Revoke the notorious Blasphemy Law

[Spring Onion]

Whoever says revoke Blasphemy Law from Pakistan…If they have Guts... Go to Pakistan and say that…Writing on the blog big big words are very easy…This is General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s Pakistan.

He dead long time back all those political parties who are blaming their own weakness on a dead man should either Put up of Shut up.


As far as i know another military man Musharraf had tried to work on repealing the law and alot of research was done by his govt according to which many people including influential media persons along with religious figures are involved in registering fake blasphemy cases either for grabbing property and settling scores with persons irrespective of their faith. the victims includes Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

So now its time political parties and other loud mouth people should forget who imposed the law and should go for reforming it if they have the guts if not then they should stop instigating poor souls for getting up and getting killed

 

[pundit]

Almost everyone on this board has the intellectual capability to understand that the blasphemy law means nothing but social injustice to anyone who is a non-Sunni muslim or a non-muslim minority. You have to live in constant fear and rejection, while the society around you threatens you with violence, death and denies you opportunity.

The population of such minorities in Pakistan, even if 1% comes to 1-2 million people. This is great news for Indian covert agencies from a recruitment point-of-view as potential sources of information and other actions. These people are native to the land, understand the customs etc, and blend in. If I were sitting in Vigyan Bhavan right now, I would be creating a strategy to tap into this tremendous source of potential humint, traditionally the weakest part of India's intelligence framework.

This is nothing but good news for India. Which is why I support the blasphemy law in Pakistan.

 

[Karachiite]

The population of such minorities in Pakistan, even if 1% comes to 1-2 million people.

Lol I bet you there are more than a million Hindus in Karachi alone.

 

[pundit]

Lol I bet you there are more than a million Hindus in Karachi alone.

Even better!

The estimate of 2 million sounds conservative. If we throw in the Ahmedis, we have a potential base of 5-6 million disgruntled Pakistanis to tap into.

Long live Zia's blasphemy law!

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

just because there are minorities in Pakistan does nt mean that the blasphemy law should be scrapped...

we should scrap the British court system where innocent people are brought to trial and such cases linger on... unless there is evidence without a shred of doubt (I think someone insulting the Prophet nowdays has to be crazy)... such cases should be thrown out of court...

 

[Elmo]

He dead long time back all those political parties who are blaming their own weakness on a dead man should either Put up of Shut up.

As far as i know another military man Musharraf had tried to work on repealing the law and alot of research was done by his govt according to which many people including influential media persons along with religious figures are involved in registering fake blasphemy cases either for grabbing property and settling scores with persons irrespective of their faith. the victims includes Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

So now its time political parties and other loud mouth people should forget who imposed the law and should go for reforming it if they have the guts if not then they should stop instigating poor souls for getting up and getting killed

Salmaan Taseer was hardly a poor soul, and Shahbaz Bhatti would not have liked that term either. They were men of courage and more are needed like him. We cannot forget who imposed it because he might be dead, but what he did to this society is reprehensible and should be condemned at whatever instance available.

yes i live in the same country and had my compulsory reading already and NONE had been so far hanged under the verdict for the blasphemy here so far.


all those cases mentioned are of the extra judicial killing and Muslims also faced it which have more to do with settling personal scores than blasphemy

Extrajudicial killings = Settling scores ... what are you talking about? How many Muslims have faced extrajudicial killings due to this?

Just because a hangman has not hung anyone does not mean that the blasphemy law has not taken lives. It does not make it make it foolproof or pure. It's quite a shame that people can even today advocate such a law, and abandon morality for the sake of religiosity.

There's no differentiating between right and wrong.

If you had bothered to even read the instances I had posted, you would have known that people have been killed for being acquitted by a court of law! Once you get implicated, it's only downhill from there. Wake up.

You have obviously not read what I posted hence I feel no need to argue with somebody with a tunnel vision.

 

[arihant]

Although 90% of Pakistanis here are against Blasphemy Law, but thats not enough. Internet provides you medium to exchange culture and views. So according to me until Pakistanis have access to Internet, this law will remain intact.

Moreover, although I feel this law should be removed (Safe to say being in India) but you already have 1000's other problems. It looks like mashh everywhere and therefore this issue should be postponed for a while.

I want to ask some question, if you can do answer me.

