except for the welfare institutions, will remain closed. The protesters demanded of the government to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against such type of murders and an exemplary punishment for the murderers of Bhatti.
The participants said that Pakistan was being highlighted due to the wrong reasons and emphasised to the state that it should control the ongoing situation in which no one was safe.They said that the Pakistan People’s Party had promised the minorities that the blasphemy law would not be misused, but they were being targeted which was something that the government and law enforcement agencies should look into immediately.