{"id":106646,"date":"2020-09-15T15:46:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T22:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=106646"},"modified":"2020-09-15T15:46:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T22:46:38","slug":"pakistan-blasphemy-as-pretext","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/09\/15\/pakistan-blasphemy-as-pretext\/","title":{"rendered":"PAKISTAN: Blasphemy as Pretext"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sanchita Bhattacharya Research Fellow,\u00a0Institute for Conflict Management Courtesy SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

On September 8, 2020, a Sessions Court in Lahore, Punjab, sentenced a\nChristian man, Asif Pervaiz, to death, after convicting him of sending text\nmessages containing blasphemous content\u201d. The court order issued by Additional\nSessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi said Pervaiz would first serve a\nthree-year prison term for misusing\u201d his phone to send the derogatory text\nmessage. Then he shall be hanged by his neck till his death.\u201d He was also\nfined PKR 50,000. Asif Pervaiz has been in custody since 2013, fighting\nblasphemy charges that were levelled against him by the supervisor of the\ngarment factory he once worked at. The supervisor had accused him of sending\nderogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad to him in a text message. Following\nthe sentence, Asif\u2019s lawyer, Siaf-ul-Malook, however, stated, “He [Asif]\ndenied the allegations and said that this man was trying to get him to convert\nto Islam.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 23, 2020, several individuals lodged separate complaints for\nblasphemy\u201d against journalist and human rights activist, Marvi Sirmed in\ndifferent parts of the country, including Lahore (in Police Stations of Ravi\nRoad, Faisal Town and Garden Town) and Jhang (Kotwali Police Station) in Punjab\nProvince; Karachi, in Sindh Province; and Islamabad with the Federal\nInvestigation Agency (FIA). According to the information received, on August\n22, 2020, Sirmed allegedly posted a satirical Tweet<\/em> from her personal account,\nreferring to the many enforced disappearances of human rights defenders and\ngovernment critics in Balochistan Province, Pakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 13, 2020, Police filed a case against actor Saba Qamar and singer\nBilal Saeed under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), pertaining to\nblasphemy, for shooting a music video inside Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore of\nPunjab Province. The case was registered at the Akbari Police Station of Lahore\non the complaint of advocate Farhat Manzoor. Manzoor filed the complaint\nfollowing the release of a clip of the video on August 8. Both Qamar and Saeed\nhave published statements apologizing on their respective social media\naccounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 10, 2020, Sajjad Soomro, Assistant Professor of Shah Abdul Latif\nUniversity, Khairpur, Sindh, was arrested by Police under blasphemy charges\nfrom his house in Ali Murad Mohalla, Khairpur city. He was arrested on a\ncomplaint by Ghulam Nabi, a Police officer who accused him of having spoken\nagainst Islam and against religious seminaries in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to varying media reports, at present there are more than 4,000\ncases pertaining to blasphemy registered across Pakistan, since 1986.  As\nreported on September 2, 2020, at least 42 cases pertaining to blasphemy were\nregistered across Pakistan in the month of August 2020 alone. Most of those\nfacing blasphemy allegations are members of religious minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals who are prosecuted for blasphemy are routinely denied fair trial\nguarantees: blasphemy-related proceedings are excessively protracted; prior to\ntrial accused persons are commonly denied bail and are held in custody for\nextended periods of time awaiting trial; and while detained, they are often\nheld in solitary confinement for prolonged periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More worryingly, individuals accused of blasphemy continue to be vulnerable\neven after formally coming within the ambit of the criminal justice system, and\nare in constant danger of being attacked and killed by religious fanatics and\nterrorists. Unfortunately, as reported on December 24, 2019, there have been 75\nsuch extrajudicial executions in Pakistan, since 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, on July 29, 2020, Tahir Naseem, a US citizen and an Ahmadi,\naccused of blasphemy, was shot dead inside a District Court in Peshawar, Khyber\nPakhtunkhwa, in the presence of security and the presiding judge. A video of\nthe attacker, identified as Faisal Khan, in handcuffs, shouting angrily that\nhis victim as an “enemy of Islam” was available in various social\nmedia platforms. Faisal Khan was taken into custody on the spot. Regrettably, a\nrally was organised in his favour in Peshawar on July 31. Thousands of\nPakistanis rallied to show their support for Faisal. Those who rallied, carried\nsigns praising Khan for the killing, calling for his immediate release from\njail and saying he killed Naseem because the government was too slow in\nsentencing blasphemers to death. Though Pakistan is one of 13 countries where\nblasphemy is punishable by death, no one has been hanged so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mashal Khan, a student, was lynched and killed by his own hostel mates at\nAbdul Wali Khan University in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in\nbroad daylight on April 13, 2017, after being accused of blasphemy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renowned qawwal<\/em> (Sufi singer) Amjad Sabri (45) was killed\nin a targeted killing incident in the Liaquatabad Town of Karachi, the\nprovincial capital of Sindh, on June 22, 2016. