ICC Note:
March 2nd marked the sixth anniversary of Shahbaz Bhatti’s assassination in Pakistan. Still the only Christian federal cabinet minister in Pakistan’s history, Bhatti’s legacy continues to live on in Pakistan’s Christian community. Bhatti is still remembered for his tireless work fighting against discrimination and promoting the rights of Christians and other religious minorities. Unafraid of taking on Pakistan’s toughest issues, Bhatti was a fierce critic of Pakistan’s blasphemy law which many still claim are often used against Christians. Will Bhatti’s legacy continue to have a positive impact on Pakistan’s Christian community?  
03/06/2017 Pakistan (Dawn) – March 2 marks the sixth year since Shahbaz Bhatti, the slain minister of minorities affairs, was shot dead in front of his mother’s house in Islamabad.
The organization he founded, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) held memorial services across the country, the largest of which was held in his ancestral village Khushpur, Chak 451-GB. Bishop John Arshad of the Faisalabad diocese led the prayers attended by almost a thousand people and zonal coordinators of APMA paid tribute to their slain leader, Shaheed Quaid Shahbaz Bhatti.
Born on Sept 9, 1968, in the tiny village of Khushpur, Chak 451-GB of Faisalabad, Bhatti had attended St Thomas High School and later the Government College Faisalabad where he began the Christian Liberation Front in 1985. The situation for Christians in small towns surrounding the village was marked by abject poverty and naked discrimination.
“We couldn’t even eat from the same utensils as Muslims and were denied jobs because of our faith,” Mr Gill explains.
On a mission to end this discrimination, Bhatti had taken it on himself to fight for equal rights of minorities in Pakistan and had travelled across the country to rally members of his community to fight for the cause.
Pastor Sadiq from Multan lent Bhatti the premises of St Saviours High School in 1993 where he held a corner meeting to raise the issue of three illiterate Christians from Gujranwala accused of writing defamatory remarks against Islam on a wall. He recalls Bhatti as a tireless campaigner.
“Since the Zia-era, Bhatti was almost always in trouble with the administrations and those in power because he was a fearless leader who would not shy away from criticizing the army and the government in power… he truly inspired people with his speeches and words and urged them to take charge of their destiny,” Mr Sadiq says.
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