Slain Pakistani minister's
brother meets the Pope:
'Love and forgiveness
must prevail over hatred'
Translated from the Italian service of
April 6, 2011
At the end of today's General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI greeted Paul Bhatti. older brother of slain Pakistan's Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who has been named by the Pakistani government to be an adviser on minority affairs to the Prime Minister.
Bhatti was accompanied by Mons. Joseph Coutts, Bishop of Faisalabad (home diocese of the Bhattis) and Syed Muhammad Abudl Khabir Azad, Grand Imam of the Bahahahi Mosque in Lahore.
Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated a month ago by Islamic extremists for his open support of amendment to Pakistan's anti-blasphemy law which criminalizes any word or gesture interpreted to be anti-Islam or anti-Mohammed.
At a meeting yesterday organized by the Sant'Egidio community, Paul Bhatti, who until recently, had worked for years as an emergency-room doctor in Italy, said he has pardoned his brother's assassins. Francesca Sabatinelli interviewed him:
BHATTI: Our brother Shabazz was Christian, and the Christian faith teaches forgiveness, and therefore our family has decided to forgive his assassins. But at the same time, we do want to find out who exactly were behind this crime.
You have said that as the older brother, you had always sought to protect him. But now, you are following his footsteps...
When I was merely advising him, I looked at my brother purely with fraternal love. I had not really considered the activities that he was undertaking nor the responsibility that he had taken on. Now, living in his situation, seeing all the people who perhaps need someone to lead them, observing all who are marginalized, I feel the need to continue his work.
And what fears do you have today?
I do have fears, because some people act according to the logic of hat and terrorism, and perhaps they feel hatred towards our family and will act accordingly. I am aware this can happen.
The raw nerve caused by the anti-blasphemy law is the way it is interpreted...
Yes, I believe so. This law was originally an English law when they ruled India
[at which time, the eastern and western parts of the Indian subcontinent, now Bangladesh and Pakistan, respectively, were all part of the territory called India under British rule. Oakistan broke away after independence in 1949, and many eyars later, Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan.]
However, in Pakistan, it has been used and interpreted subjectively for personal motivations. For instance, Aasia Bibi - a woman from a socio-cultural class that is considered very low, and who is very poor - had absolutely no thought of insulting Mohammed. It was obvious that they created a situation to punish her for what she is, and perhaps due to some personal rancor against her.
What are the primary challenges that face you now?
The first is this religious discrimination which is growing daily. Not because people of different faiths are incapable of living together but because there is a hate campaign created by a terrorist base which continues to use religion improperly. We should fight against such hatred. If we don't, there will always be victims.
It hasn't only been my brother. In Pakistan, bombs are going off every day somewhere and killing people. So this is the first challenge.
You have thanked the international community and Benedict XVI for their support after your brother's assassination. Do you have support in your own country?
Yes, we have the support of the present government. The fact that they asked me to carry on my brother's work, in some way, is a proof of their attitude, because so many other people wanted this post. But the government has given me the task to continue the work and has expressed full support for what we can do to prevent these things from happening again.
Your favorite memory of your brother?
As a brother I have excellent memories of him, as our parents have of him as a son. He was an exceptional person. I never saw him get angry. If, for whatever reason, he might be angry with someone, he would first seek to make peace. And whenever he was home, everything was serene. Now, of course, we do not have the same serenity.
Mons. Joseph Coutts, Bishop of Faisalabad, celebrated the funeral Mass for Shahbaz Bhatti, and knew him well as a member of his diocese. Today, speaking of Bhatti's sacrifice, he compared him to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Archbishop Oscar Romero of Nicaragua:
MONS COUTTS: I remember Shahbaz as a very sincere young man, not as a politician. When he became a federal minister, he remained very humble, with a tremendous sense of responsibility, always thinking in terms of "What can I do?" He was always very positive.
Do you think his death has weakened the hopes of Pakistani Catholics?
He was a diehard Catholic but he was minister for all religious minorities, so his death was a blow for Pakistan in general.
What are the challenges related to the anti-blasphemy law?
So many problems! Our government is a coalition but there is no strong opposition, and the extremists are exploiting this situation and have become very strong. They are well armed, they are well-versed in waging terrorism, and it is not easy for the Pakistani military to control all their activities.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/04/2011 04:30]