[Dawn] Lawmakers from the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is
Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) on Tuesday called on members of the National Assembly to review Pakistain's strict blasphemy laws.
The demand comes a day after the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) ruled out the death penalty for false accusations of blasphemy and ruled that there was no need to amend the blasphemy law.
Speaking during a session of the lower house of Parliament chaired by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday, politicians discussed the recent twin suicide kabooms at a Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
church that killed 81 people and debated on a possible review of the blasphemy law.
PTI leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said that religion was being misused as a means to attain power. Hashmi said that the blasphemy law was "incorrectly made," due to which many innocent people are languishing in jails. Therefore, he said there was a need to review the law.
Commenting on the Peshawar bombing, another member of the PTI, Dr Shireen Mazari said that the sacrifices Christians could not be denied. She said that in order to free innocent non-Musselmens from unjust imprisonment, parliament needs to remove flaws from the blasphemy law.
Also speaking during the session, Sahibzada Mohammad Yaqoob of the Jamaat-e-Islami
...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
(JI) said that the Peshawar tragedy was against Islamic and international laws.
He said that the reason for the blasphemy laws was to ensure than nobody disrespects any messenger of God including the Holy Prophet (PTUI!) and Jesus Christ. He urged Javed Hashmi of the PTI to move a bill for amending the blasphemy law or to contact Council of Islamic Ideology or federal Shariah Court and register his apprehensions regarding blasphemy law.
He said Islam was the religion of peace and provides equal rights to minorities. Conspiracies are being hatched to sabotage the grinding of the peace processor in the country however the dialogue process with the willing Taliban should be held.
For the sake of lasting peace, he said there was no harm in accepting the just demands of Taliban.