Khushpur, Pakistan: Shirtless men beat their chests and women wailed in grief as the body of a Christian politician killed for opposing Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws was buried in his home village on Friday.
In the capital, the prime minister promised mourners at a funeral Mass that the government would do its utmost to bring the assassins to justice.
Shahbaz Bhatti, the sole Christian government minister in Pakistan, was shot dead Wednesday after being threatened for opposing laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam.
He was the second Pakistani politician killed in two months over the matter, and his death underscored the perils facing a government that is increasingly too weak to govern well in the face of rising extremism.
Mourners
Thousands of people thronged the road in Khushpur, a Christian-dominated village of around 10,000 people in eastern Punjab province, chanting slogans demanding justice as Bhatti's body was flown in and driven through in an ambulance covered with rose petals.
A Catholic religious leader read prayers and Bible verses counselling patience as black flags fluttered nearby and Bhatti's picture loomed over the crowd.
Afterward, his body was laid to rest in a cemetery next to that of his father, who died around two months ago.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited an overflow crowd of mourners at a Roman Catholic church in Islamabad to praise the late 42-year-old minister for minority affairs, a man many have described as gentle, humble and devoted to helping Pakistan's downtrodden minorities.
"People like him, they are very rare," Gilani said.
"I assure you, we will try our utmost to bring the culprits to justice."
Gilani did not specifically mention Islamist extremists who have waged a war on the country, though he has issued statements denouncing them in recent days.
Gilani also avoided mentioning the blasphemy laws, which rights groups have long deplored as vague and misused to persecute minorities or settle rivalries.
Discrimination
Christians are the largest religious minority in Pakistan, where 95 per cent of the country's 180 million people are Muslim.
They are often victims of discrimination and persecution, and they typically live in poor parts of towns and do low-skilled, badly paid jobs.
Bhatti and Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer both criticised the blasphemy laws after a Christian woman was sentenced to death under them last year.
