SALMAN TASEER:JUNE 12,1946 - JANUARY 4,2011
SALMAN TASEER was a politician and buisnessman of PAKISTAN, who served as the governer of province PUNJAB from 2008 to 2011.He was a member of Pakistan Peoples Party started by ZULIFQAR ALI BHUTTO.he was appointed to the post of governer on May 15, 2008.on january 4,2011 he was assassinated by his own security guard named MALIK MUMTAZ QADRI,who disagreed with his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.
Political carreer:
Taseer started his political carrier in his student life.He become a memeber of Zulifqar Ali Bhutto's party(PPP) in 1960s.he was a part of Bhutto's freedom and opposed his arrest and death sentence.He wrote a book on Bhutto's life named as A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY (1980).In 1980's elections, he became a member of Punjab Assembly.in 2007, he was elected as interim Federal minister for industries,Production and special Initiatives.On May 15,2008, he was appointed as a Governer of Punjab.
Business caeer:
Taseer set up several chartered accountancy and management consultancy firms early in his career.In 1995, he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney, Inc., USA, and HG Asia Hong Kong.Taseer founded the Worldcall group with a payphone network in 1996. The group has grown over the years to become a major private sector telecom operator with a national and regional footprint.A majority stake in Worldcall was acquired by Omantel, the Sultanate of Oman's incumbent operator, in 2008.
Taseer also owned an English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus and the first kids' channel, Wikkid Plus,and was the publisher of the English language Daily Times.
Personal life:
Salman Taseer was married to Amna Taseer.They had six childeren:Maryam,Shehreyar,Shehbaz,Sara and Sher Bano.He has also a son, Aatish Taseer from Tavleen Singh, married at during the book promotion in INDIA.He was aclass fellow of Nawaz Shareef at Saint Anthony School Lahore. He had obtained a degree in Chartered Accountancy from London
Controversy:
He acceded to the views of Mr. Javed Ahmed Ghamdi, who is living a self exile life. Mr. Javed Ghamdi has commented to change the law of Blasphemy in Pakistan.He stood for change in the Constitution declaring Ahmadi/ Qadyani community to be non-muslims. However, he never claimed/ commented about himself having the same religious belief.In a recent interview with Meher Bukhair, on Samaa TV, Salman Taseer commented his view about the blasphemy laws and filing a mercy petition for Asia Bibi who has been charged death sentence by a Court under Blasphemy Law.
In December 2010 as Punjab Governor, he departed the country without handing over charge to the speaker, this meant that the province was without a constitutional head, and it also rendered the assembly speaker ineligible to preside over the session. Leaving the province without informing his successor was in violation of the constitution and this lead to calls for his resignation.Evidence provided by ICAO on the governor's travel abroad, lead to a case being filed in court for breach of the constitution.
Assassination:
Salman Taseer was assassinated on Janurary 4, 2011, at Kohsar Market in Sector F6, Islamabad, Pakistan[. He was returning to his car after meeting a friend for lunch, when he was shot 27 times by an automatic rifle at close range. He died instantly. The assailant, Malik Mumtaz Qadri was part of the security detail provided to him by the Elite Police Force. After the act, the assailant laid down his weapon and turned himself in. Salman Taseer was in Islamabad to attend meetings which were being held in light of political dropout of other opposition parties. He had previously been to the Presidential Palace, the Senate and The Interior Ministry.Soon after his assassination, protest erupted in different parts of Punjab province, protestors burned tyres and blocked traffic in Lahore.
Qadri reportedly said he killed Taseer due to his vocal opposition of the Blasphemy law in Pakistan.Notably, Taseer made headlines when he appealed for the pardon of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi,who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy.It was suspected that this was the main reason for his assassination.
