Look up Punjab in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Punjab or Panjab may refer to:

Geographical regions

Map of the Punjab region

• Punjab region, an area of South Asia stretching from central Pakistan to northwest India
  • Punjab, India, a state, a part of the Punjab which lies in India
  • Punjab, Pakistan, a province, a part of the Punjab which lies in Pakistan

• Panjab District, in Bamyan province, Afghanistan
  • Panjab, Afghanistan, capital of Panjab District

Former countries, states and provinces

• Sikh Empire (also known as Sarkar Khalsa), a former religious monarchy in the region
• Punjab Province (British India) (1849-1947), a province of British India
• Punjab States Agency (1930-1947), an administrative unit of British India
• Punjab Hill States Agency (1936-1947), an administrative unit of British India
• East Punjab, the part of the British Punjab Province which became part of India after partition
  • East Punjab (state) (1947-1966)
  • Patiala and East Punjab States Union (1948-1956), a former state of modern India
• West Punjab, the part of the British Punjab Province which became part of Pakistan as a province after partition
  • West Punjab Province (1947-1955)
  • Bahawalpur (princely state)

Other

• Punjab International Public High School, a public school in Pakistan
• Punjab, a character in the Little Orphan Annie comic strip, and the related film and musical Annie

See also[link]

• Punjab University (disambiguation)
• Punjab Assembly (disambiguation)
• Punjabi (disambiguation)
• Punjabi language
• All pages with titles containing "Punjab"
• All pages beginning with "Punjab"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Salmaan Taseer
Salmaan Taseer in 2009
26th Governor of Punjab, Pakistan
In office 15 May 2008 – 4 January 2011
Preceded by	Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool
Succeeded by	Sardar Latif Khosa
Personal details
Born	(1944-05-31)31 May 1944[1][2] Simla, Punjab, British India
Died	4 January 2011(2011-01-04) (aged 66) Islamabad, Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Spouse(s)	Aamna Taseer
Children	Shaan Shehryar[3] Shahbaz[3] Sara Sanam Shehrbano[3] Aatish Taseer
Residence	Governor's House (Lahore) (official)
Alma mater	Chartered Accountant, from London[4]
Website	Personal Website

Salmaan Taseer (Urdu, Punjabi: سلمان تاثیر; M31 May 1944^[1][2][5] – 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the 26th governor of the province of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in early 2011.

A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), he had served also as a minister in the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro under Pervez Musharraf. Taseer was also the chairman and CEO of the First Capital and Worldcall Group.^[6]

He was appointed to the post of governor on 15 May 2008, in place of outgoing governor Lt Gen (R) Khalid Maqbool,^[7] by then-President Musharraf at the request of the PPP establishment.

On 4 January 2011, Taseer was assassinated in Islamabad by his own security guard Mumtaz Qadri, who disagreed with Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.^[8]

Early life[link]

Salmaan Taseer was born on 31 May 1944, in Simla Kashmir , British India His Forefathers were from Amritsar and His father was Muhammad Din Taseer popularly known as M D Taseer who was born at Ajnala, Amritsar from His Grandfather Peasant named Mian Atta ud Din..^[9] His father, Muhammad Din Taseer, or M D Taseer a Professor at MAO College Amritsar obtained his PhD in the United Kingdom and was a close friend of Allama Iqbal who had Tied the Knot of His Friend M D Taseer and His Wife Christobel Taseers Islamic Nikah Marriage Ceremony .^[9] His late mother Bilqis Christobel Taseer ,an Englishwoman,^[10] was the sister of late Alys Faiz, a writer and poet who herself was the wife of renowned Urdu poet late Faiz Ahmad Faiz.^[9] His father Professor M D Taseer at MAO College Amritsar died when he was six years old and he and his two sisters , one is Salmaa Mahmud Taseer were brought up in relative poverty by their mother Christobel Taseer.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Salmaan Taseer married Aamna Taseer; the couple resided in Lahore. They have three children: Shahbaz, Shehryar and Shehrbano. Shehrbano is a journalist for Newsweek.^[12] Salmaan Taseer also has 3 children from a previous marriage: Sara, Shaan and Sanam.^{[citation needed]}

Taseer also had a son, Aatish, in 1980 with Indian journalist Tavleen Singh. Though married at the time, Taseer met Singh during a book promotion trip to India in March 1980. According to Aatish, their "affair lasted little more than a week."^[13] Aatish is a freelance journalist in the UK and has recently written a book – Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands – about his estranged relationship with his biological father.^[14][15]

In the early 1980s, Taseer had a year long affair with Bollywood actress Simi Garewal.^[16]

Taseer was known to be one of the trusted aides of Benazir Bhutto.^[4] He was a classmate of Nawaz Sharif at St. Anthony's School in Lahore,^[4] and had obtained a degree in Chartered Accountancy from London.^[4]

