Islamabad, January 5
Five hundred Pakistani religious scholars have warned that anyone who expresses grief over the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer who opposed the country's blasphemy law could suffer the same fate.

The Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan group of scholars making the veiled threat is actually from a moderate school of Islam in Pakistan. It is a vocal critic of Taliban militants who are violently opposed to the government and its ally the United States.

The group is one of the largest representing scholars from the mainstream Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims. Although moderates, they have been leading protests in favour of the blasphemy law.

The hardline stand taken by the moderates illustrates how difficult it can be for Washington, which sees Islamabad as indispensable in its war on militancy, to persuade Pakistani leaders to crack down harder on religious extremism.

"More than 500 scholars of the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat have advised Muslims not to offer the funeral prayers of Governor Punjab Salman Taseer nor try to lead the prayers," the group said in a statement. "Also, there should be no expression of grief or sympathy on the death of the governor, as those who support blasphemy of the Prophet are themselves indulging in blasphemy."

Salman Taseer, a liberal politician close to President Asif Ali Zardari, had no day-to-day role in the central government. But his killing in broad daylight at a shopping centre in Islamabad reinforces the sense that the government is incapable of stabilising the Muslim country of 170 million.

The Punjab province governor was killed on Tuesday by one of his guards, who was apparently incensed by the politician's opposition to

the blasphemy law, in a parking lot at the block of shops popular with foreigners.

The blasphemy law came under the spotlight after a court in November sentenced a Christian mother of four, Asia Bibi, to death in a case stemming from a village dispute. Jamaat-e-Islami, one of Pakistan's main Islamist political parties, also said Taseer's assassination was justified.

The group of scholars also noted the "courage" and religious zeal of Taseer's killer, saying his action has made Muslims around the world proud. It also said that the "so-called" intellectuals, ministers, politicians and television anchors who oppose the blasphemy law and support those committing blasphemy should learn a lesson from Taseer's death.

Meanwhile, the emergence of Facebook pages eulogising the assassin of Taseer and praise from Islamic clerics for the killer have outraged liberal Pakistanis, who today said tolerance and space for discourse on religious and political issues was shrinking.

Chilling footage aired on news channels showed Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the assassin, saying that the punishment for insulting the Prophet Mohammed was death.

Within hours of the assassination, several disrespectful pages popped up on social networking website Facebook, celebrating Taseer's death and praising the action of Qadri. One such page was titled: "Salute to the greatness of Ghazi Malik Mumtaz Qadri". — Agencies