US should target those funding terrorism: Shehrbano Taseer

Panaji (Goa, India) Nov 4 (PTI) Pakistani journalist Shehrbano Taseer, daughter of assassinated governor of Pakistan's Punjab province Salman Taseer, said America should go to the root cause of terrorism which is funding of extremism. "America should go to the root cause of terrorism that is extremism which is hitting entire new generation through madrassas," she said participating in an interaction during Goa Think Fest 2011, an event that was flagged off in Goa Friday. Salman Taseer was assassinated in Islamabad by one of his bodyguards for opposing Pakistan's blasphemy laws. The 22-year-old journalist, who has been carrying ahead the mission of her slain father, said that "the ugly reality in Pakistan is that we use mosques to brainwash entire generation who are made to believe in radical thoughts." She said that the madrassas are mushrooming and they are thriving because of the funding that comes from Saudi Arabia. Narrating anecdotes on what the family faced after January 4 this year when her father was killed, Shehrbano recalled that it took almost three months for them to look out for a lawyer who would engage himself in the case. She said that it was saddening to see that the people celebrated her father's death on the streets of Pakistan. "TV shows claimed that my father was a blasphemer and his murderer who shot him 27 times was glorified," Taseer said. "The aftermath of my father's murder brought a frightening reality home. We were dealing with a poisonous mindset," she quipped. "After my father's death, when I went public with my views supporting him, many people told me that I will meet the same fate that of my father." Responding to a question, Taseer said that there is no hope lost. "I have a hope that things in Pakistan will change and my hope is in the people of Pakistan," she added. The 'Think Fest', a three-day conclave, aims to bring together some of the most diverse and cutting edge ideas across the world in the fields of politics, technology, arts, culture and human rights. PTI