On 26 August 2011, his son, Shahbaz Taseer, was kidnapped in Lahore by unidentified gunmen.^[17]

Political career[link]

Taseer started his political career in his student era, as a member of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the late 1960s.^[18] He was a part of the movement for Mr. Bhutto's freedom and opposed his arrest and death sentence.^[18] He also wrote a political biography on Bhutto titled Bhutto: A political biography (1980).^[18]

In the 1988 general elections, Taseer became a member of the Punjab Assembly from Lahore.^[18] In the 1990, 1993 and 1997 general elections, he stood for election to be an MNA but lost.^[18]

In 2007, he was appointed the interim Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives.^[18]

On 15 May 2008, Taseer was designated for the office of Governor of Punjab by the PPP-led coalition government.

Business career[link]

Taseer set up several chartered accountancy and management consultancy firms early in his career.^[19] In 1995, he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney, Inc., USA, and HG Asia Hong Kong.^[19]

Taseer founded the Worldcall group with a payphone network in 1996. The group has grown over the years to become a major private-sector telecom operator with a national and regional footprint.^[19] A majority stake in Worldcall was acquired in 2008 by Omantel, the Sultanate of Oman's incumbent operator.^[20]

Taseer also owned an English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus; and the first children's channel, Wikkid Plus;^[19] and was the publisher of the English language Daily Times.^[19]

Incarceration[link]

Taseer was kept in solitary confinement for six months and three weeks at the Lahore Fort, where he was shackled to the ground. He did not meet a single person, or read a book or newspaper during his incarceration and emerged 40 pounds lighter than when he had gone in.^{[clarification needed]}

Taseer was arrested 16 times and placed under house arrest several times in jails around Faisalabad, Jhang and Lahore.^[21]

Controversy[link]

In an interview with Meher Bukhari on Samaa TV, Taseer commented on his view about the country's blasphemy law and on filing a mercy petition for Asia Bibi who has been sentenced to death by a court under the Blasphemy Law.^[22]

In December 2010 Taseer was alleged to have left the country for several days without handing over charge to the Punjab Assembly Speaker. This meant that the province was without a constitutional head, and it also rendered the assembly speaker ineligible to preside over sessions. Leaving the province without informing his successor was in violation of the constitution and this led to Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal sending a letter to Prime Minister Gilani calling for the removal of Salmaan Taseer by the President.^[23] Evidence provided by ICAO on the governor's travel abroad, led to a case being filed in court for breach of the constitution.^[24]

Death[link]

On 4 January 2011, one of Taseer's bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, shot him 27 times with an MP5 sub-machine gun at Kohsar Market,^[25] near his home^[26] in Sector F6, Islamabad, as he was returning to his car after meeting a friend for lunch. Kohsar Market is a popular shopping and cafe spot for the city's elite and expatriates.^[8][27] Eight hours before his assassination, he tweeted an Urdu couplet by Shakeel Badayuni: "My resolve is so strong that I do not fear the flames from without, I fear only the radiance of the flowers, that it might burn my garden down."^{[28][clarification needed]}

The next day, many people (mainly elite class) turned up for governor Salman Taseer's funeral in Lahore in spite of denunciation by some ( in fact majority of) clerics and religious scholars ( from all sects and groups) from mourning Taseer,^[29][30] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and many supporters of the ruling PPP were seen attending the funeral prayer. The funeral prayers were finally led by Allama Afzal Chisti of the Ulema wing of the PPP after the chief cleric of the Badshahi Mosque, who had initially agreed to offer prayers, backed off at the last moment, saying he was going out of town.^[31] Taseer was buried at a military cantonment in Lahore.^[32]

Assassin[link]

The assassin Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri is from Punjab, and was part of the security detail provided to Taseer by the Elite Police. After the shooting, Qadri threw his weapon down and put his hands up when one of his colleagues aimed at him. He reportedly pleaded to be arrested.^[33] Qadri reportedly said he killed Taseer due to the latter's vocal opposition to the blasphemy law in Pakistan..^[34][35] Taseer was against the blasphemy law and termed it a black law. Notably, Taseer made headlines when he favoured the Christian Pakistani woman, Asia Bibi,^[22] who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy.^[36] It was suspected that this was the main reason for his assassination.^[37][38] According to a report in Dawn, the assailant was associated with Dawat-e-Islami, a religious organisation associated with the Barelvi movement.^[39] Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri blocked police attempting to bring him to the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi, and some supporters even showered him with rose petals.^[40] On 1 October 2011, Qadri was sentenced to death by a Pakistani Anti Terrorist court at Islamabad for murdering Taseer.^[41]

Reactions[link]

