“Qadri did the right thing, and he did it well”

Sirmed’s voice drops as she talks about the governor and her country’s fate. She repeatedly apologizes for lapsing into profanities. Ultimately, she surmises, whichever figure Pakistanis choose to coalescence around will speak volumes about the country’s growing divide. “It’s very important for us to know: Who is our hero? Salman Taseer—who stood for the rights of human beings—or the person who madly killed him?”

But in Rawalpindi’s market, where open gutters and cracked pavements seem like an entirely different country compared with the plush offices of Islamabad’s politicians and elite, the decision seems to have already been made.

“Nowadays, he’s perfectly heroic,” says Imran Shiekh, the owner of a small jewelry store tucked away in the market’s depths. “Qadri did the right thing, and he did it well. Ninety-nine percent of Pakistanis would agree.”

And for Pakistan’s liberals, therein lies the problem.