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| India-Pakistan |
| Huge Karachi rally supports blasphemy laws |
| 2011-01-10 |
| [Arab News] Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched in Pakistain's largest city in opposition to any change to blasphemy laws and to praise the man charged with murdering the provincial governor who opposed the legislation. The rally of up to 50,000 people in downtown Bloody Karachi on Sunday was one of the largest demonstrations of support for the laws that make insulting Islam a capital offense. The march was organized before Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer was rubbed out last week by a bodyguard for opposing such laws. Opposition politician Fazlur Rehman told the crowd that Taseer "was responsible for his own murder" because he had criticized the law. Banners at the event included some supporting Taseer's killer, police commando Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. "Mumtaz Qadri is not a murderer, he is a hero," said one banner in the national Urdu language. "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the dignity of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)," read another. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, during a presser in Islamabad on Sunday, said his government had no intention to bring a fresh legislation to amend the blasphemy law. Activists at the rally, which has been organized by religious groups, called for "jihad" or holy war. The protest forced the closure of the city's main road and all markets in the teeming southern metropolis. Controversy over the law flared when former Information Minister Sherry Rehman tabled a private member's bill in November, calling to end the death penalty for blasphemy, after a Christian mother-of-five was sentenced to hang. Rights activists also say the law encourages extremism in a nation already besieged by Taliban attacks. Politicians and conservatives have been at loggerheads over whether President Asif Ali President Ten PercentZardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who showed remarkably little curiosity about who actually done her in ... should pardon Aasia Bibi, the Christian mother who was sentenced to death under the blasphemy law. Pakistain has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but Bibi's case has exposed the deep fault lines in the conservative country. Bibi was jugged in June 2009 after Mohammedan women laborers allegedly refused to drink from a bowl of water she was asked to fetch while out working in the fields. Days later, the women allegedly complained that she made derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Bibi was set upon by a mob, jugged by police and sentenced on Nov. 8. Most of those convicted of blasphemy in Pakistain have their sentences overturned or commuted on appeal through the courts. Rights activists and pressure groups say it is the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistain for blasphemy. Only around three percent of Pakistain's population of 167 million are estimated to be non-Mohammedan. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 "..Pakistain has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy" This is true but once a person has been charged they are marked for life. If they end up in prison they are beat up by guards and other prisoners. If they get out of prison and get back to civilian life they are beaten up, lose their jobs, etc. |
| Posted by: Lord Garth 2011-01-10 17:15 |
| #1 HUGE KARACHI RALLY SUPPORTS Fixed. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-01-10 16:34 |