Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rawalpindi (Agenzia Fides) – "His passing is a great loss for moderate Islam and dialogue in Pakistan. It is a blow to interreligious dialogue and is a warning to all Muslims who say they are opposed to the unjust blasphemy law." With these words, the Catholic intellectual Francis Mehboob Sada, Director of the Christian Study Center (CSC) in Rawalpindi, told Fides his thoughts on the assassination of Mohammad Farooq Khan, a prominent Muslim leader, Vice-Chancellor of the Islamic University of Swat, in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly Northwest Frontier Province).
Farooq Khan, who was also a psychiatrist, was shot October 3, in Merdan, the clinic where he worked, by two killers who approached him under the guise of patients. According to preliminary investigations, behind the murder are Taliban groups that infest the area and who were greatly annoyed by the intense lecturing schedule and the convincing opinions of the victim.
Francis Mehboob Sada told Fides: "Farooq Khan is another victim of Islamic extremism. His vision of Islam that was focused on personal values and human rights was fiercely opposed by the Taliban. The courage with which he defended these ideas publicly cost him his life. He was a great friend of the Christian Study Center. He participated in our conferences and seminars, with a search for dialogue and a constructive spirit. We were in agreement on many issues that affect Pakistani society, such as the urgent need to abolish the blasphemy law. Today, we share in the grief of his family. This is a great loss for Islam in Pakistan and for the entire country. There are few Muslim intellectuals who will be able to embrace his inheritance and promote moderate ideas with the same courage."
The Director of the CSC recalls the vision that Farooq had: "He said he was a humanist, with a love for the good of humanity, defending the dignity of every human being. His reference points were: equality, democracy, justice, honesty, respect, work, rule of law, testimony, patience, and education. As a Muslim, in his opinion, Islam had a duty to respect those values. He was critical of restrictive interpretations of the Islamic faith. Above all else, he repeated, is the dignity and development of the person." The Christian community and human rights activists in Pakistan have lost a friend and a valued ally. (PA) (7/10/2010)
