Now the whole world demands: repeal Pakistan’s blasphemy law
The daughters of Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi pose with an image of their mother while standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura located in Punjab Province
The whole world is deeply shocked and concerned over Asia Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy, issued by a local court in Pakistan. Concerned citizens and human rights activists say the case of Asia Bibi – the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy – highlights the need for urgent repeal of laws that are routinely used to persecute minorities and settle grudges.
Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged the release of Asia Bibi. Benedict told his weekly public audience that Christians in Pakistan “are often victims of violence and discrimination.”
The state and other actors must move towards striking off the oft-misused blasphemy laws from the statute books and actively contribute to the ideals of tolerance. (DAWN Editorial)
The Muslim scholar Asghar Ali Engineer accuses the blasphemy law of being un-Islamic and proposes an international campaign. He points his finger at the Pakistani state’s silence and that of many governments around the world.
The All India Christian Council, in a statement, denounced the death sentence and called upon the Indian government to raise the matter with the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Pakistani Government, and with other international bodies.
“Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been condemned globally from the time it was formulated. They have been misused in particular to persecute Pakistan’s miniscule Christian community, which is subject to acute violence. Christian women in particular have been subject to abduction, forcible conversion, and trafficking,” said the statement.
Pakistan has crossed a line in passing the death sentence on a woman for blasphemy,” says Andy Dipper, the CEO of human rights organisation Release International.
Human Rights Watch is among the groups that have called for sections 295 and 298 to be scrapped. “Asia Bibi’s case should serve as a wake-up call to Pakistan’s independent judiciary which urgently needs to address bigotry and incompetence in its ranks and to the government that needs to find the political will to repeal,” said the group’s Pakistan spokesman, Ali Dayan Hasan.
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC and Pakistani Christians Association in North America PCA, leaders decided in a meeting to stage protest in front of United Nations offices in New York on handing over death sentence to Christian women Asia Bibi on accusations of blasphemy by a court in Punjab province of Pakistan.
PCC and PCA will also present a memorandum to Secretary General of UN to intervene and press upon government of Pakistan to immediately release Asia Bibi and to repeal blasphemy law in Pakistan.
Through the efforts of Christian associations, human rights groups, and ordinary citizens, government offices in Pakistan have been flooded in a matter of days with about 40,000 e-mails calling for the liberation of the woman.40,000 e-mails and an anti-blasphemy law petition to save Asia Bibi
Various Christian organisations and human rights groups in Pakistan have been able to mobilise international support for Asia Bibi, who has been in jail for the last one year in connection with the crime.
The Church and the Christian communities in Pakistan have at an international level formulated a petition for abolition of blasphemy law, issued a year ago.
Over 75,000 signatures have been collected in Pakistan demanding repeal of the law.
The initiative has crossed national boundaries and has been collected by the Aid to the Church in Need.
In France, the Secretariat has collected and delivered to the French government recently 10.6 million signatures, while the Italian ACS Secretariat in a few weeks reached 1,400 and is preparing to relaunch the petition at the presentation of the 2010 Report on Religious Freedom which will be held on November 24 in Rome.
Asia’s case dates back to June 2009 when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields. But a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.
Beh reha hae Farat sadiyon se
Pani mehnga hae, khon sassta hae..(Nazir Qaiser)
A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother of five for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman and sparking protests from rights groups. Asia Bibi, 45, was sentenced on Monday by a court in Nankana district in Pakistan's central province Punjab, governed by Sharif Brothers.
Asia Bibi’s case, back ground and history:
The case originated in Punjab province when a group of female Muslim laborers complained that Bibi had made derogatory comments about the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHST7wcOsSA
Michael Nazir-Ali writes in his article “Repeal Pakistan’s blasphemy law”
Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother of five, is the first woman to have been convicted under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law. But numerous Christians like her and others have been victims of it, either because they have made a comment which has been construed as critical of the prophet of Islam or as a way of settling property and business disputes. Now she has become the first person to be sentenced to death under it.
Did she blaspheme Muhammad (PBUH)? It seems more likely that she angered her tormentors in a theological discussion about the relative merits of Christianity and Islam. Such debates take place all the time among adherents of different faiths. Whichever it may have been, the law has created intolerable injustice for often powerless people and quite unacceptable restrictions on freedom of speech to which the state of Pakistan is committed.
In undivided India, the British had laws which were meant to prevent incitement to religious hatred (yes, that is where this approach was first tried). The penalties, however, were generally moderate and proportional to the offences. Increasing Islamisation in Pakistan has made these laws more and more draconian. Thus there is now a mandatory life sentence for desecrating the Qur’an and a mandatory death sentence for blaspheming the prophet.
We need to know urgently from our Muslim friends whether these laws are really Islamic. The different formal schools of medieval sharia were unanimous that anyone who insults the prophet is to be put to death and differ only about the method of execution. It is this unanimity which has led the federal shariat court to rule that the death penalty is mandatory and left the judges with little discretion in particular cases.
Against this, the Qur’an only threatens those who insult God or the prophet with a curse and a humiliating punishment in this life and the next. It is claimed sometimes that the execution of poets, such as Ka’ab ibn al-Ashraf, for insulting the prophet is a precedent for executing blasphemers. On the other hand, it is said that they were put to death not for blaspheming but for sedition. The Hadith also tells us that while some were punished, others were freely pardoned by Muhammad himself. The question is, which of these attitudes is to prevail in Muslim nations and communities today?
It may be that a country like Pakistan needs laws to prevent religiously aggravated hatred discrimination. Such laws would be very different from the present ones and would protect religious minorities equally with Muslims.
How can Asia Bibi and others be saved from the gallows? The blasphemy law is a bad law enacted under pressure from extremists who threaten violence if the government does anything to lessen its impact or to ameliorate the lot of those who have fallen victim to it. A bad law will always come back to haunt us and that is why our ultimate aim must be its repeal. (Source: The Guardian)
Mickle Nazeer Ali has been an important part of Pakistani Church too. We all must focus that its not a person or a Mullah – Nazim – Police trio making a misuse of blasphemy laws from article 295 (A, B C) till section 298 of the constitution. I…ts the whole structure which faulted, which is fraud.
The state is stamped with a religion and is constitutionally called Islamic Republic of Pakistan. What to do about it? PDF is the only Party who clearly says NO to the state religion and is protesting against the blasphemy laws since 1985-6 (Zia Regime). National Students Federation – Multan was the 1st one ever to make a clear protest. Asim Ali Shah in reading was the main person in that protest. I wonder, where all these church leaders were at that time?
I’m sorry to say that Mullahs of all the religions have been working in Pakistan for “Allah – Crasy” (Allah karey ga), with the help of military and civil bureaucracy. For people’s Democracy, what keeps all of the intellectuals to join the struggle of People’s Democratic Front?
May be we work on the streets, not in the best hotels of the town.
Muslim lawyers and human rights activists rallying for Asia Bibi
Civil society in Pakistan – not just the Christian community – is rallying in favor of Asia Bibi, the first Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. “We support Asia Bibi and we will organize a large protest campaign in her favor. We will take all the necessary steps, on a legal level, to ensure that the trial is completely overturned on an appeal in the High Court of Lahore. Her case is emblematic of the abuse of the blasphemy law to the detriment of religious minorities. This is blatant violation of human rights,” Fides was told by Mehdi Hasan, a journalist and academic, President of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), one of the most important non-governmental organizations, well-extended in Pakistan.
“As the Human Rights Commission, we will conduct accurate and credible investigations on the case. I can already say that all the cases of blasphemy that have been registered are based on false accusations and are the result of religious hatred or sectarianism. We have no confidence in the investigation announced by the government through the Minister for Religious Minorities,” says Hasan. “For years now, we have asked that this law be abolished. It is a bad heirloom from the past, ordered by General Zia to silence religious extremism. Cases like that of Asia Bibi require our continued commitment.”
Even Aslam Khaki, a prominent Muslim lawyer and scholar, is said to favor the repeal of the law, saying that he has often had to defend citizens falsely accused of blasphemy “only on the grounds of religious or sectarian hostility.” In the case of Asia Bibi, Aslam Khaki says he is ready to take up her defense, free of charge, and suggests a twofold appeal: one in the High Court in Lahore, to ask the prosecution to present concrete evidence, and another in the Federal Sharia Court, as “the Islamic law itself prohibits the death penalty for women and non-Muslims.”
In an interview with Fides, he said: “The blasphemy law should be abolished, but the government is weak and if it tries to do so, the radical Islamic groups will take to the streets. What can be done at this point is to change, at least, the legal procedures: to officially register a complaint of blasphemy it should not be enough to present a witness, there should also be concrete evidence. That alone would be a step forward and would avoid much suffering.”
The lawyer told Fides: “In legal terms, it should be noted that the Court of Appeal overturns 95% of convictions for blasphemy imposed at first instance. Thus, the national legal system itself recognizes the lack of credibility in the charges. Meanwhile, many people suffer discrimination, death threats, and years in prison.”
