Aasia must die: Rana Sanaullah’s open letter to the people of Pakistan
This is a war to end all wars. Aasia must die. There cannot be any reprieve to the people who do not adhere to the national ideology. The national ideology is to kill. To kill the religious minorities. To kill the religious majorities. To kill in the name of religion. To kill in the name of nationalism. To kill in the name of staying alive.
The Governor has forfeited the right to live. He goes against the national vision and aspirations. He goes and talks to a common criminal convicted in a court of law. The law must be upheld. Has he ever been to a mosque? If he had been to a mosque, he would have been blown up by now by my colleagues in Jhang and this conversation would not have been necessary. But no; he does not go to the mosque. He goes to the lock-up and talks to this criminal, a mother of five, kept alive on the largesse of the Punjab government.
The Governor is spreading mischief and disorder in the province. Whereas yours truly has ensured that we benefit from the experience of our partners in governance, the Sipah e Sahabah, in ensuring peace and brotherhood, he goes around sowing seeds of rebellion and apostasy.
The law of blasphemy can never be repealed. It was put in place by our leader and Imam, Hazrat Zia ul Haq Shaheed, (may his jawbone rest in peace). He was the founding father of democracy, freedom, and prosperity in Pakistan. He was the visionary who put the nation on the firm footing of ideology, so that we can live in perpetual peace and harmony among ourselves and with our neighbours. The law of blasphemy is the bedrock of our existence. It is the force that binds the nation together. I am sure that the Shaheed is watching us with satisfaction from his heavenly abode, as listens to Benjamin Sisters on his heavenly stereo.
I know that Sahibzada Sahib wants to detach my skin with sharp hooks. But I would like to say to him that the long march was not necessary. We must find a common ground so that the killings can stop. We must not kill in the mosques. We should not kill in the shrines. We should only kill young mothers of five, so that the law and order can be restored in the society and we can all benefit from the Auqaf funds. These funds can easily pay for a ticket to the UN where Sahibzada Sahib should go to protest against the Babri Masjid decision and French Burqa ban. Ours is a religion of peace.
I want to say to the Sahibzada Sahib, Naeemi Sahib, and all other brothers baying for my blood, that once we are done with the mischief makers like Aasia Bibi, we should concentrate on building shopping plazas, in the spirit of public welfare, as enjoined by our great religion and in accordance with the LDA rules. At all times we must obey the injunctions of the High Court about the size of our ambitions and the size of our plazas.
Rana SU Khan
Ministry of Law
Government of the Punjab
Source: Justice Denied – Hakim Hazik
Related articles: An introduction to Rana Sanaullah
Extremist Deobandi mullah offers a reward for anyone who kills Aasia Bibi: Nawaiwaqt joins the jihad
Rana and Mian, the extremist Deobandis of Punjab – by Muhammad Amjad Rashid
PML-N’s Sipah-e-Sahaba group and its cost to Punjab
The daughters of Asia Bibi with an image of their mother, standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura on November 13, 2010.
Sanaullah lashes out at PPP
LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday lashed out at the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), saying it had turned into a party of atheists, disreputable people and plunderers. Commenting on the suspension of veteran PPP leaders Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbassi, Sanaullah said, “It was disgusting that Bhutto’s stalwarts were being ignored and some opportunists like (Law Minister) Babar Awan were (being) honoured.”
He alleged that the federal law minister had highjacked PPP. He said the governor’s move to meet Aasia Bibi, a blasphemy convict, in jail was widely criticised. The provincial law minister alleged that PPP workers held dance parties on the party’s Foundation Day instead of devising a party ideology and appreciating the services of its departed leaders. staff report
December 04, 2010
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\04\story_4-12-2010_pg7_16
The shame of Aasia Bibi’s blasphemy charade
Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer has gone to a Sheikhupura jail where a poor Christian woman bhatta mazdoor (brick-kiln labourer) has been sentenced to death by the sessions judge. She was accused of having blasphemed against the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
The governor, unexpectedly for a politician, called it an outrage and has pledged to draft an amnesty letter to the president asking him to pardon Aasia Bibi. Most other politicians have kept quiet while human rights workers and NGOs working for women’s rights have protested at yet another shameful prosecution under the universally condemned blasphemy law in Pakistan.
Aasia Bibi did hard labour for the local bricklaying industry in Nankana Sahib and had the usual complaint about unfair and violent labour practices. She, however, also ran the gauntlet of living in the midst of an increasingly narrow-minded Muslim community of poor labourers presided over by a bigoted blasphemy law-loving cleric. Two reasons are related to why she was entrapped by an equally colluding police: that she was provoked by other women drawing water when they said that she was ‘napaak’ (impure); and that she had asserted to other women that the meat of Muslim qurbani (sacrifice) was haram (prohibited) for her.
