Blasphemy law must be repealed —by Mashal Sahir
The way the blasphemy law operates in our country is an insult to humanity, where people are free to kill others in order to settle personal scores or simply to prove their superiority by using their ‘religious obligations’ to justify their actions
By definition, a law is a body of rules governing the affairs of a community and is meant to ensure social order and justice. However, in Pakistan, a law should be redefined as a body of rules governing the affairs of a community meant to intimidate the weak, facilitate vested interests, and benefit those in power. The Blasphemy Law is a perfect example of this redefinition. It defies the very purpose of the law, which is to provide justice to all.
Blasphemy is irreverence towards holy personages, religious artefacts, customs and beliefs. This law has been codified in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), particularly Section 295. Although, according to Article 45 of the constitution, the president has the power to grant pardon and suspend any sentence passed by any court or other authority, those accused of blasphemy are invariably subjected to harassment, threats, and attacks by extremist elements. Between 1988 and 2005, 647 people have been charged with offences under the blasphemy laws. Fifty percent of the people charged were non-Muslim. Twenty of them were murdered soon after the charge was laid. Sadly, even those who are acquitted of blasphemy by a court usually go into hiding or leave Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the purported purpose of the blasphemy law is to punish anybody who offends society’s religious sentiments. However, the fact is that the provisions of this law are being misused to victimise and intimidate weak individuals or opponents. A Christian woman named Aasia Bibi was sentenced to death by a district and sessions court after a year long trial on accusations of blasphemy filed by Muslim villagers of Ittanwali. Aasia Bibi has repeatedly denied committing blasphemy and there is a growing perception that she has been accused of blasphemy to settle scores in a dispute over livestock with her neighbours. On January 28, 2009, the police in Punjab arrested five Ahmedis. The accusation against them was that they wrote ‘Prophet Mohammad’ (PBUH) on the wall of a toilet in a Sunni mosque. The senior superintendent of police investigated and reported to the ministry of interior that the accusation was baseless. These cases are a clear proof of how the blasphemy law is being misused to punish opponents or harass minorities.
Most frequently, the blasphemy law is misused for vested interests. Imran Latif, 22, was accused of burning pages of the Holy Quran in a case registered at the Sherakot Police Station and spent five months in jail. He was released on bail on November 3. Later, two armed men approached him at his house and asked him to accompany them, killing him just a few yards away from his house. Latif’s brother suspected that a man named Ijaz Ahmed, who had a dispute with his brother over the ownership of a shop, had had Latif killed. The way the blasphemy law operates in our country is an insult to humanity, where people are free to kill others in order to settle personal scores or simply to prove their superiority by using their ‘religious obligations’ to justify their actions. The blasphemy law is flawed in the sense that it allows people to misuse it in their interest.
There may also be actual instances of perceived blasphemy. If anybody comments negatively about their religion, Pakistanis tend to see it as a threat and therefore when they punish the blasphemer, they believe they are doing so to protect their religion. Islam is a religion of mercy and forgiveness. The Prophet’s (PBUH) entire life is a remarkable example of mercy. Even on the eve of the conquest of Makkah, he forgave all his enemies and refused to punish anybody who had sought his forgiveness. However, when Jyllands-Posten’s Mohammad (PBUH) cartoons were published in Denmark, we, his followers, chose to protest violently against this act, which ‘disrespected’ our Prophet (PBUH). Who do we think we are, defending a man of his great stature? Do we really believe that merely by drawing some amateur cartoons, somebody can disgrace a person who changed the course of history?
Furthermore, if we really care to read the Quran, it clearly proves that God Almighty has taken upon Himself the responsibility of protecting His religion. Surah Al-Feel of the Holy Quran is an account of how the Almighty saved his House (Kaa’ba) from an army of elephants under the command of Abrahah Al-Ashram. Why, then, are we constantly trying to act like the guardians or protectors of the faith?