Beh reha hae Farat sadiyon se
Pani mehnga hae, khon sassta hae..(Nazir Qaiser)
HUMAN rights campaigners have condemned a decision by a court in Pakistan to sentence a Christian woman to be hanged after finding her guilty of blasphemy.
Human rights groups believe the blasphemy law is most often used to discriminate against religious minorities, such as the estimated three million Christians, in a country of 126 million people.
In July, two Christians charged with blasphemy were shot dead outside a court in Faisalabad[Punjab].
A report by the US Commission on
International Religious Freedom last year concluded: “Although there have been occasional acquittals on blasphemy charges, in virtually all cases those acquitted have been forced into hiding or even exile, out of fear of attacks by religiously-motivated extremists.”
“It’s an obscene law,” he said.
DAWN editorial: Blasphemy case
THE verdict and sentence in the case of a Christian woman has lent urgency to the discussion on Pakistan’s blasphemy law. A sessions court recently sentenced to death Aasia Bibi, in her 40s and a resident of Nankana Sahib district in Punjab. Reports say the booking — made under Sections 295 B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code in June this year — followed an incident in which some Muslim women, Aasia’s co-workers on a farm, had refused to drink the water which she had fetched from a well. The Muslim women are quoted to have declared that a Christian’s touch had made the water ‘unclean’. As Aasia’s family now looks to the Lahore High Court to decide her fate, rights activists are once again calling for a review of the law that they say is open to abuse in the name of faith. The activists argue that, far from serving its stated purpose in a country with a tiny non-Muslim population, the blasphemy law is damaging the image of the dominant faith.
The Pakistani state has failed to address these concerns voiced by rights activists — even though these are backed by evidence provided by some court rulings. Recently, in July, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif quashed a blasphemy case against 60-year-old Zaibunnisa and ordered her release after almost 14 years in custody. A news item reported the judge as saying ‘the treatment meted out to the woman was an insult to humanity and the government, and that civil organisations should be vigilant enough to help such people’. This is an apt message that should be heeded by all. The state and other actors must move towards striking off the oft-misused blasphemy laws from the statute books and actively contribute to the ideals of tolerance.
In fact, one need not go any farther than Nankana Sahib to know that this is possible. This is where the Sikh religion was born in the midst of land owned by Muslims and where thousands of Sikhs still perform their rituals each year without the huge majority in any way feeling threatened by them.
Blasphemy laws: a fact sheet
By Mansoor Raza
THE draconian blasphemy laws enacted by the Ziaul Haq regime haunt the current democratic set-up as much as they do the Christian, Ahmadi and other minority communities of Pakistan.
Despite demands that these laws be totally repealed, the ultra-rightist lobby prevents the taking of any daring action that would attract the anger of the mullahs.
This situation must be understood in context of the fact that the enactment and acceptance of the blasphemy laws is a result of the manner in which the state of Pakistan has evolved. Their presence in the Pakistan Penal Code is rooted in the Indian Penal Code of 1860. In 1927, Section 295(a), which aimed to prevent tension between Hindus and Muslims, was added by the British to the Indian Penal Code and was with minor changes absorbed by Pakistani law after partition.
The contentious sections 295(b) and 295(c), introduced during the dictatorial Zia regime, aimed to protect the holy personages of Islam, the state religion. Section 295(c), which was added by an act of parliament in 1986, made it a criminal offence to use derogatory remarks with respect to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and made the crime punishable with life imprisonment or death.
Between 1927 and 1986 there were less than 10 reported cases of blasphemy. From 1986 onwards, however, as many as 4,000 cases have been reported. Between 1988 and 2005, Pakistani authorities charged 647 people, of which 50 per cent were non-Muslim, with offences under the blasphemy laws. More than 20 people have been murdered for alleged blasphemy. Two-thirds of all the cases have occurred in Punjab.
Punjab is home to 81 per cent of the country’s Christians. The seven districts that have had the most blasphemy cases are Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Toba Tek Singh. The total population of these districts is 25 million, of which five per cent is Christian. Conversely, 50 per cent of Pakistan’s two million-strong Christian population lives in these seven districts, most of them in rural areas.
According to the 1998 census, the population of religious minorities in Pakistan is around six million or 3.7 per cent of the total population. Hindus and Christians constitute 83 per cent of these religious minorities, with the former outnumbering the latter by a small margin. Most of the Hindu population — 93 per cent — lives in Sindh.
An analysis of 361 cases of blasphemy offences registered by the police between 1986 and 2007 shows that as many as 49 per cent were registered against non-Muslims. The high rate of cases against non-Muslims should be contrasted with the fact that religious minorities comprise less than four per cent of the country’s population.
Moreover, 26 per cent of the cases are against Ahmadis and 21 per cent against Christians, which is not in line with the ratios of these communities in terms of the total population (0.22 and 1.58 per cent respectively). In the 361 cases analysed, 761 people were nominated. And of these cases, over two-thirds were registered in Punjab, 15 per cent in Sindh and five per cent in the NWFP.
Of 35 districts in Punjab, the police in seven districts — all in central Punjab — registered 10 or more cases between 1986 and 2007. Forty-one per cent of all cases in terms of religion were registered. Nearly 65 per cent of the cases registered were against Christians, and Muslims were nominated in 43 per cent of the cases.
A total of 104 cases reached the higher courts between 1960 and 2007, out of which 91 cases were heard by the high courts in Pakistan and the AJK and the rest by the apex courts (Supreme Court and the Federal Sharia Court). Section 295(c) was invoked in as many as 41 cases.
A study of the cases suggests that the blasphemy laws are invoked either when the cases have been lodged merely to settle scores, or when the issue is that of expressing one’s faith, or when the accused is known to be suffering from some sort of mental illness.
Laws introduced by Gen Ziaul Haq that discriminate against women and non-Muslims were largely opposed by women’s rights organisations. Unfortunately, some in the Christian political leadership continued to shift positions and sometimes even came to the point of defending these laws publicly.
The factors that paved the way for the acceptance of the blasphemy laws and their endorsement by a particular segment of society are rooted in the evolution of the state of Pakistan and its constitutional development.
Due to the demographic changes that accompanied the partition of India in 1947, the areas that now comprise Pakistan changed from hosting a multi-religious society to a largely mono-religious one. Now, the social changes that are under way due to urbanisation are challenging the traditional class structure that, in earlier centuries, neatly defined the occupational distribution of classes and castes.
The resulting fissures are creating tension between the groups and the warring sections are in search of ideologies to justify their struggle. The state’s religious aspirations are being used by adventurers to fight what is otherwise a war of economic aspirations.
Traditionally, minorities found refuge in liberal politics but lately liberal parties are losing the electoral battle in the decisive constituencies of Punjab. The demography of Christians is heavily skewed in Punjab, where the PPP — having failed to comprehend the evolving new realities — is showing steady signs of involuntary withdrawal. The ascension of the PML-N will have an adverse impact on the future of minorities in the province.
Given this balance sheet, the repeal of the blasphemy laws is possible only through mass awareness, organised campaigns and galvanising progressive religious leaders for the greater cause of the protection of humanity. The state needs to remain neutral and secular in its policies.
http://news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/blasphemy-laws-a-fact-sheet-540
2009 Gojra riots
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Gojra_riots
Canada Concerned by Reports of Death Sentence for Blasphemy in Pakistan
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s concern over reports that a Pakistani woman has been sentenced to death for blasphemy:
“Canada is deeply concerned over Asia Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy, issued by a local court in Pakistan.
“Canada continues to call on Pakistan to repeal laws criminalizing blasphemy, which restrict freedom of religion and expression and have disproportionately targeted religious minorities.”
The promotion and protection of human rights are an integral part of Canada’s foreign policy. Canada stands up for human rights and takes principled positions on important issues to promote freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
“Canadian officials will continue to urge the Pakistani authorities to ensure equal rights and protection for members of minority communities,” said Minister Cannon.
http://www.isria.com/pages/15_November_2010_41.php
PCC and CLF condemn death sentence to Asia Bibi on blasphemy accusation
Holland: November 11, 2010. (PCP) Pakistan Christian Congress PCC Coordinator for EU, Mr. Watson Gill have expressed concern over death sentence to Christian woman Asia Bibi in a trial under Section 295 B and C PPC by District and Session Judge Seikhupura on November 7, 2010.
Asia Bibi was accused of defiling name of Holy Prophet Mohammad on June 19, 2009, after religious dialogue with Muslim co-worker women in village Ittanwali, in Sheikhupura district of Punjab province of Pakistan.
The Muslim mob followed Asia Bibi to her home when she fled from working in fields after threats to safe her life but Muslims dragged her out of home and tortured her and her children.
The area police took Asia Bibi to police station claiming as protective custody but later filed FIR against her under blasphemy law. The trial was conducted for one year and death sentence was awarded to Asia Bibi.
