Pakistan’s Only Christian Cabinet Minister Shot to Death

Shahbaz Bhatti was ambushed in his car as he drove to work Wednesday morning.

Bhatti is the latest victim of the fight to reform Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which mete out death sentences to those convicted of insulting Islam. In January, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was also shot to death. Both men spoke out against the blasphemy laws. Witnesses say gunmen sprayed Bhatti’s car with bullets as it drove through a suburb of Islamabad Wednesday, and a branch of the Taliban based in Punjab has claimed responsibility for his murder. In a video recorded four months ago, Bhatti, 42, said he had received death threats but that he was ready to die in order to protect the rights of Pakistan’s minorities, who are disproportionately the targets of the country’s strict blasphemy laws.