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Death to the blasphemer, death to human rights --Nasir Saeed
 [Pak Daily Times] The issue of Pakistain's blasphemy laws has always been alive in public discourse and an attraction for the media not only in Pakistain but internationally too. Now, it will reverberate even more through the corridors of power after the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) ordered the Pakistain government to remove the option of life imprisonment for blasphemy. This means that crimes of blasphemy will be punished exclusively by the death sentence. The court, which has the power to determine whether any law is un-Islamic, reasons that any punishment other than death for blasphemy is not lawful. This was the conclusion of a five-member bench headed by Justice Fida Hussain, which was formed to explore this question after a contempt of court petition was filed by lawyer Hashmat Habib on December 4, 2013. The bench based this conclusion on a previous decision by the court in 1990 determining that life imprisonment should be deleted on the grounds that any blasphemy act is not acceptable and the blasphemer is liable to be punished by death. Habib's complaint was that the 1990 decision had not been implemented and so the court should now issue orders to rectify this, as well as initiate court proceedings against those who have hitherto failed to implement the decision. Coincidentally it was Ismail Qureshi, another lawyer and writer of the book Blasphemy Law (in Urdu), who submitted a petition to the court to remove the alternative punishment of life imprisonment. The court ruled in October 1990 that the alternative punishment should be deleted as it was repugnant to Islam and the government was directed to add a provision to the effect that any act of blasphemy upon other prophets should also be punishable by death. The government was told to amend Section 295-C by April 30, 1991. The government actually tried to file an appeal against the court's verdict but it was withdrawn because Qureshi and some other people had met the then prime minister,  Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , and requested him to withdraw the appeal. Sharia courts were constituted in 1979 by Zia ul Haq  ...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...and were a part of his programme to Islamise the country and its laws. Nawaz, who is considered his protégé, unfortunately continued Zia's policies and passed sharia laws in 1990. Nawaz Sharif has, for the third time, become prime minister and has recently taken to office. His government is already facing many challenges -- the main challenges being terrorism and the economy -- but political crises are imminent as the head of the PTI, Imran Khan  ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... , has already blocked NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supplies and even threatened that if his government is dismissed Sharif's government will go too. The situation seems quite complex internally as pressure could come from religious and myrmidon groups because the PML-N has close ties with myrmidon groups, especially in Punjab. This pressure could also come from the opposition and from the sharia court too, while externally Pakistain is already facing a lot of pressure from the west. On Maplecroft's Human Rights Risk Index 2013, Pakistain is ranked number five on the myrmidon list. On December 3, 2013, the British House of Commons debated about the persecution of Christians. Several MPs, including the ex-foreign minister responsible for Pakistain, Mr Alistair Burt, and Rehman Chishti also took part. Rehman said, "I come from a Mohammedan background and my father was a holy man (religious leader). When I saw that the topic was 'Persecution of Christians in the 21st century', I knew that it was absolutely right and proper to have a debate on that subject. It is important for the world to realise that persecution goes on. The blasphemy law is at the root of much suffering and persecution of Christians in Pakistain. The use and abuse of this law is the fundamental issue underpinning discrimination and open violence against Christians and local churches." After years of struggling by many, a final decision is going to be made by the EU on December 10, which is also International Human Rights Day, about granting the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status to Pakistain. If this happens, it will be a real boost to the Pak economy but it is dependent on the improvement of human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... and the situation of minorities. According to some reports, Pakistain has a moratorium on the death penalty only because of the GSP Plus decision and the aid programmes it is dependent on. On the same day as the debate in the British Houses of Parliament on blasphemy, a delegation from the Church of Scotland, headed by Moderator Lorna Hood, met with Pak High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan, and raised their concerns about the misuse of blasphemy laws. All the attention being paid by the international community to the human rights situation in Pakistain, and the calls for improvement, are apparently having little effect as it was just one day after the concerns of the British MPs and the Church of Scotland were raised that the FSC sent a strong message to the world in the opposite direction on human rights. It is said that Nawaz Sharif is a changed politician, and that he learned a lot during his exile in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... . Now is the time for him to prove it. If he does not implement the order of the sharia court, the court and hard boyz will bear down on him to make him do it. Yet, if he does implement this order, then how is he going to face pressure from the international community to improve Pakistain's human rights record? Whatever he does, it has far reaching consequences for his government and for the country. He has a good team and can come up with solutions acceptable to both internal and external powers but let us pray that God grants him courage and wisdom to make the right decision for Pakistain and for the people of Pakistain as implementation will cause more vigilante killings, more attacks and more bloodshed in the name of religion. The question is: how are we going to avoid this chaotic situation? Can Pakistain roll back its Islamic programme started by Zia ul Haq? Can the government and army change their policies? If not, we must be ready for the worst. Pakistain's blasphemy laws have caused enough damage; there is a need to deal with them carefully and with political wisdom. Otherwise this issue is never going to be end. It has already started devouring Pak society from within. Minorities feel insecure and unsafe because of the existence of the blasphemy laws. There is a long history of vigilante killings, judicial killings, attacks on churches, torching Christian villages and towns, burning innocent people alive and even charging innocent children like Rimsha Masih. Religious hatred, extremism and intolerance are at their peak. The world has become a global village and we cannot live in isolation anymore. The Pak government needs to remember this and create a tolerant environment where we can discuss this controversial law, without any fear, and make the right decision. I suggest that Prime Minister Nawaz form a cross-party forum and, alongside hardline Learned Elders of Islam (holy mans) and politicians, consult with people like Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi and Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. We have done enough to radicalise Pak society; now is the time to build a harmonious and tolerant society -- we are on the brink of complete destruction. Posted by: Fred 2013-12-11 |
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