Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Punjab governor, showered with rose petals by lawyers as he arrives in court

The increasing radicalisation of Pakistani society was today laid bare when mainstream religious organisations applauded the murder of Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, earlier this week and his killer was showered with rose petals as he appeared in court.

Taseer was buried in his home town of Lahore. The 66-year-old was assassinated yesterday by Mumtaz Qadri, one of his police bodyguards, after he had campaigned for reform of the law on blasphemy.

Qadri appeared in court, unrepentant, where waiting lawyers threw handfuls of rose petals over him and others in the crowd slapped his back and kissed his cheek as he was led in and out amid heavy security.

The internet had already been hosting fan pages for Qadri, with one Facebook page attracting over 2,000 followers before being taken down, while there were small demonstrations in favour of the killer in north-west Pakistan.

While terrorist acts are generally associated with an extremist fringe, the gunning down of Taseer appeared to have significant support that reached into the heart of society.

All the big mainstream political parties strongly condemned the murder, and thousands attended funeral prayers for Taseer. However, both the large religious political parties declared that he had deserved to be killed for his views.

Reports suggested that Qadri, 26, was a known radical in the police service who had previously been declared by his superiors to be unfit for guarding VIPs. He told interrogators he was proud to have killed a blasphemer.

Reports also said Qadri, part of Taseer's security force, had tipped off other guards about his plan to kill the Punjab governor. The other bodyguards did not seem to react as Qadri fired a whole clip of bullets into Taseer in a market in central Islamabad and then laid down his weapon.

It is thought that over a dozen police officers were taken into custody following the murder. Taseer's ruling Pakistan People's party suggested that a "wider conspiracy" was behind the killing, while the issue also became an ugly party political spat.

Taseer's job was a ceremonial position representing the president, the head of the PPP, Asif Zardari, but the provincial government is run by the administration of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, which was blamed for providing the governor with poor security.

Taseer had used his position to warn about the "Talibanisation" of Punjab province, telling the Guardian last year: "The Sharifs are creating a potential bomb here in Punjab."

"This is a political murder," a senior member of the PPP, Fauzia Wahab, said. "There will be an investigation. It is a conspiracy."

Taseer's call for the widely-abused blasphemy law to be reformed or abolished was so incendiary that it united rival Islamic schools of thought against any change, the moderate Barelvi sect with the pro-Taliban Deobandis.

The statute, meant to protect Islam and the prophet Muhammad from "insult", is used to convict dozens of people on flimsy evidence each year.

"Salmaan Taseer was himself responsible for his killing," Munawar Hasan, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the two big religious political parties, said. "Any Muslim worth the name could not tolerate blasphemy of the Prophet, as had been proved by this incident."

Qadri was in the Barelvi sect, which is followed by most Muslims in Pakistan. However, on the issue of the blasphemy law, the Barelvi clerics had joined hands with the pro-Taliban Deobandi. The issue was sparked by Taseer's championing of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy late last year.

"No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salmaan Taseer," a statement from Jamaate Ahle Sunnat Pakistan, one of the biggest organisations of the Barelvi, representing 500 religious scholars, said. "We pay rich tributes and salute the bravery, valour and faith of Mumtaz Qadri."

Taseer's assassination showed how free speech has been curtailed in Pakistan. The religious scholars warned that others could meet the same fate.

"The supporter is as equally guilty as one who committed blasphemy," the Jamaate Ahle Sunnat Pakistan statement said. It added that adding politicians, the media and others should learn "a lesson from the exemplary death".