Tens of thousands of supporters chanted and threw rose petals Tuesday at an ambulance bearing the body of Mumtaz Qadri executed for killing Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, as schools closed and police guarded flashpoints. Crowds flooded into a park in the garrison city of Rawalpindi for funeral prayers for Qadri, chanting slogans such as "Qadri, your blood will bring revolution". An AFP estimate put the number of people at up to 100,000.
Main junctions and sensitive buildings in Rawalpindi and the nearby capital Islamabad were guarded by thousands of police and paramilitary Rangers, while schools were shut. Security forces kept a careful distance from the crowd at Liaqat Bagh, and some of the supporters dispersed after the prayers. But hundreds continued to march behind the flower-strewn ambulance as it inched its way through a sea of supporters towards the burial site.
Qadri, a police bodyguard to Salman Taseer, shot the liberal Punjab governor 28 times at an Islamabad market in 2011. He said he was angry at the politician's calls to reform the blasphemy law. Earlier, a few hundred Qadri supporters carrying sticks were seen among the crowd in Rawalpindi as they shouted slogans including: "The punishment for a blasphemer is beheading!" Mourners travelled from distant cities, including Karachi and Lahore as well as Azad Kashmir, while small demonstrations were held in cities such as Peshawar.
The media maintained a near-blackout on the news for the second day running, a move that analysts said has helped limit fallout from the execution. A United Nations official said Tuesday all its staff had been sent home from various workplaces in the capital due to security fears, including from the tightly guarded diplomatic enclave. Many schools and universities remained closed for the day after shutting early Monday. Stick-wielding Sunni Tehreek activists were maintaining security at Tuesday's funeral. Most participants at the funeral were religious and political workers of the Barelvi branch of Sunni Islam - identifiable by their distinctive green turbans - and members of Islamist parties.
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