In the land of “mentally unstable” – by D. Asghar
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When the news reached the Twitterverse that a man was burnt alive in Bahawalpur, it just created a cycle of shock and disbelief. Very regretfully, this scribe was not shocked one bit. Knowing full well, what we are capable of and how low we have stooped in the past, this was just part of the ongoing continuum.
The irony of the matter is, that a person who was supposedly and reportedly, mentally unstable was found desecrating the pages of Holy Quran. I am no religious scholar, but from what little I know about my faith, such individuals are exempt from all religious obligations, such as prayer, fasting, alms etc. The basis of course is, that these people are not able to decipher between the right and wrong due to their state of mind. Similarly, even the sane people are prohibited from praying, if they are under the influence of any substance, as it mirrors an unstable mind. Hence to expect discretion from such a person is absolutely futile.
The irony of the matter is, that otherwise sane people who perhaps lead normal lives, were unable to differentiate between a deranged and a normal person. When the deranged individual allegedly desecrated the Holy Book, people were upset beyond belief. The basis of every religion is Good. Good teaches us to maintain sanity at all times and have an unyielding faith in our Creator. Let’s assume for a minute that this allegedly blasphemous act was done by a sane person. What would be the appropriate redress for such an act. Definitely not disobeying the law and threatening police and ultimately burn the person to death.
A society that is so upset with its own shortcomings, failures and internal fissures, tends to lean towards such barbaric acts. This is in a way all the bottled up frustrations of self humiliation, which erupt in such an inhumane manner on the most vulnerable elements and members of the society.
But wait why was I not surprised or impacted, as I said earlier. A society that accepts people blown into pieces at places of worship so regularly, where women parade without clothes as a punishment, where rape and sodomy are protected to salvage the family honor, where murderers are garlanded by those who are supposed to advocate law and order and where religion is used and misused to silence dissent must be truly INSANE. So in a land of mentally unstable, if one more person was burnt alive why mourn this loss. Its not the first time that this incident occurred and trust me, it would not be the last either. Expecting sanity from an insane society is insanity, isn’t it?
ASWJ (SSP-LeJ), JuD (LeT) and JI: Three key sources of religious extremism in Pakistan
Witnesses said hundreds of people looked on as he screamed for help.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18713545
جب احمد پور شرقیہ کے چنی گوٹھ چوک پر ہزاروں لوگ اکھٹے ہوتے ہیں اور ایک ملنگ پر تیل چھڑکنا شروع کرتے ہیں تو وہ اس ہجوم میں شامل ہر شخص کے دل میں زندہ ہے۔ جب ملنگ کو آگ لگائی جاتی ہے اور وہ چیختا ہے تو لوگوں کی سفاکانہ خاموشی میں سے یہی آواز آتی ہے۔ دیکھو میں زندہ ہوں۔
ضیاء زندہ ہے
محمد حنیف
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2012/07/120705_zia_alive_hanif_comment_as.shtml
Deluded as we have become about our religious and national identities and priorities, I’m sure after seeing flames rise from the evil blasphemer’s dead body, many pious men in the mob must have looked at the sky, trying to penetrate their blood-shot gaze into the seventh sky where God resides, expecting the Almighty to begin showering rose petals on them.
That didn’t happen, and no one was willing to suggest that in all probability God had actually been repulsed by the act.
Yet again, the nation heard and saw its faith and holy texts being ‘avenged’ not by God-fearing men, but by a mob of retarded, subhuman filth.
Exit God, enter madness
Nadeem F. Paracha
ASWJ-JI extremists in Bahawalpur kill a man accused of blasphemy and burn dead body
http://pakistanblogzine.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/aswj-ji-extremists-in-bahawalpur-kills-a-man-accused-of-blasphemy-and-burns-dead-body/
http://www.brownpundits.com/?p=7333
I am so ashamed! What has this society become? We are worse than animals and God will NOT help this nation anymore! We do NOT deserve any help whatsoever.
Such things happen in India too. People are suspected of Banamati (a sort of black magic) and then frenziedly beaten to death by mobs; persons burn themselves or some people say are burnt to death in the name of ‘sacrifices’ for agitations, etc.
my two cents….
