mr president one by one in pakistan the voices of reform and progress are being extinguished
shahbaz bhatti knew he was in danger both as a christian in a country where religious intolerance is rife and as minister for minorities who fearlessly denounced his country's draconian blasphemy laws
however he refused to be cowed by the islamist fanatics who threatened him with death
only two months earlier the governor of punjab salman taseer had been assassinated by his own bodyguards but bhatti was not even provided with bodyguards and therefore presented the easiest of targets to the heavily armed terrorists who cut him down on his way to a cabinet meeting
why was mr bhatti not shadowed by armed close protection officers
this is one of the many questions we must ask president zardari
i hope he can answer
i hope the vice-president high representative will press him to set more of an example in opposing the alarming radicalisation of pakistani society
above all this is a human tragedy
a man of great courage and principle has lost his life and we as democrats honour his name and salute his life's achievements today in this debate
we send our condolences to his loved ones in their hour of grief