Watson Gill, PCC Coordinator for EU, said “99% cases against Christians have been filed in Punjab province under blasphemy law after formation of this controversial law which indicates rising extremism in Punjab”
There were Muslim mob attacks in Punjab on pretext to blasphemy when hundreds of homes of Christians were destroyed, Churches were set on Fire and Christian children and women were burnt alive.
PCC leader demanded EU to intervene to repeal blasphemy laws in Pakistan and to press upon government of Pakistan to withdraw false case of blasphemy against Asia Bibi.
Meanwhile, Mr. Khalid Gill, Chairman of Christian Lawyers Federation CLF, based in Lahore, Pakistan, have strongly condemned death sentence for a Christian woman and announced to provide legal assistance to Asia Bibi to file an appeal in Lahore High Court against death sentence.
Pakistan: Christians beg for clemency for woman condemned to death for blasphemy
Bishop Bernard Shaw, Catholic bishop of Lahore is calling for clemency in the case of Asia Bibi, the first woman in Pakistan to be condemned to death for blasphemy according to Islamic law. Said the bishop, “We make a heartfelt appeal to the Holy Father, asking him to pray, intercede, speak out in favor of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was wrongly sentenced to death for blasphemy. We ask that she is granted pardon and released. We urge the international community to raise their voice, to lobby and work on all levels for the sake of this woman who is innocent. We say to all the mothers in Pakistan: Asia is a mom like you. Defend her, do not let her children become orphans. ”
The bishop has high hopes for the movement of public opinion and civil society in Pakistan, “where there are Muslim and Christian organizations working for peace and harmony, to combat religious fanaticism, to defuse the polarization between different communities.”
What is contained in the case against Asia Bini is “a real affront to human dignity and truth. We will do everything in our power to have the case closed and the verdict overturned on appeal in the High Court of Lahore,” Fides was told by Peter Jacob, Executive Secretary of the Commission for Justice and Peace, indicating at least five other cases, in the last two months alone, of false accusations of blasphemy and of violation of human rights.
Bishop Joseph Coutts, Vice-President of the Bishops’ Conference and leader in the campaign for the abolition of the measure, has addressed the problems created in Pakistani society by the blasphemy laws, announcing the commitment of the Church in Pakistan “to support Asia Bibi’s family and all families affected by this unjust law.” “The danger – the bishop tells Fides – is the misuse of this law. In calling for its abolition, we are not endorsing those who desecrate the name of the Prophet. But, we deplore what occurs in its enforcement: any excuse is good if you want to take down an opponent or an enemy, just accuse him of blasphemy.” The law lends itself to such abuse because the only proof required for accusation is a witness or a statement. “And oftentimes it is seen that the accusations are completely false,” he remarks.
The bishop continues: “The Church calls for its abolition, but in Parliament it is unlikely that this can happen, as it would mean pushing a button that raises strong emotions. The Muslim religious leaders say the law is to protect the honor of the Prophet. The government should at least make serious steps to prevent and control the proliferation of false accusations, which often affect Christians, and even Muslim citizens. Politicians, however, suffer from the pressures of radical Islamic groups and this happens at a local level, as well, with authorities and police. So, the situation is deadlocked.”
http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=43236
40,000 e-mails and an anti-blasphemy law petition to save Asia Bibi
The Catholic Church and the Christian communities in Pakistan at an international level have formulated a petition for the abolition of the blasphemy law, issued a year ago. Thanks to an initiative of the “Justice and Peace Commission” of the Pakistani Catholic Bishops’ Conference, along with other associations, over 75,000 signatures have been collected in Pakistan to demand that the government repeal the provision.
The initiative has crossed national boundaries and has been collected by the Aid to the Church in Need: in France, the Secretariat has collected and delivered to the French government recently 10.6 million signatures, while the Italian ACS Secretariat in a few weeks reached 1,400 and is preparing to relaunch the petition at the presentation of the 2010 Report on Religious Freedom which will be held November 24 in Rome.
The decision remains a matter of intense debate in the Pakistani society. The Church, the National Commission for Human Rights and other civil society groups, including Muslim ones, openly challenge the law and call for its abolition. Now they are asking the government to open an official debate in Parliament to review it. The Federal Minister for Religious Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, promotes its “review”.
The Conference of the Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (Jup), however, representing more than 30 religious parties, believes it to be “untouchable” and threatens harsh protests if it is meddled with. Local sources note that, in fundamental Islamic circles, “there is an ongoing attempt to label as ‘blasphemous’ anyone who wants to abolish the blasphemy law. This could stir up further religious hatred in society.”
The “blasphemy law” includes articles 295b, 295c, 298a, 298b, and 298c of the Pakistani Penal Code and allows for imprisonment or even capital punishment for those who insult or desecrate the name of the Prophet Muhammad and the Koran.
http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?idarticle=43282
Indian Christians condemn Pak woman’s death sentence for blasphemy
Christians in India have condemned the death sentence passed by a Pakistani court on a young Christian woman, Asia Bibi, for alleged blasphemy.
The All India Christian Council, in a statement, denounced the death sentence and called upon the Indian government to raise the matter with the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Pakistani Government, and with other international bodies.
“Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been condemned globally from the time it was formulated. They have been misused in particular to persecute Pakistan’s miniscule Christian community, which is subject to acute violence. Christian women in particular have been subject to abduction, forcible conversion, and trafficking,” said the statement.
The Council added “Pakistan’s persecution of its religious minorities is well known. Large numbers of Hindus and Sikhs have in the past fled Pakistan and sought refuge in India. Faislabad Bishop John Joseph had some years ago sacrificed his life by shooting himself to draw international attention to the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan.”
Also, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India condemned the death sentence and demanded the repeal of blasphemy laws.
Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, told the AFP that the case was baseless and he would file an appeal. Several human rights groups are condemning Sunday’s verdict.
Asia, who is from Ittanwali in Punjab province, laboured in the fields for a Muslim landlord. She was arrested after a heated discussion about religion with her fellow farmworkers.
Release International, an advocacy group for persecuted Christians, has launched a petition against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. It fears that the passing of the death sentence against Bibi could set a harmful precedent in other blasphemy cases.
http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/christians-condemn-pak-womans-death-sentence-for-blasphemy/5786.htm
Christian Freedom International Calls on UN to Condemn Pakistani Woman’s Death Sentence
Christian Freedom International formed an online petition this week calling on U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan E. Rice to shine the international spotlight on Asia Bibi.
CFI, which has provided relief aid and advocacy for hundreds of Pakistani Christians in recent years, states that the blasphemy law is routinely used as a method of persecution and oppression in Muslim-dominated societies like Pakistan. The organization is launching an online petition drive to urge the United Nations to condemn Bibi’s death sentence, and to urge the Pakistani government to actively protect the rights of the country’s estimated three million minority Christians.
CFI also urges Christians everywhere to pray for an appeal of Asia Bibi’s sentence, and for the safety of Bibi and her family during this difficult time.
CFI Program Director Benjamin Duff says the petition is the first step in CFI’s efforts to help Bibi. Its hope is that the attention will prompt nations to offer Bibi and her family asylum.
Despite the ongoing persecution of Christians, Duff noted that it is very rarely covered in the American media. He also lamented that the Obama administration has not taken a hard line stance against religious persecution. He cited the administration’s handling of Christian killings in Baghdad as an example.
On Nov. 1, the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement saying, “The United States strongly condemns this senseless act of hostage taking and violence by terrorists linked to al Qaeda in Iraq that occurred Sunday in Baghdad killing so many innocent Iraqis. Our hearts go out to the people of Iraq who have suffered so much from these attacks. We offer sincerest condolences to the families of the victims and to all the people of Iraq who are targeted by these cowardly acts of terrorism. We know the overwhelming majority of Iraqis from all its communities reject violence and we stand with them as we work together to combat terrorism and protect the people of our two nations.”
Duff pointed out, “Their statement didn’t state one fact that the people [killed] were Christians and that’s the reason that they were targeted.”
CFI hopes to pressure the administration to take action for Bibi. “It would take people to sending emails and calling their senators to put pressure on the White House and the United Nations,” he stated.
Bibi was sent to prison in June 2009, after a confrontation with several Muslim co-workers who had been relentlessly pressuring her to convert to Islam.
The Muslim scholar Asghar Ali Engineer accuses the blasphemy law of being un-Islamic and proposes an international campaign. He points his finger at the Pakistani state’s silence and that of many governments around the world.
“We need to save Asia Bibi’s life”, the Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy and this is why “it is urgent to launch a campaign sustained by human rights leaders and governments … We must not remain silent “: this is the appeal that Prof. Asghar Ali Engineer, an Indian Muslim scholar launches through AsiaNews. Other messages sent to AsiaNews demand action by the international community to save Asia Bibi with a campaign similar to that launched to save the live of Sakineh, the Iranian woman who is on death row, convicted of adultery.
