mr president there is a fundamental struggle going on in pakistan and the extremism that we have seen has to end especially the abusive blasphemy laws
these are leading to a climate of fear and intolerance and in the worst cases extremism
the fight against extremism is not an easy task which is why the pakistani government and all those citizens who agree that intolerance and extremism are unacceptable need our support
we have to continue to wipe out terrorism
the governor mr taseer was violently murdered out of sheer intolerance by a guard from his own security detail a person who should have protected him
his daughter shehrbano wrote a letter which was published in from which i would like to quote because i think she gets to the essence and it is very good to use her words in memory of her father
she says of the perpetrator mr qadri and his supporters may have felled a great oak that day but they are sadly mistaken if they think they have succeeded in silencing my father's voice or the voices of millions like him who believe in the secular vision of pakistan's founder mohammed ali jinnah
she continues there are those who say my father's death was the final nail in the coffin for a tolerant pakistan
that pakistan's liberal voices will now be silenced
but we buried a heroic man and not the courage he inspired in others
others followed in their condemnation of the blasphemy laws even conservative politicians
we have to support that here in the european parliament
the daughter of governor taseer went to smith college and she studied european politics and human rights but too many people in pakistan are educated in madrasahs
we have to make sure that the young generation has opportunities and learns how to live together in the diverse society which is pakistan
