[Pak Daily Times] The issue of Pakistain's blasphemy laws has always been alive in public discourse and an attraction for the media not only in Pakistain but internationally too. Now, it will reverberate even more through the corridors of power after the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) ordered the Pakistain government to remove the option of life imprisonment for blasphemy. This means that crimes of blasphemy will be punished exclusively by the death sentence. The court, which has the power to determine whether any law is un-Islamic, reasons that any punishment other than death for blasphemy is not lawful.
This was the conclusion of a five-member bench headed by Justice Fida Hussain, which was formed to explore this question after a contempt of court petition was filed by lawyer Hashmat Habib on December 4, 2013. The bench based this conclusion on a previous decision by the court in 1990 determining that life imprisonment should be deleted on the grounds that any blasphemy act is not acceptable and the blasphemer is liable to be punished by death.
Habib's complaint was that the 1990 decision had not been implemented and so the court should now issue orders to rectify this, as well as initiate court proceedings against those who have hitherto failed to implement the decision. Coincidentally it was Ismail Qureshi, another lawyer and writer of the book Blasphemy Law (in Urdu), who submitted a petition to the court to remove the alternative punishment of life imprisonment. The court ruled in October 1990 that the alternative punishment should be deleted as it was repugnant to Islam and the government was directed to add a provision to the effect that any act of blasphemy upon other prophets should also be punishable by death.
The government was told to amend Section 295-C by April 30, 1991. The government actually tried to file an appeal against the court's verdict but it was withdrawn because Qureshi and some other people had met the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , and requested him to withdraw the appeal.
The situation seems quite complex internally as pressure could come from religious and myrmidon groups because the PML-N has close ties with myrmidon groups, especially in Punjab. This pressure could also come from the opposition and from the sharia court too, while externally Pakistain is already facing a lot of pressure from the west.
On Maplecroft's Human Rights Risk Index 2013, Pakistain is ranked number five on the myrmidon list. On December 3, 2013, the British House of Commons debated about the persecution of Christians. Several MPs, including the ex-foreign minister responsible for Pakistain, Mr Alistair Burt, and Rehman Chishti also took part. Rehman said, "I come from a Mohammedan background and my father was a holy man (religious leader). When I saw that the topic was 'Persecution of Christians in the 21st century', I knew that it was absolutely right and proper to have a debate on that subject. It is important for the world to realise that persecution goes on. The blasphemy law is at the root of much suffering and persecution of Christians in Pakistain. The use and abuse of this law is the fundamental issue underpinning discrimination and open violence against Christians and local churches."
After years of struggling by many, a final decision is going to be made by the EU on December 10, which is also International Human Rights Day, about granting the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status to Pakistain. If this happens, it will be a real boost to the Pak economy but it is dependent on the improvement of human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... and the situation of minorities. According to some reports, Pakistain has a moratorium on the death penalty only because of the GSP Plus decision and the aid programmes it is dependent on.
On the same day as the debate in the British Houses of Parliament on blasphemy, a delegation from the Church of Scotland, headed by Moderator Lorna Hood, met with Pak High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan, and raised their concerns about the misuse of blasphemy laws. All the attention being paid by the international community to the human rights situation in Pakistain, and the calls for improvement, are apparently having little effect as it was just one day after the concerns of the British MPs and the Church of Scotland were raised that the FSC sent a strong message to the world in the opposite direction on human rights.
It is said that Nawaz Sharif is a changed politician, and that he learned a lot during his exile in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... . Now is the time for him to prove it. If he does not implement the order of the sharia court, the court and hard boyz will bear down on him to make him do it. Yet, if he does implement this order, then how is he going to face pressure from the international community to improve Pakistain's human rights record? Whatever he does, it has far reaching consequences for his government and for the country.
He has a good team and can come up with solutions acceptable to both internal and external powers but let us pray that God grants him courage and wisdom to make the right decision for Pakistain and for the people of Pakistain as implementation will cause more vigilante killings, more attacks and more bloodshed in the name of religion. The question is: how are we going to avoid this chaotic situation? Can Pakistain roll back its Islamic programme started by Zia ul Haq? Can the government and army change their policies? If not, we must be ready for the worst.
Pakistain's blasphemy laws have caused enough damage; there is a need to deal with them carefully and with political wisdom. Otherwise this issue is never going to be end. It has already started devouring Pak society from within. Minorities feel insecure and unsafe because of the existence of the blasphemy laws. There is a long history of vigilante killings, judicial killings, attacks on churches, torching Christian villages and towns, burning innocent people alive and even charging innocent children like Rimsha Masih.
Religious hatred, extremism and intolerance are at their peak. The world has become a global village and we cannot live in isolation anymore. The Pak government needs to remember this and create a tolerant environment where we can discuss this controversial law, without any fear, and make the right decision. I suggest that Prime Minister Nawaz form a cross-party forum and, alongside hardline Learned Elders of Islam (holy mans) and politicians, consult with people like Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi and Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. We have done enough to radicalise Pak society; now is the time to build a harmonious and tolerant society -- we are on the brink of complete destruction.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Secretary Chuck Hagel has been hosted in Islamabad in the midst of 'some frictions' in the US-Pakistain relationship. It is the first visit by a US Defence Secretary for four years, a period that saw extreme ups and downs in the two countries' relations. The current visit takes place in the context of the looming withdrawal of US/NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces from Afghanistan next year, with the issue of a residual US presence in that country still a contentious matter between Washington and the Karzai government. Pakistain is considered by all, including the US, as critical to restoring peace in Afghanistan, particularly in the wake of the withdrawal of foreign forces. Pakistain too is, or at least should be, a stakeholder with a deep interest in its own right in peace in Afghanistan, which is likely to affect directly the situation vis-à-vis terrorism inside Pakistain itself. Within this framework, the discussions the US Secretary of State had with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and the newly installed COAS General Raheel Sharif have by and large been kept under wraps for their sensitivity, except what was considered kosher for sharing with the public. The information put out was not surprising, given that the respective positions and concerns of both sides are no secret.
