15 Facts About Shahbaz Bhatti

Clement Shahbaz Bhatti was a Pakistani politician and the first Christian Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs.

Shahbaz Bhatti was elected as a member of the National Assembly in 2008 for the Pakistan People's Party.

On 2 March 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated outside his mother's home by members of the Pakistani Taliban for his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Shahbaz Bhatti was given the honorary title Servant of God within the Catholic Church.

Shahbaz Bhatti was born in Lahore to Christian parents from the Faisalabad District.

On 10 December 1995, Human Rights Day, Shahbaz Bhatti married Salma Peter John, a human rights activist.

Shahbaz Bhatti founded the Christian Liberation Front in 1985, while studying public administration at the University of the Punjab in Lahore.

Shahbaz Bhatti founded the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance in 2002 and was unanimously elected as its chairman.

Shahbaz Bhatti met with President Pervez Musharraf as part of a group of minority rights advocates.

Shahbaz Bhatti joined the Pakistan Peoples Party in 2002, but remained outside politics until becoming a minister in 2008.

Shahbaz Bhatti was placed on the government's Exit Control List in 2003, but was removed in November of that year.

Shahbaz Bhatti was appointed as Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs on 2 November 2008, when, for the first time, the post was elevated to cabinet level and an independent ministry created.

Shahbaz Bhatti spearheaded the organisation of a National Interfaith Consultation in July 2010, which brought together senior religious leaders of all faiths from across Pakistan and resulted in a joint declaration against terrorism.

Shahbaz Bhatti had been the recipient of death threats since 2009, when he spoke in support of Pakistani Christians attacked in the 2009 Gojra riots in Punjab Province.

Shahbaz Bhatti was taken to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.