Asia was sentenced to death last Nov. 7 by a court in Punjab. She was arrested for blasphemy in June 2009, after an argument with some of her colleagues in which she defended her religion. The other women, who are agricultural workers like Asia and her two daughters, were pushing her to renounce Christianity and embrace Islam. Asia Bibi replied by speaking about how Jesus died on the cross for the sins of mankind, and asked other women what Muhammad had done for them. The women then beat her and her daughters and egged on by the local imam and a group of men they accused her of blasphemy. The police took her into custody, saving her from a ferocious crowd. But after more than a year in prison she has been sentenced to death.
“In Pakistan, says the Prof. Asghar, it is becoming increasingly evident, as in the case of Aisa that blasphemy laws have become convenient instruments in the hands of anyone who chooses to target minorities. The Blasphemy Law, is un-Islamic and was introduced to legitimise dictator Gen Ziaul-Haq’s regime, and it makes little effort to ascribe to the evidentiary or doctrinal standards of classical Islamic law”.
Asghar Ali Engineer’s plea comes almost simultaneously with the condemnation of the ruling by the All India Christian Council (AICC). In a statement released yesterday by the Secretary-General, the Catholic John Dayal, AICC The Council asked the Indian government to raise the mater with the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Pakistani Government and with other international for a to save the life of the woman”.
Prof. Asghar points his finger at the government: “The state of Pakistan – he tells AsiaNews – is responsible for ensuring the protection of minorities. We can only condemn these cruel acts against humanity. It must be said with sadness when the governments of many respectable nations remain silent, we can only condemn these acts. For this reason it is essential to start an international campaign to stop this. ”
Among the several messages that have arrived at AsiaNews there is one that says: “It is only natural to wonder where all those people are who until the other day claimed to be scandalized and offended by the shameful situation of Sakineh , and who now ignore (or pretend to ignore) yet another case of persecution and injustice to a person of Christian faith … The silence and indifference of the world, including many Christians (now accustomed to the persecution of Christians in the world), is a second death sentence”.
Source: Asia News
Pakistan has crossed a line in passing the death sentence on a woman for blasphemy,” says Andy Dipper, the CEO of human rights organisation Release International.
“Pakistan’s notorious 295C blasphemy laws are wide open to abuse. In effect Asia has been sentenced to death for talking about her Christian faith. In previous cases, the death sentence has not been carried out. But this could well mean a life sentence for Asia in appalling conditions on death row.
“Christians, as well as other minorities, can easily be accused of blasphemy, often as a vengeful way of settling scores.
“Release International has launched a petition calling for justice in Pakistan,” adds Andy Dipper. “Please go online and add your name today. We’d also encourage you to write to the Pakistan High Commission in London and to contact your local MP on Asia’s behalf.”
The Release petition on Pakistan can be downloaded or signed at: https://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/petition.php
PCC and PCA to rally in front of UN offices New York for release of Asia Bibi
New York: November 15, 2010. (PCP) Pakistan Christian Congress PCC and Pakistani Christians Association in North America PCA, leaders decided in a meeting to stage protest in front of United Nations offices in New York on handing over death sentence to Christian women Asia Bibi on accusations of blasphemy by a court in Punjab province of Pakistan.
PCC and PCA will also present a memorandum to Secretary General of UN to intervene and press upon government of Pakistan to immediately release Asia Bibi and to repeal blasphemy law in Pakistan.
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC Chief Dr. Nazir S Bhatti said that arrest of Asia Bibi under blasphemy law was denial to assurance by government in 2007, that any First Information Report FIR in any police station will not be lodged until Deputy Commissioner or District Police Officer not scrutinize complain and verify facts but in Asia Bibi case, one Sub-Inspector Police of Saddar Police Station filed FIR against Asia Bibi on June 19, 2009, on complain of Imam of Ittanwali village mosque without notifying district administrative officers.
Police claimed that Asia Bibi is taken in protective custody after Muslim mob attack on her home when she ran to take refuge from farms where she was called infidel by Muslim co-worker women after touching drinking water bowl but police charged her under blasphemy.
The Muslim women were putting pressure on Asia Bibi from years to convert to Islam which turned into dialogues on that day when Asia Bibi said that Christianity is only true religion. The Muslim women raised an uproar and blamed Asia Bibi of defiling Prophet Mohammad.
Pakistan Christians Association in North America PCA, Chairman Mr. William Shahzad said that we urge government of Pakistan to withdraw death sentence of Asia Bibi till November 30, 2010, and repeal blasphemy law by an executive order.
PCC and PCA leaders announced that Pakistani Christian Diaspora in USA will stage a protest rally on December 2, 2010, in front of United Nation offices in New York and will present a petition to Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of UN to press upon government of Pakistan to immediately release Asia Bibi and withdraw her death sentence.
PCA Secretary General Mr. Babar Khokhar said that Women, Religious and Human Rights organizations in Tri-Sate area shall be also contacted to participate in protest procession.
http://pakistanchristianpost.com/headlinenewsd.php?hnewsid=2409
توہینِ رسالت: سزائے موت کے خلاف اپیل
پاکستان کے صوبہ پنجاب کے ضلع ننکانہ میں توہین رسالت کے جرم میں سزا موت پانے والی مسیحی خاتون نے اپنی سزا کو لاہور ہائی کورٹ میں چیلنج کردیا ہے۔
سزائے موت پانے والی غیر مسلم خاتون آسیہ بی بی کی طرف سے اپیل ان کے وکیل ایس کے چودھری نے دائر کی ہے جس میں سزا کو کالعدم قرار دینے کی استدعا کی گئی ہے۔
اس اپیل کی سماعت لاہور ہائی کورٹ کا دو رکنی بینچ کرے گا۔
آسیہ بی بی نے اپیل میں موقف اختیار کیا ہے کہ مقامی عدالت نے توہین رسالت کے جرم میں سزا سناتے وقت حقائق کو نظر انداز کیا اور بغیر کسی ٹھوس ثبوت کے انہیں سزا سنا دی ہے جو قانون کی نظر میں قابل پذیرائی نہیں ہے۔
لاہور سے نامہ نگار عبادالحق کا کہنا ہے کہ ننکانہ کی مقامی عدالت نے عیسائی مذہب سے تعلق رکھنے والی خاتون آسیہ بی بی کو توہین رسالت کے الزام میں موت اور ایک لاکھ جرمانے کی سزائیں سنائی ہیں اور جرمانہ ادا نہ کرنے کی صورت میں عدالتی فیصلے کے تحت انہیں چھ ماہ قید کاٹنا ہوگی ۔
استغاثہ کی طرف سے جو شہادتیں پیش کی گئیں، عدالت نے ان سے غلط تاثر لیا ہے اور اگر عدالت استغاثہ کی شہادتوں کا درست تناظر میں جائزہ لیتی ہے تو عدالت میں پیش کیے گئی شہادتیں قابل پیش رفت نہیں تھیں ۔
وکیلِ صفائی
یہ پہلا موقع ہے جب کسی غیر مسلم خاتون کو توہین رسالت کے الزام میں موت کی سزا سنائی گئی ہے۔ آسیہ بی بی اس وقت ضلع شیخوپورہ کی جیل میں قید ہیں۔
اپیل میں یہ اعتراض بھی اٹھایا گیا ہے کہ استغاثہ خاتون اپیل کنندہ کے خلاف الزامات کو ثابت کرنے میں ناکام رہا اور عدالت کے سامنے استغاثہ کی طرف سے جو شہادتیں پیش کی گئیں ہیں ان میں تضاد تھا لیکن عدالت نے فیصلہ سناتے ہوئے ان تضادات پر توجہ نہیں دی ۔
آسیہ بی بی کے وکیل کا کہنا ہے کہ استغاثہ کی طرف سے جو شہادتیں پیش کی گئیں، عدالت نے ان سے غلط تاثر لیا ہے اور اگر عدالت استغاثہ کی شہادتوں کا درست تناظر میں جائزہ لیتی ہے تو عدالت میں پیش کیے گئی شہادتیں قابل پیش رفت نہیں تھیں ۔
ننکانہ کی مقامی عدالت نے عیسائی مذہب سے تعلق رکھنے والی خاتون آسیہ بی بی کو توہین رسالت کے الزام میں موت اور ایک لاکھ جرمانے کی سزائیں سنائی ہیں اور جرمانہ ادا نہ کرنے کی صورت میں عدالتی فیصلے کے تحت انہیں چھ ماہ قید کاٹنا ہوگی۔
اپیل میں یہ بھی کہا گیا کہ آسیہ بی بی کے خلاف کوئی ایسا ٹھوس ثبوت عدالت میں پیش نہیں کیا گیا جس کی بناء پر انہیں سزائے موت جیسی کڑی سزا دی جاتی۔ اپیل میں استدعا کی گئی ہے کہ آسیہ بی بی کی سزاؤں کو کالعدم قرار دیکر رہائی کے احکامات جاری کیے جائیں۔
خیال رہے کہ آسیہ بی بی کے خلاف گزشتہ سال جون میں توہین رسالت کے الزام میں قاری محمد سالم کی درخواست پر مقدمہ درج کیا تھا اور اس مقدمہ میں یہ الزام لگایا تھا آسیہ نے اپنے ہمراہ کھتیوں میں کام کرنے والی خواتین کے ساتھ بحث کے دوران پیغمبر اسلام کے خلاف توہین آمیز کلمات کہے تھے۔
آسیہ نے اپنے خلاف مقدمہ کی سماعت کے دوران یہ بیان دیا تھا کہ ان پر اسلام قبول کرنے کے لیے دباؤ ڈالا گیا اور انکار کرنے پر یہ مقدمہ درج کروا دیا گیا
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2010/11/101115_blasphemy_appeal_zs.shtml
Pakistan should tell the world that these blasphemy laws were passed by a military dictator, with the stroke of his pen.
