Vigil for Shahbaz Bhatti, Karachi, March 6

When in December 2010 late Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer visited Aasiya Bibi, who had been sentenced to death on a blasphemy charge, and promised to appeal for clemency for her, hopes were raised that the poor Christian woman would get a presidential pardon. After all, the promise had been made by the powerful governor of the country’s most powerful province. No one could imagine that in less than a month, on Jan 4, Taseer would himself become a victim of the fanaticism unleashed by the blasphemy laws.

In killing Taseer, Mumtaz Qadri, a police guard, became judge, jury, executioner and, instantly, a national hero. The self-confessed killer claimed Taseer had committed blasphemy by criticising the laws and speaking up for Aasiya Bibi.

Two months later, on March 2, another voice raised against the blasphemy laws was silenced. Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs, was killed in Islamabad as he left his mother’s home. In spite of threats to his life, which he had reported, there was no security with him at the time. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for Bhatti’s killing.

While both Taseer and Bhatti were open critics of the blasphemy laws, the two men were very different in their approach.

Taseer, confident both of his political position and religious status, was vocal and fearless. Bhatti, a non-Muslim and a member of the cabinet, tried to work quietly within the system to bring about reform.

The two high-profile assassinations have demonstrated that even criticism of the blasphemy laws is now considered — and accepted by many — as blasphemy itself. The weak response of the government to the killings of leaders who also happened to belong to the ruling party has emboldened bigots. And with the two deaths, it appears the few voices of opposition have died.

— Zohra Yusuf is chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan