Shahbaz Bhatti Memorial vandalised in Pakistan

by Jibran Khan

The picture of the slain minister was paint sprayed and a poster ripped off. The attack occurred on the same day that scores of Christian homes were set on fire in Lahore. The Minority Affairs minister was killed on 2011 for his opposition to the blasphemy law.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - The memorial dedicated to Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Catholic minister of Minority Affairs murdered in 2011, was vandalised in broad daylight last Saturday.

The pictured was paint sprayed and a poster honouring him was ripped off. Flowers and candles that framed the monument have disappeared.

The incident occurred at the same time as a mob set fire to 178 homes in a Christian neighbourhood in Lahore. The two are connected.

The Bhatti Memorial is located in Lahore's Sector I/8, one of the areas with the most traffic. And yet, no one tried to stop the perpetrators, who remain at large.

Shahbaz Bhatti was killed on 2 March 2011 in an ambush by masked men. According to the investigation, the Catholic minister was killed for his opposition to the blasphemy law.

He was also well known for defending Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five sentenced to death on the basis of the 'black law'.

Bhatti 1