|
‘Blasphemy law should also protect minority religions’
 [DAWN] There is a need to promote tolerance and coexistence in society. If incorporating blasphemy in the cybercrime law is necessary, religious minorities and their revered personalities should also be protected.This was stated by Members National Assembly (MNAs) Shazia Marri and Ali Raza Abdi during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology on Tuesday. At the start of the meeting, Chairman retired Capt Mohammad Safdar said it was the responsibility of all Moslems to play their role to stop blasphemy. He said the Islamabad High Court and Lahore High Court in their judgments had already ordered action against elements involved in uploading blasphemous content on the social media besides making legislation. "We will take Learned Elders of Islam on board and will also request the judge who has directed to make legislation to give us time. We have to stop blasphemy on the social media at all costs," he said. However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... Shazia Marri of the PPP said though no one tolerates blasphemy, the issue should be dealt with an utmost care. "We have examples when Christians were killed for personal gains by using the name of blasphemy. On the other hand, there is a precedent that a judge offered to a Christian litigant that the decision can be given in his favour if he accepts Islam. We should give space to other religions," she said. "The cybercrime law was made against terror elements but we don’t know what progress has been made to check this menace so far. But the law is being used against suspects of blasphemy. Once the investigation starts into a blasphemy case the life of the suspect and their family is put in danger. We should be very careful regarding the issue," she said. Ms Marri said a Christian youth from Kasur was locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on the charge of blasphemy after he retweeted a blasphemous tweet. "He could have retweeted the blasphemous tweet by mistake. We should not make laws without analysing its repercussions," she said. Posted by: Fred 2017-05-11 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=487816 |