These laws not only violate fundamental human rights, they are undemocratic in genesis, and I as a Pakistani whole heartedly support their abrogation. Parliament must get on it.
A man I support, Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch, Pakistan branch, writes beautifully on this ugly story:
Filthy Business
International support to save Asia Bibi
The campaign to save Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, has gathered momentum as the government offices in Pakistan are flooded with about 40,000 e-mails from various organisations in her support.
Various Christian organisations and human rights groups in Pakistan have been able to mobilise international support for Bibi, who has been in jail for the last one year in connection with the crime.
The Church and the Christian communities in Pakistan have at an international level formulated a petition for abolition of blasphemy law, issued a year ago.
Over 75,000 signatures have been collected in Pakistan demanding repeal of the law.
The initiative has crossed national boundaries and has been collected by the Aid to the Church in Need.
In France, the Secretariat has collected and delivered to the French government recently 10.6 million signatures, while the Italian ACS Secretariat in a few weeks reached 1,400 and is preparing to relaunch the petition at the presentation of the 2010 Report on Religious Freedom which will be held on November 24 in Rome.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/77473/another-blasphemy-accused-killed/
Inspector Rafique Ahmed, the investigating officer in the murder case, said that Latif’s murder was likely linked to the blasphemy case. “No Muslim tolerates a man who commits blasphemous acts,” he said.
Human Rights Watch is among the groups that have called for sections 295 and 298 to be scrapped. “Asia Bibi’s case should serve as a wake-up call to Pakistan’s independent judiciary which urgently needs to address bigotry and incompetence in its ranks and to the government that needs to find the political will to repeal,” said the group’s Pakistan spokesman, Ali Dayan Hasan.
“The laws are discriminatory and intended as such and are used for precisely that purpose. So, the issue is not of their misuse but of the laws being on the statute books at all. Vague all-encompassing wording allows the laws to be used as an instrument of political and social coercion, legal discrimination and persecution.”
“Every time something like this [case] happens, there is a loud noise about reform. There is a draft reformed law that is with the government but the government is sitting on it. It’s such a tricky issue because of the noise made by the extreme right.”Asma Jahanger said
Cruel laws that encourage the persecution of minorities -by Omar Waraich
The case is another grim reminder of how Pakistan’s cruel blasphemy laws not only leave minority groups vulnerable, but even encourage their persecution. “These laws are used to victimise Christians and other groups. They are a foul leftover from the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq,” says Taseer.
The original blasphemy laws were introduced by the British. In the 1980s, General Zia-ul-Haq added a slew of prejudicial laws. When bigots raised, or invented, charges against heterodox communities, the police and courts did not protect them. When a sectarian militant group charged through the Punjabi village of Gojra in 2009 torching Christian homes, the police took no action. Without evidence, the community was accused of desecrating the Koran. To this day, no one has been brought to justice for the murder of nine Christians.
Human Rights Watch observed this year: “In several instances the police have been complicit in harassment and the framing of false charges against Ahmadis [a Muslim sect], or stood by in the face of anti-Ahmadi violence.” The laws give them the protection to do so.
Punjab has the highest levels of attacks against Christians, Ahmadis and Shia Muslims. Rather than challenging the sectarian militant groups responsible, the Provincial Law Minister, Rana Sana Ullah Khan, has courted their votes.
Anything to do with religion carries a neuralgic resonance in Pakistan. Attempts to repeal such laws could trigger a major backlash, many liberals among the political class warn.
The ruling party is a hostage to hardliners. “The reality is that we are a coalition government,” says Taseer. The coalition depends on the votes of the pro-Taliban Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam party to remain in power.
Still, there is no reason why the laws cannot be at least amended to afford minority communities the minimum protection they need. As Asia Bibi’s case demonstrates, there are lives that depend on it.
Christians, Muslims, NGOs mobilise for Asia Bibi, against blasphemy law
Asia Bibi sentenced to death sees her lawyers to file appeal. Increasingly, people are mobilising against the blasphemy law, a tool for personal vendettas and fodder for extremism. Hundreds of thousands of people sign petition in favour of Asia Bibi.
Catholic and Protestant leaders as well as Muslim scholars and non-governmental organisations have slammed a court’s decision to impose the death sentence on Asia Bibi, a Christian women convicted on blasphemy charges. She is the first woman sentenced to death for such an offence, and many Pakistanis are pressuring the government to change or repeal the country’s “obscene” blasphemy legislation. Meanwhile, the woman’s lawyers visited her in prison to prepare her application for an appeal.
Your signature to save Asia Bibi and Pakistan
by Bernardo Cervellera
An online petition (to be sent to AsiaNews, or directly to the President of Pakistan) for the revocation of the death sentence for a Christian woman sentenced to hang for blasphemy. But we are also asking for the cancellation or overhaul of the blasphemy law, which is destroying harmony and development in Pakistan.
Rome – At our reader’s request, AsiaNews has decided to launch an international petition to be sent to President Asif Zardari to save the life of Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to hanging for blasphemy. AsiaNews is also asking President Zardari to cancel or change the unjust blasphemy law, which kills many innocent victims and destroys coexistence in the country. We are asking you o support this initiative by sending a message to the following email:
[email protected]
Or you can send a message directly to the Pakistani President:
[email protected]
Our campaign is one of many being launched in Italy (with Tv2000), Pakistan, India and the United States.
Asia Bibi, a Christian woman of 45, mother of five children, was sentenced to death for blasphemy on November 7 last. A Punjab court in ruled that the woman, a farm worker, offended the Prophet Mohammed. But in reality, Asia Bibi was first insulted as “impure” (because not-Islamic), then forced to defend her Christian faith in the face of pressure from other Muslim labourers. The husband of one of them, the local imam, decided to launch charges and denounce the woman, who was first beaten, then imprisoned and finally, after one year, sentenced to death.
Asia Bibi and her husband Ashiq Masih have decided to appeal to overturn the ruling. Meanwhile, the mother now faces months of imprisonment at the mercy of prison guards or some fanatic who could kill her under the misguided belief that he is giving glory to Allah.
Up until now, the blasphemy law had not led to an execution of any accused or convicted. But 33 people charged with blasphemy were killed in prison by guards, or in the vicinity of the court. The latest such case involved two Protestant Christians, Pastor Emmanuel and his brother Rashid Sajjad, shot at point blank range as they left the court in Faisalabad on 19 July. However we can group these deaths with those killed in the massacres of entire villages, in Gojra, Korian, Kasur, Sangla Hill, where hundreds of houses belonging to Christians were burned and where women and children were killed or burned alive, just because one member of the village had been accused of blasphemy.
It is now startlingly clear that this law has become a tool in the hands of fundamentalists that pit Muslims against Christians in order to measure the extent of their power over Pakistani society. It is also clear that almost all the accusations of blasphemy are born from envy, revenge, competition, and that the arrest of the accused is but the first step to allow the expropriation of land, looting and theft.
We desperately want to save Asia Bibi. But we can not content ourselves with this alone. We must strive so that this law, defined by the Pakistanis themselves as “obscene”, is changed or better yet, revoked. It was desired by the dictator Zia ul-Haq in 86, in exchange for the Islamic community’s support. But in doing so he laid the foundation for the destruction of Pakistan. This country, founded as a secular republic and neutral toward religion, has become an Islamic state that kills its own people, destroys its own social fabric and is of major concern to the international community.
The blasphemy law has become a sword of Damocles over every person’s head and especially those belonging to minorities, who are paying dearly; Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Muslims but also Shiites and Sunnis.
By eliminating this law – or at least curbing it – new impetus will be given to interfaith coexistence in Pakistan, to democracy and development. This will also give greater breadth to security and the international community, which views the spread of Taliban rule in a country that has nuclear weapons with concern.
