Salman Taseer (Urdu: سلمان تاثیر; (1944-05-31)31 May 1944[1] – 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 34th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011.

[3] He was appointed as the governor of Punjab on 15 May 2008, by then-President Musharraf at the request of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.

"[24] Aatish is a freelance journalist in the UK and has written a book – Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands – about his estranged relationship with his biological father.

[29] Taseer started his political career in his student era as a member of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the late 1960s.

In December 2010, Taseer was alleged to have left the country for several days without handing over charge to the Punjab Assembly Speaker.

Leaving the province without informing his successor was in violation of the constitution and this led to Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal sending a letter to Prime Minister Gilani calling for the removal of Salmaan Taseer by the President.

[31] Evidence provided by ICAO on the governor's travel abroad led to a case being filed in court for breach of the constitution.

[33] In 1995 he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full-service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney, Inc., USA, and HG Asia Hong Kong.

[36] On 4 January 2011, one of Taseer's bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, shot him 27 times with an AK-47 assault rifle at Kohsar Market,[37] near his home[38] in Sector F6, Islamabad, as he was returning to his car after meeting a friend for lunch.

"[39] The next day, just hundreds of people turned up for his funeral in Lahore in spite of denunciations by some Sunni clerics and religious scholars against mourning Taseer.

[40][41] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and many supporters of the ruling PPP were seen attending the funeral prayer.

[43] The assassin Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was from Punjab, and was part of the security detail provided to Taseer by the Elite Police.

[46] On 1 October 2011, Qadri was sentenced to death by a Pakistani Anti Terrorist court at Islamabad for murdering Taseer.