Domestic

• Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf expressed grief over the assassination, adding that Taseer was a seasoned politician and his death was a loss for not only the PPP but also the entire country.^[42] Many members of the country's business community also conveyed their shock after the killing.^[43]
• The Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif condemned the killing, saying, "This is really a big loss for the PPP and as we believe friendly politics deeply condemn this murder, praying for Mr. Taseer."
• The Government of Punjab ordered all public institutions and schools to shut on 5 January in honour of Taseer.^[44]
• The Punjab Provincial Assembly unanimously passed a resolution condemning the assassination and praising Taseer's political and social services.^[45]
• The Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, an Islamic religious organisation representing the Barelvi movement, issued an advisory against mourning his death.^[30][32] They also declared Qadri a "hero of the Muslim world."^[46]
• A Taliban commander in South Waziristan said that Taseer would have been assassinated anyway "very soon" even if he had not been killed by Qadri.^[47]
• Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and current President Zardari, spoke at a memorial service for Taseer in London saying: "To the Christian and other minority communities in Pakistan, we will defend you...those who wish to harm you need to go through me first. Allah has promised them (perpetrators) hell, and we shall send them there." He also said a jihad is needed to combat extremism in Pakistan, while condemning those who praised the assassination.^[48]

International

• United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the assassination calling it a "loss for Pakistan."^[49]

• Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna condemned the killing a letter to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The Ministry of External Affairs also said: "On behalf of the people and the Government of India and his own, Mr. Krishna conveyed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Pakistan."^[50]

• France condemned the assassination and hailed Taseer as a man known for his "courage in defending democratic institutions." Deputy Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said, "France firmly condemns the assassination on Tuesday of the governor of Punjab Salman Taseer. Governor Taseer was a political personality of the highest order."^[51]

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari "[o]ffering his condolences to Zardari and condemning the assassination, the Turkish PM also asked the president to convey his heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family and the people of the country."^[52]

• British Foreign Secretary William Hague stated that he was "shocked to hear of the assassination of Salmaan Taseer" and that "his death will be a loss to the leadership of Pakistan. On behalf of the British government I send my condolences to Mr Taseer’s family, friends and colleagues."^[53]

• United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly condemned the assassination of Taseer saying she "admired his work to promote tolerance and the education of Pakistan’s future generations" and that his death "is a great loss."^[54] Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry also condemned the assassination: "Governor Taseer was a proud champion of democracy and respect for the rights of women and minorities. He fearlessly stood up to the threats of extremists, and lost his life in defense of moderation and tolerance, values shared by most Pakistani citizens. The best way to honor his legacy is to continue resisting violent extremism and supporting the core principles on which Pakistan was founded."^[55]

• Pope Benedict XVI called for the repeal of the blasphemy law and also called on governments in Muslim-majority countries to protect Christians from violent attacks. He told the Holy See's diplomats that the law was a pretext for violence against minorities. He also added that "The tragic murder of the governor of Punjab shows the urgent need to make progress in this direction." The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam responded in saying: "The pope has given a statement today that has not only offended the 180 million Muslims in Pakistan, it has also hurt the sentiments of the entire Islamic world. This is an interference in Pakistan's internal matters...we respect the pope, being head of Christians and their religion, but he should also refrain from interfering in Muslims' religious affairs."^[56]

Social-media

Two screenshot images from Causes.org on the left show the reactions of the Pakistani people to the assassination of Salman Taseer – In the first image 2865 Pakistanis wholeheartedly support the killer whereas in the second image two Pakistanis sheepishly raise doubts about the ulterior motives the killer might have had in assassinating Salman Taseer.^[57][58] Similarly, a fan page appeared on Facebook soon after the assassination against Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, showing news photos of him smiling. The fan page soon gathered thousands of supporters.^[59] Many prominent Pakistani bloggers started a campaign to have these fan pages blocked on Facebook as soon as the pages appeared on the social networking website.^[60] Several people also denounced the perpetrator creating a page named "I Hate Malik Mumtaz Qadri".^[61] Outrage against the gunman was prevalent on Twitter, with numerous journalists and media personalities expressing their sadness over the passing of Taseer and the growing Islamisation and moral collapse of the country.^[61] As against the generally accepted Facebook website, a social networking website Millat Facebook hosts a page Jaa-al-Haq (Place of truth) which claims itself to be "Youth voice against any material against Islam especially the Prophet and Quran, may it be on the internet or anywhere on the face of theearth". It supposedly researches on Qadiani, Wahabi, Bahai, Hadith Rejectors and other deviant sects Islam. It calls for only one punishment for blasphemers – beheading. It calls non-conformist Muslims by derogatory names such as calling Shahrukh Khan as Shar Rukh Khan (Evil Khan) and Salman Taseer as Shaitan Taseer.^[62]
Another Social Networking Website Pakteahouse.net carried an article which linked Salman Taseer's assassination with Ilm-ud-din's murder of Mahashay Rajpal. This article has evoked sharp reactions of Pakistanis against the assassination. One such person posted the following message in Urdu:
Why are we so afraid of the less than two percent minorities of our country?
Why do we crave to cut others’ throats in the name of the benevolent prophet (peace be upon him) who termed one murder as the murder of the entire humanity?
By calling Ilmuddin a “martyr” and a “warrior”, what fear are we trying to conceal?
Why do we rush towards Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rahman for our queries pertaining to fasting and the raison d’être of the solar eclipse?
Who assured us that in order to save the skin of the daughter of the nation Dr. Aafia we need to behead another daughter of the nation Asia?
Two weeks before the murder of Salman Taseer, in this very city of Islamabad, who were the people who attended the “Honour of Prophethood Conference”?
Did not the people who attended the conference hail from a political party whose manifesto is supportive of the execution of every Shia, Ahmedi, Hindu and Jew?^[63]