• If you write anything against Blasphemy Law here, is it illegal according to constitution.
• If yes, what penalty you might face if got caught.
• Forum rules clearly mention that you can't go against Pakistani Laws

 

[Elmo]

Moreover, although I feel this law should be removed (Safe to say being in India) but you already have 1000's other problems. It looks like mashh everywhere and therefore this issue should be postponed for a while.

I want to ask some question, if you can do answer me.

• If you write anything against Blasphemy Law here, is it illegal according to constitution.
• If yes, what penalty you might face if got caught.
• Forum rules clearly mention that you can't go against Pakistani Laws

don't advise us to abandon this issue. we will take up what we want. spare us the patronising.

does dealing with one issue means abandoning another? that's not how a state is run. you take everything together, and deal with it. by your rule, we'll first be sorting out food, electricity, water, gas, roads etc one by one

no it's not illegal according to the constitution. if it were, most websites would have been shut down by the PTA by now.

there is no penalty under the law. however, if you meet some of the crazy ones here on real life, then your life may be in danger.

umm... the forum rules do no say anything about 'not' debating pakistani laws. us pakistanis will do whatever we want to.

were you trying to be smart here, because you failed miserably.

 

[mehru]

No need to change anything we have bigger issues to cook

Surely we have bigger issues than blasphemy law but if you have not realized then i must tell you that this issue has turned into a national crisis.If the murder of two high profile Govt officials in two months is not a issue then don't know what else is?

 

[arihant]

don't advise us to abandon this issue. we will take up what we want. spare us the patronising.

does dealing with one issue means abandoning another? that's not how a state is run. you take everything together, and deal with it. by your rule, we'll first be sorting out food, electricity, water, gas, roads etc one by one

no it's not illegal according to the constitution. if it were, most websites would have been shut down by the PTA by now.

there is no penalty under the law. however, if you meet some of the crazy ones here on real life, then your life may be in danger.

umm... the forum rules do no say anything about 'not' debating pakistani laws. us pakistanis will do whatever we want to.

were you trying to be smart here, because you failed miserably.

Didn't wanted to hurt you but if it happened than I am sorry.

I would take your opinion in positive way.

 

[nightcrawler]

30,000 villagers?

You really think the people who took to the streets of Karachi to protest against the repeal were villagers?

No they weren't & its a good sign they were downgrading this law

Don't blame the villagers. Blame the people living in the cities.

I aint blaming either one; but have you counted the people in the rally behind Muanwar Hassan??

This is not a PPP rally that they have hordes upon hordes of families from Sukkur and other smaller Sindh towns being paid nd brought to the city.

It was an urban city and its dwellers.

...& they had some sanity unlike the villagers [if you ever visited one] they had a local Mosque or a Madarssah & the Maulvi out there virtually control everone

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

it should be repealed, IMHO

 

[angeldust]

Blasphemy as a legal term in the eyes of the law of the land protecting the sentiments of only one religion is in itself highly discriminatory towards those who by birth or choice do not belong to that religion. It imposes on such citizens the status of a lesser citizenship, at the mercy of the hostile majority whose tolerance of the existence of your faith as different to theirs is bordering on the brink of a mass genocide in today's Pakistan. It is not different in any way to medieval times when thousands were forcibly converted at the point of invading Arab swords. Such intolerance however is self devouring monster. The day may not be far when after having forcibly cleansed the whole of Pakistan, this intolerance turns within because it needs perceived holy threats to exist and grow. A point in time when self-proclaimed messiahs arise from all points of Pakistan to dictate to Pakistanis how to be muslim, and more importantly, what kind of muslim. And those who resist would meet the same fate of their non-muslim countrymen in the not too distant past.

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

Blasphemy law is basically a committment of 'SHIRK' by those who enforce it. Neither Allah asked to kill someone for Him---nor the Prophet asked someone to be taken out for him and neither did Allah order anyone to be taken out if the qura'an or the mosque is descrated----.

Blasphemy law is against humanity---it is inhumane--thus it is un-islamic. Actually it is the followers of this law that need to be killed and hung.

