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2013-12-12 India-Pakistan
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Death -- the only punishment for blasphemy? -- Xavier Patras William
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 [Pak Daily Times] The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has ordered the removal of life imprisonment from section 295-C of the blasphemy laws and that the death sentence be the only punishment in 295-C. Justice Fida Hussain, heading the bench, heard a contempt of court petition filed by Advocate Hashmat Habib. The FSC has issued orders to remove the provision of life imprisonment from the blasphemy law, stating that only death is the punishment for blasphemy under section 295-C.
In 1984, a group of conservative lawyers filed a petition at the FSC asking for a law against insult to Islam or the Prophet (PTUI!). In 1986, the blasphemy laws, comprising section 295-A and 295-B, were implemented as part of the law of the state. In 1990, under the Hadood Ordinance, 295-C was introduced into the blasphemy laws. It was approved and the then law minister Iqbal Ahmad Khan added the text "death or life" as punishment for blasphemy in section 295-C.
The blasphemy laws have been under debate for their amendment in the hope to stop their misuse as, throughout the years, the marginalised and the weak have been the victims of these laws. In Pakistain, even being accused of blasphemy is equivalent to the sentence itself. Even children are accused, regardless of their age and mental state. We have witnessed this when an eighth grader was accused of mis-spelling a word in her exams. Rimsha, an 11-year-old girl with Down's Syndrome was framed by a holy man under the blasphemy laws. It needs to be considered that the law clearly states that anyone who deliberately dishonours a religious place or a prophet is accountable.
In the last 30 years, incidents of extrajudicial killings of blasphemy accused have been common. Finding the culprits behind extrajudicial killings in blasphemy cases is not pursued by the victims' families out of fear of being further victimised. Unfortunately, such killings are brushed under the carpet by the state and the court as they invite wrath. The first such extrajudicial killing took place in 1991 when blasphemy accused Naemat Ahmad was rubbed out by some unknown persons. Later, a Mohammedan, Farooq Sajid, was beaten to death by a mob in Gujranwala. Similarly, Manzoor Masih was bumped off outside the District and Sessions Court after a hearing in the 1990s. Take the case of Lahore High Court (LHC) Judge Arif Iqbal Bhatti, who was assassinated in his chambers after retirement in 1997. The killer said he targeted the judge because he was on the bench that acquitted two Christian men, Salamat and Rehmat Masih, accused in a blasphemy case.
Societies have laws in order to protect people from the actions of other people. It is clearly impossible for everybody in any society to have absolute freedom: as one person exercised that freedom, it would trample upon somebody else's freedom. Despite the fact that the blasphemy laws are there, the people take the law into their own hands and decide for themselves what the punishment should be. A mentally unstable man was set ablaze outside the cop shoppe in Bahawalpur over blasphemy accusations once. These violent incidents clearly challenge the writ of the law and it is clearly evident that these laws are being misused.
Life For All Pakistain, a human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
organization, has said, "The minorities -- the poorest stratum of our society who had received assurances of equal treatment from the founder of the state, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah -- have to bear the brunt of this hatred of ourselves. When the world is outraged by what is done to the women and the minorities here, we respond with xenophobia. The blasphemy phenomenon takes a horrible turn when a charged mob targets a specific community, locality or a group by burning their houses, looting their valuables and resorting to mass killing, examples being of Gojra, Sangla Hill and the most recent one in Badami Bagh, Lahore. They have not stressed to stop the misuse; this law is widely misused to settle personal vendettas and rivalries. Why is such a law being allowed to be used as a tool? How many more innocent lives will it take for the authorities to realise that it is about time to seriously take concrete steps so as to ensure that the laws are implemented and justice is served?" 
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Posted by Fred 2013-12-12 00:00||
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File under: Govt of Pakistan
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Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2013-12-12 17:19||
2013-12-12 17:19||
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