Whereas Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told Mr Hagel that the drone strikes were counterproductive and hurting the government's efforts to counter terrorism, by which he meant that the peace dialogue his government wants to conduct with the snuffies was being affected (e.g. the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud, chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, on the eve of hoped for talks), the US side stated that Mr Hagel wants to tackle the frictions between his country and Pakistain head on.
Further, Hagel pressed for keeping the supply routes to and from Afghanistan open otherwise the US Congress may withhold aid to Pakistain. This demand and threat must be seen in the light of the withdrawn statement by Hagel's aides that the supply route was about to reopen.
He also reiterated the long standing US demand that Pakistain stop giving safe havens to the Afghan Taliban on its soil.
Nawaz Sharif repeated his government's support for the Afghan reconciliation process, implying the US side too should perhaps abandon its ambiguity on the issue and come out in support of Pakistain's reconciliation efforts with its own terrorists.
Chuck Hagel's aides were forced to withdraw their premature and overly optimistic statement about the restoration of the supply lines because the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) of Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... , whose stoppage of NATO trucks by threatening violence against the truck drivers had caused Washington to announce a stoppage through Pakistain out of concern for the safety of the drivers, had announced a continuation of its disruption of the supply route from Torkham. Since the PTI leads the government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , its cadres manning the 'check posts' to stop NATO trucks are in no fear of being prevented by the police from their 'vigilante' actions. Arguably though, the national highways and the question of allowing or stopping the supply routes lie within the purview of the federal government. But Nawaz Sharif's PML-N government has been playing on the back foot, presumably so as not to be seen as taking up the cudgels on behalf of the west, particularly the US. But this 'softly, softly' approach has meant the provincial (PTI) tail has been allowed to wag the federal dog. If the Imran Khan-led PTI's stoppage of the US/NATO supply lines costs the country bilateral and possibly multilateral aid, these wages will have been paid squarely because of Imran Khan's 'sins'.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2013 00:00 ||
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Now, at first I thought this was a hoax But it appears it isnt. Apparently a fellow writing into a Jihadi chat show, wants to do martyrdom operations. The sheikh he talked to says theyve got a great new technique to blow up infidels. We hide explosives up your butt. Theres just one hitch. Youve got to be repeatedly sodomized in order to be able to accommodate the explosive. So, the questioner wants to know if it is permissible for him to be regularly rogered, if doing so makes his posterior more amenable to hiding explosives. The fellow on camera, Shiite cleric Abdallah Al-Khilaf, says that even though sodomy is forbidden if it is necessary for jihad, well, then it is required. Because jihad is the highest obligation.
Now, what I find hilarious here is that it never occurs to anyone that there might be some kind of technological work-around short of repeated sodomy. You know, maybe theres a device or a technique, something that is a little less unpleasant, inconvenient or forbidden than straight-up buggery? Nope. Gotta go with the sodomy. The Saturday Night Live skit writes itself.
Jihadi: What if we make the bomb smaller?
Sheikh: What? Thats crazy. Sodomy is the only way.
Jihadi: Couldnt I use replica of a male, well, you know. In private like . . .
Sheikh: Shh! Lets not even discuss it.
Jihadi: What if Im willing to tolerate a lot of discomfort when it comes time for the martyrdom operation? I mean, its my choice. I am blowing myself up after all. Whats a little discomfort?
Sheikh: Youre not hearing me. This is the way it has to be. Dont you want to murder infidels?
Can't you just see the gleam in the eye of some big Sudanese as he of the magnificent Schwanzer ( or is that Fahnstchuker ), approaches the trembling Moslem fanny of the pious mujihedeen?
And Allah smiles and watches. He's that kinda guy.
#8
Is it metaphor or is it metonymy
To refer to the faithful as "sodomy?"
In the night or the day
You will find them at play
As they practice Islamic "astronomy."
The students would ask Sheik Yerbouti,
"Is it holy to stretch your patootie?"
"By G-d, I assure you,
You'll be in deep doodoo,
If you're lax in fulfilling your duty!"
Mahomet the savior man
Has shared Allan's master plan:
"He likesk to hear boomins
From bowlegged humans,
So please take it up the can." [toot toot]
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2013 15:10 Comments ||
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#11
#9 In other words, "thuggery requires buggery?"
Touche, Sir Soul o' Wit. Um... surrendering requires rear-endering... opening your mind means opening your behind... submission requires... okay, this is creeping me out. All o' you, backwards!
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[Pak Daily Times] The issue of Pakistain's blasphemy laws has always been alive in public discourse and an attraction for the media not only in Pakistain but internationally too. Now, it will reverberate even more through the corridors of power after the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) ordered the Pakistain government to remove the option of life imprisonment for blasphemy. This means that crimes of blasphemy will be punished exclusively by the death sentence. The court, which has the power to determine whether any law is un-Islamic, reasons that any punishment other than death for blasphemy is not lawful. 
Nawaz Sharif
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
