Shahbaz Bhatti
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Shahbaz Bhatti شہباز بھٹی Servant of God |
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| Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs | |
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In office 2 November 2008 – 2 March 2011 |
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| President | Asif Ali Zardari |
| Prime Minister | Yousaf Raza Gillani |
| Preceded by | Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
9 September 1968 Lahore, Pakistan |
| Died | 2 March 2011 (aged 42) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Political party | Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Clement Shahbaz Bhatti (9 September 1968 – 2 March 2011), popularly known as Shahbaz Bhatti, was a Pakistani politician and elected member of the National Assembly from 2008. He was the first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs from November 2008 until his assassination on 2 March 2011 in Islamabad. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, was an outspoken critic of Pakistan's blasphemy laws and the only Christian in the Cabinet.Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for his killing and called him a blasphemer of Muhammad. In March 2016, five years after the death of Shahbaz Bhatti, his cause for beatification was formally opened by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, making him a Servant of God within the Roman Catholic Church.
Bhatti was born in Lahore to Christian (Catholic) parents from the village of Khushpur, Faisalabad. His father, Jacob Bhatti, served in the army, then as a teacher, before becoming chairman of the board of churches in Khushpur.
As a student, Bhatti founded and served as head of Pakistan's Christian Liberation Front, which he formed in 1985. He found the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) in 2002 and was unanimously elected as its chairman. He met with President Pervez Musharraf as part of a group of minority rights advocates. Bhatti joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 2002, but remained outside politics until becoming a minister in 2008. He was placed on the government's Exit Control List in 2003, but was removed in November of that year.
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