Somehow Pakistanis have been made to believe that Pakistan was created solely for religious purposes and it is their foremost duty to safeguard the true faith from all ‘evils’. In reality, however, Pakistan was created for socio-economic reasons as is obvious from Mr Jinnah’s presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, where he said, “If you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this state with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make.” It becomes evident that Pakistan was initially meant to be a secular state and not an ‘Islamic’ republic when Jinnah says, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.” However, soon after independence, Jamaat-e-Islami made the achievement of an ‘Islamic’ constitution its central goal. Eventually, in 1956, Pakistan was declared an Islamic Republic. It was later in 1977, during Ziaul Haq’s martial law, that Pakistan was ‘Islamised’ with the promulgation of Hudood Ordinances and the establishment of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), which rules on whether any particular law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam. The FSC is responsible for ruling the blasphemy law as not repugnant to Islam.
Clearly, Jinnah had envisioned a different Pakistan, but we lost track and turned this ‘supposed-to-be-secular-nation’ into an Islamic republic and the visionary revolutionist Jinnah into a maulvi. The only way for Pakistan to achieve stability is by reverting to Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan and moving towards a secular nation in the long run. A good step would be to repeal obscene laws such as the blasphemy law.
Source: Daily Times
Pakistani-Americans, HR groups seek blasphemy laws review
WASHINGTON, Nov 26: Pakistanis living in the United States have joined human rights groups in urging the government to release Aasia Bibi and reconsider the laws that discriminate against minorities.
“We condemn the abuse of the blasphemy law and request President Asif Ali Zardari not to accede to the threats made by certain religious groups and award imminent clemency to Aasia Bibi,” said the Pakistani-American Public Affairs Committee, an umbrella organisation representing a dozen groups. In a recent meeting of its executive board, the Christian League of Pakistan in America also “strongly condemned the victimisation of innocent people under the blasphemy law”, reminding the government that “the entire world is awaiting a sane decision in the Aasia Bibi case”.
The organisation noted that President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Human rights activist Asma Jehanghir and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer have all concluded that Aasia Bibi is innocent.
These and other Pakistani leaders also have realised that the blasphemy law discriminates against religious minorities, said a statement issued by the Christian League in Philadelphia.
“This law encourages certain elements which institutionalise intolerance in the name of religion and spread social persecution and legal discrimination,” observed the Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee. “As it stands, this law with its ambiguity
harms Pakistan and its’ citizens.”
The group warned that such news emanating from Pakistan “hinders its stature in rest of the world, which in turn negatively impacts its economic stability and trade practices”. The committee referred to a study by the National Commission for Justice and Peace, which reported that a total of 964 people had been charged under these laws from 1986 to 2009. Out of them, 479 were Muslims, 340 Qadianis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus, and 10 of other religions.
The report also noted that although none of those charged under the laws has been executed; 32 people charged with blasphemy have been extra-judicially killed.
PAPAC noted that last July, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif while overturning a blasphemy case, said that “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”.
The group urged the larger society in Pakistan to educate the masses of the virtue of tolerance.
“Pakistanis must start a meaningful and focused dialogue to look at how the blasphemy laws are being abused and thus violating the basic premise of their creation – to protect minorities.”
PAPAC also asked Pakistan’s legislators to amend and remove ambiguity and legal discrimination from Section 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code which covers the blasphemy provisions.
Meanwhile, a leading US human rights group called on Pakistan’s government to abolish the blasphemy law and other discriminatory legislation.
The government should also take legal action against militant groups responsible for threats and violence against minorities and other vulnerable groups, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
Referring to Aasia Bibi’s conviction, the group noted that she had already “suffered greatly and should never have been put behind bars”.
Amnesty International, USA, also issued a statement on Friday, seeking Aasia Bibi’s release and revision of the law under which this mother of five was convicted this month.
“Critics say that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are used to persecute Christian and other minorities,” the group observed.
http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/27/pakistani-americans-hr-groups-seek-blasphemy-laws-review.html