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP<\/a><\/strong>)-Hakimullah\nMehsud faction \u2018spokesperson\u2019 Qari Saifullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for\nthe attack. In 2014, the Islamabad High Court had issued a notice in a blasphemy\ncase against Amjad Sabri along with two TV channels for the playing of a qawwali<\/em>\nduring a morning show. The traditional qawwali<\/em> sung by Amjad Sabri had\nmentioned religious figures, which was deemed offensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salman\nTaseer<\/a><\/strong> (the then Governor of Punjab Province) and Shahbaz\nBhatti<\/a><\/strong> (the then Federal Minister of Minority Affairs)\nwere brutally murdered in 2011 for questioning violence linked to allegations\nof blasphemy. Taseer was killed on January 4, 2011, by one of his own body\nguards, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who had reportedly been incensed by the\nGovernor\u2019s efforts to secure marginal amendments to the Blasphemy Law, as also\nhis advocacy of Asia Bibi. Bhatti was killed on March 2, 2011, by unidentified\nmilitants, who fired 30 bullets at him and managed to escape. Pamphlets from\ntwo self-styled TTP factions, Fidayeen-e-Muhammad and al Qaeda Punjab Chapter,\nwere found at the incident site, which declared, “anyone who criticises\nthe blasphemy law has no right to live”. Asia Bibi, a Christian was the\nmost prominent \u2018blasphemy\u2019 prisoner in recent times, was accused of blasphemy\nby neighbours, who objected to her drinking water from a particular well. The\ncharge in 2009 lead initially to a death sentence in 2010, followed by years in\nindefinite detention. Subsequently after years of suffering, on January 29,\n2019, Pakistan’s Supreme Court upheld her acquittal on blasphemy charges and\nsubsequently she left Pakistan due to the risk to her life, and on May 8, 2019,\nreached Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regrettably, not only the accused, but judges and lawyers associated with\nblasphemy cases also face danger. According to a February 27, 2020, report, a\nformer judge who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that magistrates in\nPakistan\u2019s lower courts remain very vulnerable to intimidation in blasphemy\ncases, given that they often live among the communities they serve. Due to the\nrisk of being labeled blasphemers themselves if they acquit, they tend to\nalways convict\u201d. It is common for lawyers to be threatened to stop defending\nthose accused of blasphemy. Saif-ul-Malook, Asia Bibi\u2019s lawyer and renowned\nHuman Rights lawyer of Pakistan has faced several death threats, and was\noffered asylum in the Netherlands. As reported on June 12, 2019, he and his\nfamily are under Pakistani Police protection. Earlier, on May 7, 2014, Rashid\nRehman, a Human Rights lawyer, was killed in his office, in Multan, Punjab,\nafter he had been repeatedly threatened to stop defending Junaid Hafeez, a\nlecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University, accused of blasphemy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early phase after the birth of Pakistan, there were no legal\nprovisions for religious discrimination. Nevertheless, deviations occurred\nduring the military rule of Zia-ul-Haq (1978-1988) and the most debatable laws,\nSection 295-B of PPC, (blasphemy against the Holy Quran) was introduced in\n1982, and Section 295-C, PPC (desecration against Prophet Muhammad) in 1986. In\n1992, the government of Nawaz Sharif, went a step ahead and introduced the\ndeath penalty for a person held guilty of blasphemy under Clause\n295-C of the PPC<\/a><\/strong>. The clause thus reads,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n Whoever\n by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any\n imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the\n sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be\n punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to\n fine.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom of Thought Report, 2019, explaining the situation of victims of\nblasphemy law noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n Most\n blasphemy cases are either brought by those wishing to undermine minority\n groups or by those wishing to eliminate individuals against whom they have a\n grudge\u2026 Mullahs will often come to court to intimidate the judiciary, and\n obtaining a lawyer to ensure a fair trial is often impossible. Those accused\n of blasphemy, and who have been acquitted by the courts, often either flee\n Pakistan\u2026 Clerics and radicals have been found to have brought forward cases\n of blasphemy after fabricating evidence.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The strange combination of a weak democratic government and Islamised\nblasphemy laws in Pakistan has given the perpetrators of violence impunity to\nopenly threaten, mobilise, attack and kill others in the name of blasphemy. The\nviolence in the name of Blasphemy Law is increasingly consuming Pakistani\nsociety from within, giving validity to terrible crime and human rights\nviolations in a country that is ranked 152nd<\/sup> out of 164 countries in\nthe 2020 Global Peace Index<\/em>. Unfortunately, the climate of hate and\nrevenge has worsened violence in all possible forms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sanchita Bhattacharya Research Fellow,\u00a0Institute for Conflict Management Courtesy SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW On September 8, 2020, a Sessions Court in Lahore, Punjab, sentenced a Christian man, Asif Pervaiz, to death, after convicting him of sending text messages containing blasphemous content\u201d. The court order issued by Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi said Pervaiz would first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}