We believe that the only bulwark to the growth of fundamentalism is to ensure equal coexistence between Christians and Muslims. For this reason we ask for the life of Asia Bibi to be saved. And with this we ask, we hope that Pakistan may also be saved.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Your-signature-to-save-Asia-Bibi-and-Pakistan-19997.html
Uncommon Sense: Unjustifiable Justification -by Zane Clark
In America we take many things for granted. We can walk down the street, grab a bite to eat, then go watch television in our nice furnished homes with a cool drink in one hand and the television remote in the other. It’s not a difficult concept. If resources allow, we have the right and privilege to have what we want when we want. America was founded on this concept and it has remained true. It continues to be the deciding factor separating America from every other country in the world. We have freedom of speech, freedom to protest peacefully anything we disagree with, and we have freedom of religion, the original reason the colonists migrated to America.
I recently read an article from Yahoo News about a woman in Lahore, Pakistan. Mrs. Asia Bibi, a mother of five, has been sentenced to death, by hanging, for “blasphemy”. Although there was no proof or base for the case, she was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, a capital crime in Pakistan. In all reality, this so called “blasphemy” was simply being of Christian faith in a country where Islam is the major faith.
I don’t know about you, but even if someone doesn’t agree with me on religion I don’t kill them. If someone bad mouthes Jesus I don’t report them to the authorities hoping (and possibly praying) they are sentenced to death row. No one in America has the right or authority to force people to believe one thing. Don’t misinterpret that as it being wrong to evangelize and spread religion because there is no problem with peacefully discussing beliefs, but no one in their right mind wouldn’t threaten someone’s life to terrify them into belief.
From this we can also look at how we view religion today in America. There are many people who have become sick of hearing of Christianity and will make as many derogatory comments as possible while defending any other world religion. I’m sorry, but I’m a Christian, and even if I wasn’t, I would still find it ridiculous that such a double standard could exist. All I’m asking for is a little bit of equality, that little thing that separates America from Pakistan.
Mrs. Bibi would be the first person executed for Blasphemy in Pakistan. If her sentence fails its’ appeal and is carried out it will only be a stepping stone for more violence and inhumane acts that will go unanswered. There are people around the world calling for a stop to this Islamist extremism from Mrs. Bibi’s husband, Mr. Ashiq Masih, to different humanitarian groups. People know this is wrong, but the Pakistani government seems to not care and is planning on carrying out this act with no evidence aside from unjustifiable justification.
For as much as we have, we so often forget to be grateful for the freedoms others don’t have. We don’t ever have to worry about ending up in the same situation as Mrs. Bibi. All that being said, we also need to make the efforts to stand up for people who are tortured, beaten, and even killed for their faith no matter what their religion or race is. That includes people who are harassed and humiliated in our own country and even hometowns because they believe in a power greater than themselves.
http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/389530/newspaperid/1817/Uncommon_Sense_Unjustifiable_Justification.aspx
–
The Perils of Combining Church and State -by Ed Brayton
Pakistan provides a perfect example of what happens when you combine church and state:
Christian Today reports that in Pakistan on Sunday, a court in Punjab province sentenced a Christian woman to death for blasphemy. It also imposed a fine equivalent to two and a half years’ wages. In previous blasphemy cases, the death sentence has not been carried out and this may amount instead to a life sentence. Defendant Asia Bibi, a farm worker in the village of Ittanwali, got into a heated religious discussion with Muslim fellow farm workers. When they tried to convince Bibi to accept Islam, Bibi told them that Jesus had died for mankind’s sins and asked what Muhammad had done for them. Apparently the Muslim women, offended by Bibi’s remarks, began to beat her while others locked her in a room and abused her and her children. Local Muslim leaders then pressured prosecutors to file charges against Bibi.
This is why Jefferson and Madison fought so hard to separate church and state, because combining the two inevitably results in attempts to make everyone follow that established religion. They knew full well that the history of Christian establishments was every bit as barbaric as Pakistan’s Muslim-based government.
Where were these so called human rights champians when Jellander Postan published Cartoons and when Rushdi was awarded the tittle of Sir. Nothing but hypocrisy…
@Kashif, We[human rights believer] unquestioningly support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
We have condemned the “Religious Persecution” of minorities, whether it happened in US/EU or in India..
And Pakistani as well as international religious/Christian community condemned the cartoon caricatures of prophet Muhammad(PBUH) published in some European editions.
Rome pleads for life of condemned woman
Rome’s City Hall this week erected a banner pleading for the life of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.
The banner, which features a large photo of the condemned woman above the slogan “Let us save Asia Bibi,” first appeared on Nov. 15.
It is the latest in a series of recent appeals by the City of Rome to spare the lives of prisoners, including Iranian woman Sakineh, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz.
Two years ago, City Hall erected a similar banner calling for the release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was finally freed on 14 Nov.
“We want to ensure that the square of the Capitol is a place of human rights and religious freedom,” said Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno endorsing the campaign launched last week by Italian TV station SAT 2000 and the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference.
“Religious freedom is the foundation of individual freedom and supersedes all other human rights,” he noted.
The CEI swung into action in response to an appeal from Bishop Bernard Shaw of Lahore.
Meanwhile, Azione Cattolica, the leading Italian Catholic Action group has declared Sunday 21 November as a day of prayer for Bibi’s liberation.
“We want to strengthen our commitment to respect and protect the life of every person unjustly deprived of their freedom, or persecuted and condemned in any corner of the earth because religious freedom is a fundamental value for the good of mankind,” read a communique from Italy’s largest Catholic lay organization.
The accusations against Asia Bibi arose in June 2009 when her fellow Muslim women field workers accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.
However, Bibi’s supporters allege that she was denounced simply because she dared fetch water from a well belonging to a Muslim.
http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2010/11/16/rome-pleads-for-life-of-condemned-woman/
Friends! This is a great website for Online Sahih Bukhari in URDU. http://www.tahirleo786.blogspot.com I think it is a great website for all muslims.THANKX
@Kashif, @Junaid
I don’t think you guys understand tolerance or human rights. The whole point of getting rid of blasphemy laws is to NOT CONDEMN people who publish cartoons of Mohammed, or anything else. Whether through government action or private effort. People should be able to say what they want to say and if you’re offended by it, well, don’t buy that newspaper! Simple as that.
@Jon I agree both are different issues. But it’s not a matter of
my understanding of tolerance or human rights, infect it’s a matter of my principles or my position on certain issues, I think that insulting others religions, prophets, ethics etc is highly condemnable..It’s my position, I understand and respect your opinion as well-and expect you respect mine…
GoPetition: Repeal Aasia Bibi’s death sentence
Petition text:
We, the citizens and friends of the people of Pakistan, demand to immediately repeal the capital punishment of Aasia Bibi, a Christian Woman, sentenced by a Session Court in Punjab under Blasphemy Law.
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40649/sign.html
It is distressing to see the fast growing insensitivity in Pakistani society. This medieval and barbaric law of blasphemy is accepted not only by our common man but by our judges, writers,all sections of so called intelligentsia and politicians. Such is the stone-hearted smugness that the nation is spending tens of billions on the slaughter of animals on Eid while just months ago millions of our countrymen were ruined by floods.
The world, also, has become indifferent to our plight as we refuse to show that we want change.
Let us rally together to shout our pain to the world. Is there anyone who will organize a rally on the Mall to demand the repeal of Blasphemy law? Junaid Qaiser and his group are doing a great job. Will writers, lawyers and humanists join such effort.
I am in Virginia. I promise to meet my Congressmen and Senators tomorrow to persuade them that they send their protest and condemnation to the government of Pakistan.
@Junaid I do not respect your position, it is in principle exactly the same as Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. When you go around condemning people for expressing their opinion and harming nobody, you fuel exactly the kind of “justice” that results in people being shot outside courthouses or given the death penalty. Maybe you wish you can have it both ways but you can’t. You either support freedom or you support oppression and attacks on people based on the hyper-sensitive feelings of an insane group of religious freaks.
@Jon
That’s not correct. The Pope, for example, is opposed to disrespect of other religions and has expressed this opposition on many occasions. Does he go around killing people for blasphemy or supporting the death penalty for blasphemy? You can be personally opposed to disrespect for other religions; that is just an individual exercising his personal freedom – as long as you also oppose punishment for blasphemy, that is fine.
@Jon, well, theoretically speaking may be you are right.
But in reality the situation is not so simple.
In Pakistan extremist groups say non Muslims are Kafir who must be killed.
Do you think it’s appropriate or condemnable? or you view it as ‘freedom of speech’?
Freedom also means responsibility of the individual, it is a fundamental liberal principle.
In present global scenario we need tolerance and acceptance of all faiths.
(Kindly Read)Situation of Minorities in Pakistan – by Junaid Qaiser
http://criticalppp.com/archives/4930
The blasphemy law is flawed and open to abuse, so it must be repealed
Women of Pakistan show support for Asia Bibi, call for judicial reform and appeal to Asma Jahangir
The women of Pakistan, Christians and Muslims, have taken to the streets to show their support and solidarity with Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. Yesterday, inform Fides sources, in Nankana (the city of Asia Bibi) women demonstrated in the street in front of the buildings of government institutions to spread public awareness and demand the release of the woman. Among the groups organizing the march was the Pakistani Catholic Women Organization that has operated in agreement with several Muslim organizations that defend women’s rights. Pakistani women are making hopeful appeals to the authoritative figure of Asma Jahangir, a well-known Muslim lawyer who recently became the first woman to head the Bar Association of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Rosemary Noel, coordinator of the national Catholic women’s group, told Media: “The Asia Bibi case causes us great concern and creates profound suffering – especially because it is the conviction of an innocent person to death. We call on all institutions for her immediate release. We are working with other civil society associations in a forum called MUMKIN (which in Urdu means “Make it possible,”) and there is a meeting scheduled at the national level on November 22. We want to find all the ways we can to save Asia.”
