Thousands of mourners in Pakistan have turned out for the funeral of a former bodyguard executed for killing Punjab’s governor over his opposition to blasphemy laws.
The BBC reports that security was tight as a crowd of about 30,000 gathered to pay their last respects to Mumtaz Qadri in Rawalpindi.
Qadri was hailed as a hero by some for the 2011 killing of Salman Taseer, who wanted to reform the blasphemy laws. Qadri supporters threw rose petals on his coffin, Reuters reported from Liaquat Bagh park where the funeral was held. “He lives! Qadri lives!” mourners chanted, the news agency reported. “From your blood, the revolution will come!”
Security forces kept their distance and activists of the Sunni Tehreek movement, which organised the funeral prayers, controlled the crowd.
The coffin was then taken in its flower-strewn ambulance some 20km (12.5 miles) north to Qadri’s ancestral village on the eastern outskirts of Islamabad.
His execution on Monday prompted protesters to take to the streets in cities in Pakistan. Qadri was executed at 04:30 local time (23:30 GMT) at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Monday.
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