Lets burn some tires now.

Religion drives Pakistanis. Pakistan was created because Muslims in British India needed their own country. A place they could call home. Since then, religion is what gets us off the couches and brings us on the streets. It is what makes us really really mad. And what do we do? Burn tires and block traffic and break traffic lights. When that cartoonist in Denmark made caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, we did that. Now when the Governor of Punjab is gunned down by his security guard, we are doing the same.

Don't get me wrong; I was no fan of the man or his politics. But I do give him credit for being an advocate of the rights of minorities and women in Pakistan. On Dec. 24, he had twittered: 

"My observation on minorities: A man/nation is judged by how they support those weaker than them not how they lean on those stronger." 

Taseer's apparent killer cited his boss's stance against a controversial anti-blasphemy law in justifying his actions. As the embattled, pro-U.S. PPP sought in recent days to win back defecting allies that also include a small Islamic party, it had already said it would not support a proposal to change the blasphemy statutes. That left Taseer one of the few vocal champions of the move, which hard-line religious organizations had labeled a Western conspiracy.

For a nation who gets emotional over religion, Taseer's recent outspoken moves cost him his life. His death, to say the least, is ironic - for he spoke against the kind of people who took his life. For the people who are calling his killer a hero, murder is not the answer. Taking someone's life can never be justified.  For the extremists who abuse blasphemy laws, the example to follow is the Prophet himself who practiced great tolerance and forgiveness. For the voices against corrupt politicians, the solution is to fix Pakistan's broken justice system, that lacks expertise, rewards vendettas, and encourages radicalism.

  

"On account of that incident, We ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a person, except as a punishment for murder or mischief in the land, it will be written in his book of deeds as if he had killed all the human beings on the surface of the Earth and whoever will save a life shall be regarded as if he gave life to all the human beings on the surface of the Earth." (Quran 5:32)