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| India-Pakistan |
| Blasphemy laws won't be misused, Pope assured |
| 2009-10-02 |
| Pope Benedict urged Pakistan on Thursday to guarantee protection of minority Christians, and President Asif Ali Zardari assured him that all stakeholders and political forces would be consulted to check and stop the misuse of blasphemy laws. Zardari met the Pope at his residence south of Rome at the end of a four-day trip to Italy aimed mainly at promoting trade. A Vatican statement said Zardari's talks with the Pope and Vatican officials centred on minority Christians in Pakistan following violence against their communities two months ago. "Emphasis was given to the need to overcome all forms of discrimination based on religious affiliation, with the aim of promoting respect for the rights of all citizens," it said. Seven people -- including four women and a child -- were killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in August. The Christians' homes were burnt after unsubstantiated accusations that some of them had desecrated the holy Quran. Some 40 houses were burned down in the violence, which was condemned at the time by the Vatican, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the World Council of Churches. The Vatican statement said the talks also focused on "elements that have favoured such incidents", an apparent reference to groups that have exploited Pakistan's blasphemy law, which allows the death penalty for blaspheming Islam. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Where is Torquemada when you really need him? |
| Posted by: borgboy 2009-10-02 12:25 |
| #1 I think they do it mostly for fun of seeing leading Westerners pretend to agree to what the later know is bull, rather than being branded Islamophobes. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-10-02 02:20 |