Burning a Blasphemer to Death: Islamic Craziness Grips Pakistan
In Bahawalpur, Pakistan, rumours of a man having burnt pages of the Quran led to a mob of over a thousand enraged Muslims grabbing the man from a police station and delivering Islamic justice to him. This ‘justice’ entailed him being doused with petrol and burnt alive.
Such a gruesome act of barbarity based on a sick mob mentality reminds one of the witch burnings that gripped Europe in the Middle Ages. They play witness to a psychosis prevalent in a society. The Pakistani society, in which such modern-day barbarity keeps reoccurring, is indeed gripped by such a sickness at the moment.
In the last few weeks, this was just one of multiple similar incidents that made the news. Others include a very similar attempted lynching of a blasphemy accused at a Karachi police station that fortunately was repulsed. Near Quetta too an enraged mob of believers attacked a police station and attempted to lynch a accused blasphemer there. One person died in that frenzy.
In these cases, the mob is insisting on carrying out what is, in fact, a law in Pakistan, namely the killing of blasphemers under the 295 codes of the penal law.
In this latest case of lynching of alleged blasphemers, the police have also been ordered not to charge any of the rioters and lynch mob, although the dead blasphemer has not been spared criminal charges. A Pakistani newspaper reports:
Meanwhile, the Channi Goth police have registered cases against the alleged blasphemer and 1,180 hooligans, including 80 identified ones. However, the FIR against the hooligans has been sealed on the directions of the police high-ups. No accused was arrested till the filing of this report.
This is the strange working of the Pakistani ‘justice’ system in action. Back in 2006, there was another lynching of an accused blasphemer in the same Bahawalpur, and again a similar course of justice was followed by the courts:
Meanwhile, it was learnt that a case under the Blasphemy Act had been registered against deceased Hafiz Qamar Javed and injured Muhammad Sadiq while no case was registered against the assailants.
The Pakistani police and courts only encourage, reward and enable mob lynching of anyone, accused of blasphemy or damaging a Quran, by such a policy and are an accessory to these crimes too.
This craziness in Pakistan is so thoroughly entrenched that it is also extremely dangerous for anyone criticising these laws or proposing amendments of them. Earlier in 2011, politician Sherry Rahman from the PPP bravely tried to have these 295 laws amended. But after repeated death threats against her, the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, and her own party’s buckling ended up withdrawing her bill.
Fanatics murdering blasphemers are carefully following the footsteps of the early followers of the Prophet of Islam, who used to order assassination of his critics, and praised those amongst his followers who used followed carry out his orders in barbaric manners. Some examples are narrated below:
Abu Afak an elderly Jewish man who petitioned the Medinans to leave Muhammad got on the nerves of the Prophet who said to some of his followers “Who will deal with this rascal for me?”
Salim Ibn Umayr who was one of the great weepers and who had participated in Badr, said, “I take a vow that I shall either kill Abu Afak or die before him. He waited for an opportunity until a hot night came, and Abu Afak slept in an open place. Salim Ibn Umayr knew it, so he placed the sword on his liver and pressed it till it reached his bed. The enemy of Allah screamed and the people who were his followers, rushed to him, took him to his house and interred him.
Later Asma Bint Marwan, a woman, who composed verses ridiculing the prophet for his barbarity came under the radar of Muhammad. He said “Who will rid me of Marwan’s daughter?” `Umayr b. `Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done and he [Muhammad] said, “You have helped God and His apostle, O `Umayr!” When he asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, “Two goats won’t butt their heads about her”, so `Umayr went back to his people.
Another case is this one but there are also many more:
Sunan Abu-Dawud Book 38, Number 4349
Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib: A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.
Certainly those who are killing blasphemers got the idea from the teachings of Islam that this is the proper way to behave in regard to blasphemy and the Pakistani state too has this idea codified in its 295 laws too.
This barbarity follows from a literalist following of the teachings of Islam which themselves are evil, barbaric and inhumane. As long as populations are subjugated to Islamic rule such barbaric incidences will only continue again and again.
incident is pathetic . no doubt its not the behavior of even so called Muslims.
well i have question to writer .
any blasphemer after doing any type of blasphemy stamped as mentally unstable . WHY ?
on the other side any killer of blasphemer all the time saying ” I AM IN TRUE SENSES WHILE MURDERING. i am not mad , it was my own utmost desire . i am normal human being at that time and also now. ”
so many examples you much familiar .
This is not a religion but a Cult at best!