“In her case – the coordinator told Fides – there was no serious investigation of either the police or the court. Unfortunately, it is a power play of the strong who crush the weak. In Pakistan, rulers have a strong influence on the security forces and the courts, especially trial courts. The sentences are not transparent and clearly unjust. In addition, there is the strength of the majority that crushes the minorities and Christians suffer doubly.”
Saman Wazdani, Muslim human rights activist, tells media: “The women of Pakistan are taking action: the case of Asia Bibi nags at our conscience. There is an urgent need to repeal the blasphemy law. But there is also a serious problem in the national legal system: trial courts are left to themselves. They have old structures that are not transparent and they often interpret the law incorrectly. We urgently need a comprehensive judicial reform, although in the higher courts the situation is much better.”
One ray of hope, Pakistani women tell , is the involvement of Asma Jahangir who, in the past, has often ruled against the Hudood Ordinances and against blasphemy law. Asma – who received education in Catholic schools – is known for defending the rights of minorities, a commitment that has even led her to receive death threats. Since 2004, Asma Jahangir is the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom and one of the founders of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. In her career, she has always fought against discrimination and violence against women.
Blasphemy law, a sword hanging over our heads
Islamabad – I am native Pakistani Christian. I studied in Pakistan and saw how the blasphemy law has and is being used and abused to settle personal scores, kill Christians and burn their homes and properties. Pakistan has a population of some 180 million people, 96 per cent Muslim and 2 per cent Christian.
It is very unfortunate to see that another Christian, a woman this time, Asia Bibi, has become the target of the controversial Section 295 C of the penal code. Since the promulgation of the law in1990, about 30 Christians have been charged. Not one has been found guilty by a higher court, although a couple did receive the death sentence in the lower courts. This law has brought a lot of misery and oppression to the people of Pakistan, in particular Pakistani Christians. About a thousand people have charged under the law, including Muslims, Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians.
Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old Christian woman is the latest victim of the law. Unfortunately, she is the first Christian woman to be sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy against Islam’s prophet. A local judge, Naveed Iqbal, sentenced her to hang. The circumstances show that Asia Bibi was the victim, insulted by Muslim women co-workers who objected to her bringing water because, as a Christian, she was ‘unclean’.
It is very unfortunate that we have this law. It has instilled fear in the people, particularly Christians. It is very often used to settle personal scores. Both Christians and Muslims have been killed by angry mobs, angered by allegations that a copy of the Qur’an was desecrated or blasphemy was committed against the prophet of Islam. For example, a Christian teacher, Nimat Ahmer, was killed by a student in a courthouse in Faisalabad. Another Christian, Banto Masih, was attacked and seriously hurt whilst the police custody and later died. Masih Masih, also Christian, was killed as he left the High Court in Lahore where he had been formally charged with violating Section 295 C. A Muslim, Sajad Farooq, who was also a Hafiz (lit. Guardian) someone who memorises the Holy Qur‘an, was killed by an angry mob for allegedly desecrating the Quran. Another Muslim, a member of Pakistan’s parliament (Majlas-e-Shura or Council of Advisors) under military strongman General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was killed in jail by a police officer.
This law is so vague that it is easy to accuse anyone of blasphemy and then kill him. Often, when people are involved in land disputes or other personal quarrel, one of the parties can be charged under the controversial legislation. Usually, the courts tend to throw the case and free the accused. Unfortunately, we are living in a society where fanatical Muslims can kill anyone, anytime, anywhere even if a court found them innocent and blameless. Too often, the only alternative is escape to another country. There are several such cases including some Christians like Salamat Masih, Ayub Masih and more. Because of this law, our society has become more violent and prone to aggressive behaviour.
Political leaders like Benazir Bhutto, when she was prime minister, and Pervez Musharraf, when he was President, tried to bring some changes to this law; for instance, requiring that investigations be conducted by higher officers before a case can be filed against any individual. However, neither leader was able to bring any slight change to the law. They were threatened by hard-line fanatical Muslim leaders who organised street protests and issued dire warnings against making changes to the law.
This is the situation in which we are living. The law is like the sword of Damocles, hanging over our heads. We protest the use and the misuse of this law. Many Muslim and Christian human organisations are against the law.
It is very unfortunate that Asia Bibi was handed a hanging sentence. I am confident that she will be released, eventually, by the higher courts, as in several other cases. Very often, lower court judges of are not able to bear the threats and pressures by fanatic Muslims. Thus, they convict people under this law in order to save their own lives.
At present, Pakistan is going through a good deal of turmoil. It is very unfortunate that our country has become a land challenged by fanaticism, terrorism and violence. Every public place has become a potential target. At this dark moment, people feel powerless. However, we Christians have an important role to play: bring hope to our entire people. We have a prophetic role to play in Pakistan: to reject the use of violence to counter violence, hatred against hatred. Our Church is a Church that suffers. Our schools, church buildings and hospitals have been attacked and more than 300 Christian homes have been burnt.
The country’s increasing Islamisation scares Christians and makes them feel insecure. Meanwhile, the Taliban are gaining ground. The government should tough measures against religious schools(Madrasa) that teach extremism with an ugly face, that imposes its will through weapons and bombs.
*The author’s name has been withheld because the person still lives in Pakistan and fears for his or her safety.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Blasphemy-law,-a-sword-hanging-over-our-heads-20003.html
Time to repeal the blasphemy law -By Nasim Zehra
In June 2008, Asiya Bibi, a Pakistani farm worker and mother of five, fetched water for others working on the farm. Many refused the water because Asiya was Christian. The situation got ugly. Reports indicate Asiya was harassed because of her religion and the matter turned violent. Asiya, alone in a hostile environment, naturally would have attempted to defend herself but was put in police custody for her protection against a crowd that was harming her.
However, that protection move turned into one that was to earn Asiya a death sentence. A case was filed against her under sections 295-B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code, claiming that Asiya was a blasphemer. Her family will appeal against the judgment in the Lahore High Court.
The Asiya case raises the fundamental question of how Pakistan’s minorities have been left unprotected since the passage of the blasphemy law. There may have been no hangings on account of the law but it has facilitated the spread of intolerance and populist rage against minorities, often leading to deaths. There is also a direct link between the Zia-ist state’s intolerance against minorities and the rise of criminal treatment of Ahmadis.
Cases have ranged from the Kasur case to the more recent Gojra case, from the mind-boggling row of cases between 1988-1992 against 80-year-old development guru Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, to the case of the son of an alleged blasphemer, an illiterate brick kiln worker who was beaten to death by a frenzied mob.
Although doctor sahib faced prolonged mental torture, he was saved from the maddening rage that has sent to prison, and in some cases devoured, many innocent, poor and hence unprotected Pakistanis.
There is a long list, prepared by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, of unjust punishments handed down to Pakistani citizens whose fundamental rights the state is obliged to protect. Beyond punishments, minorities live in constant fear of being lethally blackmailed by those who want to settle other scores.
Yet most political parties have refrained from calling for the law’s repeal or improvement in its implementation mechanism. When, in the early 90s, I asked Nawaz Sharif sahib to criticise the hounding of Dr Khan, his response was a detailed recall of the story in which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) went to ask after the health of a non-Muslim woman who repeatedly threw garbage over him. He condemned what was happening but said politics prevented him from doing so publicly. Later, General Musharraf, advised by other generals, reversed his announcement of changing the law’s implementation mechanism. Small crowds protested against it. Among politicians, very few exceptions include the PPP parliamentarian Sherry Rehman and, more recently, the ANP’s Bushra Gohar, who asked for its amendment and repeal.
Already sections of the judiciary have been critical of flawed judgements passed by lower courts in alleged blasphemy cases. Recently in July, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif quashed a blasphemy case against 60-year-old Zaibunnisa and ordered her release after almost 14 years in custody. According to the judgment, the “treatment meted out to the woman was an insult to humanity and the government and the civil organisations should be vigilant enough to help such people.” Surely the Bench should know the plethora of abuses that Pakistan’s minorities have suffered because of an evidently flawed law.
A message more appropriate, perhaps, would be to repeal the black law that grossly undermines the Constitution of Pakistan and indeed the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, one of the most tolerant and humane law-givers humankind has known. This environment of populist rage, fed by the distorted yet self-serving interpretation of religion principally by Zia and a populist mixing of religion and politics by a politically besieged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, must be emphatically challenged. A collective effort to roll back these laws must come from parliament, the lawyers’ forums, the judiciary, civil society groups and the media.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2010.
