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PPP asks Mary Robinson to help dump blasphemy law
The Human Rights Cell of the Pakistan People's Party has apprised the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, of the threat posed to civil society in Pakistan by the draconian blasphemy law. Oh, and wouldn't that go over like fertilzer in the punch bowl? The coordinator of the PPP cell, Fauzia Wahab, in a letter addressed to Ms Robinson, said: "A convict in the blasphemy case was murdered in jail. It is reported that an activist of (the banned) Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, a religious political party notorious for its terrorist activities, opened fire on Mohammad Yousuf, killing him instantly. Not much is known about Mohammad Yousuf, except that he had been sentenced to death on account of the blasphemy... His murder has left many shocked, wondering how long we will be held hostage by these extremist elements of the country. Makes 'em wonder how long they'll have to put up with the civilized world rolling their eyes at the antics of the Natives, too... "A mentally sick man by the name of Zahid Shah was sentenced to death on the call of the semi-literate Pesh Imam (prayer leader) of a local mosque accusing him of blasphemy. Another person by the name of Younus Khan is awaiting execution. He, too, has been found guilty of blasphemy." He was the doctor that pointed out that Mohammad was a non-Muslim until age 40, and that his parents were non-Muslims. The charge also states, honest to God, that "At 40 his 'Baghal' (armpit) and 'zer-naaf' (under-naval) hair were not removed." They're gonna kill him for that. There are no special rules of evidence provided by the law for prosecuting the alleged offender, even oral evidence of a dubious kind is sufficient to award the accused death punishment. In a country, where people live in abysmal poverty, false evidence can easily be obtained for money or under prodding from interested quarters. Even proceedings are watched by these people (and) no judge can dare to be fair and just in these cases as he fears for his own safety. The charges against the alleged offender can rarely be challenged and rarely be disproved in the courts of the country. That means any idiot can bring a charge, you can't disprove it, and they'll stretch your neck for it... The minorities live in permanent fear of this law. Anybody can invoke it and get an FIR [a case] registered without providing any evidence against anybody. Many have fallen victim to this law. Only in the year 2000, 52 cases were registered, out of which 43 were against the Muslims and nine against non-Muslims. I'd guess that Mary's the wrong person to lodge a complaint with. I think she's more of the opinion that the Natives should be allowed their quaint local customs. I can't think of anyone else who'd do any better, though. I think the Paks are stuck with this abomination for the indefinite future. Perv is afraid to tackle it for fear of giving the fundos more ammunition to use against him. When PPP was last in power it didn't seem too interested in ditching the law â they were too busy grabbing the boodle to pay attention. It's the sort of horror that remains on the law books even after civilization's taken hold because no one wants to appear "impious" by getting rid of it. About a hundred years after the last person's been killed under its provisions it'll still be there, an historical curiosity. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-07-20 |
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