Whatever the reason for her entrapment, the politician was stunned into silence. Only the Punjab governor proved that he was not a mere drawing room liberal but had the courage to rise to Aasia Bibi’s defence. No one from among the big politicians from small parties like the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Awami National Party raised their voice even after there was international outrage led by the Pope at the Vatican. The PPP, which had just handed over the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to a cleric of the pro-Taliban ferocious variety, was loath to follow Governor Taseer’s example.
The PML-N was expected to stay out of it — because of its past role in stiffening the accursed law further — reaping mileage when the clergy was to bare it fangs at Governor Taseer, although Nawaz Sharif had gone to a Christian charity school and had probably seen members of his family visit the city’s Christian charity hospital.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah criticised the governor’s action with his ear cocked to what the Sipah-e-Sahaba would say about the case. The clergy did not take long to respond. There was a collective frog chorus saying the blasphemy law could not be changed after a column appeared in this newspaper in which it was argued that the law be repealed. The Barelvis, crushed by the Taliban in numerous suicide attacks, came out saying Aasia Bibi could not be pardoned because pardon itself was un-Islamic.
It takes eight to nine years for a person convicted under the blasphemy law to get out of jail after a final benign judgement by the Supreme Court. The sessions judge, in most cases himself a bigot, is usually scared into handing out a conviction by the hostile madrassa clergy standing outside his court and baying for blood. Aasia Bibi, while agreeing to ask for pardon, has also appealed the case at the High Court; but the bitter truth is that finally it is the Supreme Court where ‘justice’ is delivered in the midst of a most defamatory campaign by concerned states at the international level. With their hopes at an end, human rights workers led by the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Asma Jahangir, have recommended that all blasphemy cases be heard at the High Court level instead of the sessions.
After the massacre of the Gojra Christians on the charge of blasphemy in 2009, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights had urged the government to re-examine the blasphemy law and improve its procedure. No one in the committee was convinced that anything could be done. In the past, procedural changes such as making blasphemy cases subject to the scrutiny of the divisional commissioner before making arrests and registering FIRs have been ignored. Minorities are increasingly under pressure from the mischief of this deeply-flawed law and there is no one who would agitate the way some of us are agitating for the release of Aafia Siddiqi from an American jail.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2010.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/80301/the-shame-of-aasia-bibis-blasphemy-charade/
Punjab blasphemy case study: 94% cases against Muslims
LAHORE: A new debate has started about Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws after Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman from Nankana Saheb in Punjab, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, made headlines across the world.
The country’s liberal educated class are advocating changes in the controversial laws, while religious parties are saying they would fight any such move.
There is a common impression that the blasphemy laws are targeting only non-Muslim communities in the country, but official statistics show this notion is misplaced.
In retrospect, 12 prisoners, including Aasia, have so far been sentenced to death by courts in Punjab on charges of blasphemy. Of these, only three are Christians while the remaining are Muslims, The Express Tribune has learnt.
According to official data, as many as 130 prisoners are in different jails of Punjab under the blasphemy laws. Of these, 64 have been convicted, while the remaining 52 are under trial.
Of the convicts, 12 prisoners, among them Aasia, have been condemned to death, while the others have been awarded different punishments, including life sentences and fines.
Interestingly, only eight prisoners are Christians, while the remaining 122 are Muslims. Of the eight Christians, two are women – Aasia Bibi, wife of Ashiq Masih and Ruqia, wife of Murir Masih – and six are men.
Now let’s have a look at the status of these eight Christians. Again the official data shows that only three are on death row, two have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while the remaining three are under trial.
So far, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has rejected one appeal of a Christian man, Anwar Kanth, son of Veera Masih, who was sentenced to death by the court of the additional and sessions judge Lahore on July 18, 2002.
Official statistics available with The Express Tribune show that only eight Christians have been jailed under the blasphemy laws in Punjab since September 29, 2001.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2010.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/86148/punjab-blasphemy-case-study-94-cases-against-muslims/
It will be fat better for Pakistan if Rana Sanaullah is hanged. Aasia should be protected at every cost. i am sure brave ppl of Pakistan will not let her die at hands of these evil people
terrifying real!
Video report by a BBC correspondent from Islamabad.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11923701
Sectarian poodle of Nawaz Sharif at the Lahore High Court first stayed the presidential pardon, now stays the constitutional amendment.
http://criticalppp.com/archives/30976/comment-page-1#comment-50395
@Sherry
I couldn’t agree more.
It is the goons such as Rana Sanaullah of the Sipah-e-Sahaba and his mentors in PML-N, NS and SS, who are responsible for a culture of jihadi and sectarian violence.