Possible repercussions[link]

In the international media, his death was seen as more destabilising for the tenuous situation in the country, particularly in the light of resignation of members of the ruling coalition. One local analyst said the death was a "major setback for Pakistan, which is trying to get out of this vicious cycle of violence and worsening economy. [The killing] will certainly weaken the party position in Punjab."^[64] It was suggested that the killing was indicative of a "deeper trend" of "religious intolerance" afflicting Pakistan. ^[65] The son of the late governor, Shahbaz Taseer, who was a witness in Mumtaz Qadri's trial, was kidnapped on 26 August 2011 while he was on his way to work in Lahore, Pakistan.^[66] After twelve days of unsuccessful attempts by the Pakistani police to recover him, some news sources reported that Shahbaaz, along with an American aid worker Dr Warren Weinstein, was held captive by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.^[67][68]

Taseer's assassination may dissuade other Pakistani politicians from speaking out against the blasphemy law, according to a former U.S. State Department intelligence analyst with the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.^[69]

References[link]

Sardar Muhammad Latif Khosa succeeded the Governor of Punkjab

External links[link]

	Pakistan portal
	Punjab (Pakistan) portal
	Lahore portal
	Government of Pakistan portal
	Biography portal
	Politics portal

Find more about Salmaan Taseer on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• Official website
• Salmaan Taseer on Facebook
• Salmaan Taseer at Find a Grave
• Salmaan Taseer at Flickr
• Salmaan Taseer at Twitter
• Salmaan Taseer on YouTube

The Assembly were a British synthpop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England, by Vince Clarke (songwriting, keyboards, backing vocals) and Eric Radcliffe (songwriting, production).

Feargal Sharkey was hired as a guest vocalist for the A-side of the group's only single, "Never Never". Clarke and Radcliffe had planned to use a different singer on each track the group recorded,^[1] but the group disbanded after the release of "Never Never", and no other vocalists were employed by the duo.

Band history[link]

Clarke founded The Assembly shortly after disbanding Yazoo (featuring vocalist Alison Moyet), upon completion and distribution of Yazoo's 1983 album, You and Me Both.

The Assembly marked the most-involved phase of Clarke's long-term professional relationship with sound engineer Radcliffe, who had contributed significant influences to the recordings of Clarke's previous bands, Depeche Mode and Yazoo. However, the Assembly project never became a full-fledged band and resulted in only one single release, the UK hit "Never Never". It featured a sampled guitar track triggered note for note on a Fairlight CMI). The sound was augmented by session musician Clem Clempson on electric guitar.^[1]

Former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey was hired to sing on this track. Clarke and Radcliffe had planned to use a different singer on each track the group recorded,^[1] but none were released after "Never Never".

The other track on the single, "Stop/Start," was an instrumental, featuring Clarke's signature songwriting style with syncopation that gradually became the downbeat of the musical phrase.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the commercial success of the single, The Assembly was no longer a functioning entity by the end of 1984. Clarke went on to form Erasure with vocalist and co-songwriter Andy Bell in 1985. Although Erasure worked with Radcliffe on some of their early work, they eventually began working with other producers and engineers, including Flood. Sharkey, for his part, began a successful solo career in 1984 and achieved his only UK number one single in 1985 with "A Good Heart".

"Never Never" was re-released on CD single in 1996 with four tracks, containing both the normal and extended versions of both the title song, and "Stop/Start".^[1] The music video for "Never Never", filmed at Upminster Windmill in the London Borough of Havering, was featured on the first Now That's What I Call Music! video in 1983, though it did not feature on the corresponding compilation album.

Reunion[link]

In May 2011, Sharkey appeared on stage during the Erasure set at Mute Records's Short Circuit music festival for a one-off performance of "Never, Never" with Clarke.

Discography[link]

• "Never Never" – A side "Never Never", B side "Start-Stop" (instrumental) – 1983 – Mute TINY1 – No. 4 UK^[2]

See also[link]

• The Tube (TV series)
• Casio VL-1

References[link]