Family waits to see if mother, accused of blasphemy, will be hanged
Itan Wali, Pakistan (CNN) — In this village in Pakistan’s Punjab province a tearful 12-year-old girl ponders if the Pakistani government will soon hang her mother.
“Whenever I see her picture I cry,” Isham Masih told CNN. “I want my mother back. That’s what I’m praying for.”
This month a Pakistani court sentenced Isham’s mother, 45-year-old Asia Bibi, to death, not because she killed, injured or stole, but simply because she said something.
Prosecutors say Bibi, who is a Christian, broke Pakistan’s strict blasphemy law by insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad, a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment according to Pakistan’s penal code.
The alleged incident happened in June 2009 when Bibi, a field worker, was picking fruit in a village two hours west of Lahore. Prosecutors say when Bibi dipped her cup into a bucket of drinking water during a lunch break, her co-workers complained the water had been contaminated by a non-Muslim.
Court records show the women got into a heated argument.
Mafia Satar said she was there and heard Bibi’s insults.
“She said your Muhammad had worms in his mouth before he died,” Satar told CNN, a crude way of saying Muhammad was no prophet.
The town cleric, Qari Muhammad Salim, reported the incident to police who arrested Bibi. After nearly 15 months in prison came her conviction and the death sentence.
“When I heard the decision my heart ached,” Bibi’s husband Ashiq Masih told CNN.
Masih denies his wife ever insulted Muhammad. He said death threats forced him and his daughters, one of them disabled, to flee their village.
Neither the Koran nor the prophet Muhammad’s teachings in the Hadith call for the execution of blasphemers, but Islamic scholars and jurists from generations past included the death sentence when drafting Islamic law.
Human rights groups have long blamed Pakistan’s blasphemy laws for persecution and violence against religious minorities like last year’s attack on a Christian village in Punjab Province and recent bombings of minority Muslim mosques.
Activists say the government has refused to amend the law for fear of backlash from Islamist groups and their followers who deem scrapping the law as un-Islamic.
At the time this report was filed, Pakistan’s law minister had not responded to CNN’s request for an interview.
Bibi has appealed her death sentence and asked for bail, the chief prosecutor of Punjab province told CNN.
The prosecutor, Chaudhry Muhammad Jahangir, said the appeal will be heard by the Lahore High court and a decision could be months away.
Pakistan has never executed someone convicted of blasphemy but in Bibi’s village public opinion was unanimous.
“Yes, she should be hanged,” a group of villagers cried out.
The town cleric, who made the initial complaint against Bibi, called her death sentence one of the happiest moments of his life.
“Tears of joy poured from my eyes,” Qari Salim told CNN.
The clerics tears are in stark contrast to those shed by Bibi’s daughter Isham, who wants her mother to live.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/18/pakistan.blasphemy/
Human rights group: death sentence for Asia Bibi highlights weaknesses in Pakistan justice system
Following an international outcry against the death sentence given to Asia Bibi, a defendant convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan last week, CSW is urging the Government of Pakistan to address the “deeply-rooted problems” highlighted by this case, including “the continued abuse of the blasphemy laws and the underlying weaknesses in Pakistan’s justice system”.
Spurious blasphemy accusations are increasingly common and relatively simple to register in Pakistan. At the trial stage, lower court judges are susceptible to manipulation and intimidation from local groups, meaning that even victims of patently false accusations can be forced to appeal and wait years for a High Court or Supreme Court acquittal. Nobody sentenced to death has yet been executed, but many await a decision in prison, such as Waji ul-Hassan, a Christian who has been on death row since 2002. In prison, blasphemy prisoners are at risk of violent abuse because of the stigma of the charge.
CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, “Asia Bibi should never have been charged with blasphemy in the first place and her sentence is a tragic reminder of the continued abuse of the blasphemy laws and the underlying weaknesses in Pakistan’s justice system. Deeply-rooted problems of prejudice, inefficiency, corruption, and under-resourcing are amplified in blasphemy cases, and even more so for religious minorities. As a prisoner, Asia Bibi’s experience behind bars is made worse by the fact that she is a Christian, a woman and a blasphemy defendant – each of which increases the likelihood of abusive treatment. Injustices of this kind will continue to occur until such time as the blasphemy laws are repealed and practical measures are taken to render the rule of law meaningful in Pakistan.”
http://au.christiantoday.com/article/human-rights-group-death-sentence-for-asia-bibi-highlights-weaknesses-in-pakistan-justice-system/9614.htm
Asia Bibi’s legal defense overseen by Pakistani Christians in the diaspora
The Pakistani Christian community in the United Kingdom has taken up the case of Asia Bibi and is providing legal assistance for the woman. The Pakistani community in the United Kingdom has a population of over one million people of first-generation immigrants, including about 70,000 Christians.
Despite the involvement of several Christian NGOs based in Pakistan – as well as the generous offer of some eminent Muslim lawyers like Muhammad Aslam Khaki – the case of Asia Bibi is being run today by the Masih Foundation led by Haroon Barket Masih, a wealthy Pakistani Christian who lives in the United Kingdom. The Foundation has assumed the defense of Asia and has chosen high profile lawyers who are overseeing the appeal in the High Court of Lahore. The Foundation also provides assistance to the relatives of the woman, who are now living in Lahore. As Fides has learned, in the coming days, the Masih Foundation will announce the details of the legal process and on their conversations with government officials, pending the first hearing before the High Court. The Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, note sources of Fides, “is a guarantee for the case of Asia,” as everyone expects the Court to allow new investigations on the case.
The support of the Pakistani community in England has been seen in the British Pakistani Christian Association’s launching a petition to the British government for the release of Asia Bibi and the abolition of the blasphemy law. It has also announced a contribution of £25,000 to cover court costs and to provide a legal defense for Asia at the highest levels. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 19/11/2010)
Amnesty Int’l urges release of Pakistani Christian woman
ISLAMABAD—An international human-rights advocate has joined calls for the release of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death under the country’s blasphemy laws.
Amnesty International on Friday also called on Pakistan to revise the law under which mother of five Asia Bibi was convicted this month.
Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday called on Pakistan to release Bibi.
Blasphemy laws
The case stems from a dispute between Bibi and a group of Muslim women over the use of a water bowl. The other women accused her of making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Mohammad[PBUH]. She has been in prison for one-and-a-half years and her case has been appealed.
The case has drawn attention to blasphemy laws, which critics say are used to persecute Christian and other minorities.
The Pontiff said the mother of five should “be given back her freedom,” during the weekly general address in St. Peter’s Square, a Vatican statement said.
“I feel close to Asia Bibi and her family and I ask that she be released as soon as possible,” he said.
Asia was sentenced to death on November 11 in Pakistan’s central province Punjab following a charge in 2009 that the non-Muslim had made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad.
“I pray for those who find themselves in similar situations so that their human dignity and fundamental rights are respected,” Benedict said, adding that Christians in Pakistan “are often victims of violence and discrimination.”
Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but the case spotlights the Muslim country’s controversial laws on the subject which rights activists say encourage Islamist extremism in a nation wracked by Taliban attacks.
Harsh law
Asia’s case dates back to June 2009 when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields. But a group of Muslim women laborers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.
A few days later the women went to a local cleric and alleged that Asia made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad. The cleric went to local police, who opened an investigation.
She was arrested in Ittanwalai village and prosecuted under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.
Sentencing her to hang, Judge Naveed Iqbal had “totally ruled out” any chance that Asia was falsely implicated and said there were “no mitigating circumstances,” according to a copy of the verdict seen by AFP.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Tuesday he considered Asia to be “an exemplary case of Christian persecution” and vowed to join the fight to save her.
“The current law needs to be changed and the Pakistani government confirmed their commitment to do so during my visit” to Pakistan last week, he said during an interview with Vatican television.
Law repeal urged
Asia’s husband Ashiq Masih, 51, had previously told AFP that he would appeal her death sentence, which needs to be upheld by the Lahore high court, the highest court in Punjab, before it can be carried out.
The couple have two sons and three daughters.
Rights activists and minority pressure groups said it was the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistan for blasphemy, although a Muslim couple were jailed for life last year.
Human-rights activists want the controversial legislation repealed, saying it is exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
Only around three percent of Pakistan’s population of 167 million is estimated to be non-Muslim.
Christian brothers killed
Last July, two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet critical of the Prophet Mohammad[PBUH] were shot dead outside a court in Punjab.
Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and his brother Sajjad, were killed as they left a court hearing in Faisalabad city, where hundreds of Muslim protesters had demanded they be sentenced to death. Reports from AP and AFP
It is disgusting that such a law has been pased in a country that has such a small christian and even smaller non muslim ethnic communities. It is only used to persecute and threaten the non muslims and is often falsely used against non muslim foes in personal vendetta.
this has to be repealed !!!
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