By Henry Srebrnik, [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
The Christian community in Pakistan earlier
this year observed Easter by confining their celebrations to
church premises and homes, amid tightened security. Over 70
people were killed in Lahore last year as a suicide bomber
blew himself up on Easter Sunday.
Christians make up less than two per cent
of Pakistan’s 190 million people, who are overwhelmingly
Muslims. The majority of Christians are very poor. Many of
them are converts from low caste Hindus, who embraced
Christianity in the hope of better status, but most end up
sweeping the streets and cleaning clogged up gutters.
Yet this community has been the object of
attacks from intolerant extremists, in many cases making use
of Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy laws.
Recently, for example, Jacqueline Sultan, a
Christian lawyer defending people charged with blasphemy and
helping victims of forced conversion and marriage received a
threatening letter warning that she would be killed if she did
not stop her work.
The offences relating to religion were
first codified by India’s British rulers in 1860, and were
expanded in 1927. Pakistan inherited these laws when it came
into existence after the partition of India in 1947.
Between 1980 and 1986, a number of clauses
were added to the laws by the military government of General
Zia-ul Haq, a devout Sunni Muslim.
They carry a potential death sentence for
anyone who insults Islam. Even illiterate children have been
charged.
Critics say they have been used to unfairly
target minorities, and this is confirmed by data provided by
National Commission for Justice and Peace, which has
documented the charges against those who have been accused
under various clauses of the laws since 1987.
Those accused of blasphemy may be subject
to harassment, threats, and attacks. Over 60 people have been
murdered before their respective trials were even over.
When Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, a
prominent critic of the law, was assassinated by his bodyguard
in 2011, Pakistan was divided, with some hailing his killer as
a hero.
A month after Salman Taseer was killed,
Religious Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who
spoke out against the laws, was shot dead in Islamabad,
underlining the threat faced by critics of the law.
Of late, extremists have accused secular
activists, bloggers, journalists and others of blasphemy. On
April 13, Mashal Khan, a 26-year-old
Muslim student, was shot and beaten to death by fellow
students at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, who had
accused him of blasphemy.
It was apparently
at the instigation of university authorities in
retaliation for Khan criticizing official policies. Over 20 people were arrested,
including a number of university employees.
There has been a greater level of sympathy
for Mashal Khan than for other victims accused of blasphemy
partly because the police made it clear there was no substance
to the allegations against him.
Still, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif waited
two days before issuing a strongly worded statement saying he
was “shocked and saddened by the senseless display of mob
justice.”
A month earlier Sharif had called blasphemy
“an unpardonable sin,” while the Federal Investigation Agency
took out newspaper advertisements asking the public to inform
them of anyone involved in blasphemous activities online.
Pakistanis also began receiving text
messages from the government warning them against sharing or
uploading “blasphemous” content online.
On
June 10, a court sentenced Taimoor Raza, a Shiite man, to
death for committing blasphemy. He was found guilty of
making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, his
wives and others on Facebook and WhatsApp.
Raza confessed to being a member of a
banned Shiite group, Sipah-e-Muhammad, which had been outlawed
in 2001 along with the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
No comments:
Post a Comment