 

[muse]

To better understand MK 's post, please do review the piece below - arm yourself against these radicals who demean Islam and the notion of Faith

Safeguarding citizens’ freedoms
Usman Ahmad



As Wednesday’s assassination of the Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, has shown — years of mixing politics with religion has created a dangerous cocktail of hatred and bigotry in Pakistan. The political and judicial institutions of the country have appeased the prejudices of Islamic fundamentalists for so long that regardless of which way the pendulum of political power swings, incumbent governments invariably find themselves at the mercy of mobster theocrats and religious zealots. What a far cry from the pluralistic and secular Pakistan envisaged by the founder of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Nowhere is the pernicious communion between the mullah and the state more apparent than in the country’s blasphemy laws. Yet, to even suggest such a thing is to walk a fine line these days between life and death as both Shahbaz Bhatti and the late Governor Salmaan Taseer found at the cost of their lives. Fear of the religious right has cowed the nation into silence and the spectre of the un-repealed laws has quelled any debate and national discourse on the subject. The fallout is hardly surprising. For blasphemy is an inherently suffocating ideal. When it is enshrined in legal tenets as a capital offence and sanctioned by the state, it becomes a grotesque affront to the freedom of thought, expression and liberty.

Officially, the Pakistani constitution guarantees the religious rights and freedoms of both Muslims and non-Muslims. But Pakistan’s religious laws are framed in such a way that they necessarily impinge upon the civil liberties of anyone who is not a believer in Islam. Christians, Hindus and atheists all exist outside the purview of the law on account of the fact that they do not believe in the truth of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) or the sanctity of the Quran. Their fundamental beliefs condemn them as criminals. Whether they are brought to trial or not is irrelevant for their very existence is an offence. In the simplest terms, they are guilty of daring to hold beliefs at variance with those of the mainstream. And what of those Muslims who do not observantly follow the injunctions of Islam? Is their disobedience not a form of blasphemy and a blemish on the sanctity of the Quran and the Prophet (PBUH)? How this is supposed to facilitate statehood and prevent the fragmentation of society is anyone’s guess.

All of this has consequences, and they are there for all to see. Rather than uphold the honour of Islam, the blasphemy laws have served only to destroy the peace of society. Abuse of the laws is a widely accepted practice because no proof is required — anyone can be charged with blasphemy on the assertion of a witness. Human rights groups have long argued that charges of blasphemy have been routinely filed for land and property disputes and other motives. This can be gauged by the fact that almost 50 percent of those accused are themselves Muslims. In one particular case, a Hindu factory worker was charged with blasphemy following rumours that he was in love with a Muslim girl. The fact that cases of blasphemy have increased since the original laws were amended during the reign of General Zia prove, if nothing else, that they have emphatically failed to act as a deterrent against the defamation of religion. Further, the ease with which an accusation of blasphemy can be made only serves to inflame public sentiment and gives rise to vigilante justice. The most terrible illustration of this occurred in the town of Gojra, Punjab, in 2009, when seven Christians were burnt alive and 18 others injured after a wave of violence erupted following accusations of the desecration of the Quran. Governor Taseer was also accused of insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and paid for it with his life despite the fact that his only crime was to denounce the treatment of Aasia Bibi.

Shamefully, all this is done in the name of Islam. But instead of preserving its sanctity, Pakistan’s penal code has ended up defiling it. Islam sanctions no punishment against blasphemers. When broaching the subject, the Holy Quran emphasises two basic principles that seek to foster cohesion and mutual tolerance. Firstly, Muslims are exhorted not to abuse even the deities of idol-worshippers lest they should retaliate by insulting Allah. And secondly, if they find themselves in the presence of those who would talk ill of God and His Prophet (PBUH), they are instructed to merely retire from the company of such persons. By going against these teachings Pakistan’s theocrats have ventured on dangerous ground. Their support of these laws suggests that they consider the teaching of God lacking in respect to dealing with blasphemers, thereby lending credence to the pop culture definition of the maulvi as someone who says, “God knows best, but I know better.”

The role of the state is not that of a moral or religious arbiter. It is not for lawmakers to intrude upon or decide the religious beliefs of their citizens. Their duty is to safeguard individual freedoms and preserve human dignity. Rather than cultivate a truly pluralistic society, successive Pakistani governments have been at pains to pander to the demands of sectarian polemicists. Why should someone’s religion be to the detriment of their status as a citizen of a country? If Muslims abroad expect their religious beliefs to be respected, then surely countries with a Muslim majority ought to extend this courtesy to people who adhere to different belief systems. It is entirely reasonable to suggest that no harm will come to the fabric of the nation or to Islam from the ridicule and mockery of a small number of people. If only there were more politicians brave enough to take a stand on this issue — but alas, for now, the supine silence of abject fear seems to be the choice most have opted for.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at usmanhotspur@gmail.com