The Catholic bishops of Pakistan are appealing to the government to take stronger measures to prevent the abuse of the so-called "blasphemy laws" that impose harsh penalties for insulting Islam.
Part of their recommendation is to rein in Muslim religious leaders who stir up emotional mobs, such as the one that threw a young Christian couple into a brick kiln for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad, burning them alive.
Together with the Association of Major Superiors, the bishops conference stated in a letter to government officials that the Nov. 4 killing shows that "intolerance in the name of religion has gone far beyond the rule of law."
Church officials are asking government officials to quickly facilitate an independent inquiry into the events; to consider the Islamic clerics who instigated the violence responsible; to take action to stop the abuse of the blasphemy laws; to prevent such incidents by training the police, and to implement recommendations made last June by the chief judge of the Supreme Court for the protection of religious minorities.
Twenty-eight-year-old Shahzad Masih, who worked at the kiln, was tortured and burned along with his 24-year-old pregnant wife, Shama Bibi, mother of their three children, by a mob of over 1000 people. The brutal killings came after mosques in nearby villages blared out allegations of blasphemy over their loudspeakers.
The bishops are not alone in calling attention to Islamic leaders for their role. In a Nov. 18 statement, the Society for Secular Pakistan said the killings were “incited by the clerics of three mosques of the villages in Kasur.”
“We demand that these clerics should be arrested and punished for inciting people’s religious feeling to kill the kiln worker who had reportedly some dispute with the kiln owner,” pointed out the outspoken group.
Six brothers of the Masih family, including youngest Shahzad, had been working in a brick kiln, as bonded laborers, in the village Chak 59 in the district of Kasur in Punjab province for 17 years.
“Unfortunately this is not the first time that the sacred place of worship was used to incite and entice people to kill with impunity,” the Society for Secular Pakistan continued. "There have been instances when some fanatics had announced hefty head money for killing so-called blasphemers and the state did not take any action, although it’s a crime."
The society urged the government “to register all mosques and the religious leaders to keep a close check that nobody makes hate speeches from the pulpits. They should be free to preach their faith but not hatred.” The statement also pointed out that “at present there is no check of the state on over 250,000 mosques and 20,000 madrassahs (Islamic schools) in the country.”
Another problem with the blasphemy laws, which have been on the books for 30 years, often is the impunity enjoyed by those who take the law into their own hands, Dominican Father James Channan, director of the Peace Centre in Lahore, told Aleteia Nov. 18.
“In the name of blasphemy, they have killed many, burnt churches and houses. But sadly, nobody has been punished for these crimes. So they feel they can do whatever and get away,” said Father Channan, who also heads the Pakistan chapter of the international United Religions Initiative.
Asked what was the impact of harsh words from Prime Minister Nawas Sharif, who condemned the killing of the Christian couple as "an unacceptable crime" and declared that "a responsible state cannot tolerate mob rule and public lynching with impunity," Father Channan regretted that “the condemnation should translate into action. Otherwise, it has no meaning.”
“The blatant abuse of the blasphemy law (often to settle personal and property disputes) must be checked,” the priest said.
Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan unequivocally declared that its investigators found “no evidence of blasphemy” in the young Christian couple. On the contrary, the Commission pointed out, “It appears that the murdered man, Shahzad, had a dispute over wages, or recovery of advance that the kiln owner had extended to two families of Muslim laborers who had escaped. The kiln owners had asked Shahzad to repay the amount extended to the escaped families because he had introduced them to the owners."
While the blasphemy laws provide for the death sentence even for unintentional acts of blasphemy, Father Channan pointed out that trials are often vitiated by the intimidating atmosphere in the court.
Though hundreds of blasphemy cases have been registered and dozens of the accused have been killed in mob violence, Father Channan noted that “not a single blasphemy conviction has been upheld by the Supreme Court."
In fact, the urgent need to amend the draconian provisions of the blasphemy laws, which mandate arbitrary arrest and detention of the accused even on trumped-up charges, was raised in unison by religious leaders of different communities at a seminar-cum-news conference in Lahore on Nov. 14.
Leaders of Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Christian communities that took part in the meeting urged the government “to revisit and improve the blasphemy law.”
“We are just voicing the demand to put in place a ‘safety valve’ to prevent misuse of relevant provisions of the procedural law,” Javaid William, secretary of the Catholic Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and Ecumenism, said at the concluding news conference.
He also suggested that blasphemy cases should only be tried in high courts, while the complainant must be penalized if his or her accusation proves to be false and malicious. The accused and the related family should be given adequate protection and security during the trial.
Along with the Catholic group, the program was attended by leaders of Pakistan Ulema and Mushaikh Council, Asia chapter of the United Religions Initiative, Hindu Sudhar Sabha and Hindu-Sikh Youth Forum.
The Society for Secular Pakistan in its statement also highlighted that the Oct. 16 judgment upholding the death sentence of Aasiya Bibi has “created an environment in which tolerance and civility are victims.”
“We appeal to all democratic forces to protest against these (blasphemy) killings and build public opinion against bigoted laws,” urged Syed Haroon Ahmed, a Muslim and president of the Society for Secular Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Peter Jacob, former executive secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church and presently a freelance journalist, in a hard-hitting article titled "Impunity for Hatred" in "The News" on Nov. 13 illustrated how the blasphemy law has been abused.
Quoting the data compiled by an action network, Awaz-e-Haq Itehad, Jacob noted that 1,438 persons had been accused of blasphemy between 1987 and October 2014. Of this, he said, religious minorities who comprise less than “four percent of Pakistan’s (182 million) population, account for about 50 percent of those accused of blasphemy (Ahmadis 501, Christians 182, Hindus 26 – the religion of 10 victims could not be ascertained).”
“Among the 60 persons who were killed in connection with blasphemy allegations since 1990, 32 were religious minorities and 28 Muslims,” Jacob noted. Worse still, he said, "20 of them were either attacked in police custody or killed by policemen, while 19 were killed in mob attacks.”
“Democratic countries have expanded the scope of religious and other freedoms for citizens to create a level playing ground for minority religions and sects,” lamented Jacob, "whereas freedom in our case means impunity for perpetrators of hatred and violence."
Anto Akkarawrites from New Delhi, India.
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