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May 26, 2006

Pakistan: Muslim Blasphemy By Phone

News from the BBC and the Pakistan Daily Times reports that a Chistian in Karachi has been arested under Pakistan's severe blasphemy laws. These were introduced in 1986 by Islamist dictator, General Zia ul-Haq.

Qamar David is a worker in a hospital canteen, and was upset about Muslim attacks upon churches, such as those which took place at Sangla Hill on November 12 and at Sukkur in south Pakistan in February 19th. So he decided to send some SMS phone-text messages, which apparently were blasphemous against Islam.

He was arrested on Wednesday night (24 May) after a travel agent, Khursheed Ahmed became a recipient of one of these messages. He saved some of the messages, and these were used to arrest Mr David.

David is remanded in police custody until 10 June. The exact law under which he is charged is unknown, as Saddar police have sealed details of his case, FIR No. 127/06.

His fate, if found guilty, depends on which of the three main blasphemy laws he is charged under. The Pakistan Penal Code has various articles, but the Daily Times assumes he is held under Article 295, which has three clauses.

Section 295A refers to "deliberate and malicious acts" intended to insult "religious beliefs". "[w]hoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults the religion or the religious beliefs of that class.." This can result in imprisonment of up to ten years.

Section 295B is described as:
Defiling, etc, of copy of Holy Quran. Whoever will fully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable for imprisonment for life.

Section 295C involves:
Use of derogatory remarks, etc; in respect of the Holy Prophet. Whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.

The Institute on Religion and Public Policy states:

According to the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference, between 1986 and 2003 at least 280 blasphemy cases were registered. Of these, 254 cases were against Muslims; 203 Ahmadis; 78 Christians; 8 Hindus. There are currently over 30 blasphemy cases under trial or awaiting trial, including several Christians such as Pervez Masih, Ranjha Masih, Shahbaz Masih, Augustine "Kingri" Masih and Asif and Amjad Masih.

There have been few cases where a Christian has actually been formally acquitted after being convicted of blasphemy states Asia News, citing the case of 32-year old Anwar Masih of Lahore in Punjab. He was acquitted on December 17, 2004.

In Nowshera an elderly illiterate Christian man called Yousaf Masih was charged with burning pages of the Koran while performing his job as a cleaner. He was unaware of the material's texts which he had been told to burn. He was seen by a small child and reported to the authorities on June 28, 2005. Though he was freed, he had been subjected to beatings. He had a weal heart, and had numerous threats made against him upon his release, causing him to live in hiding.

The events at Sangla Hill and at Sukkur, where churches were burned down, both followed false allegations of Korans being burned by Christians.

On March 3 a Christian woman, Naseem Bibi, who tried to prevent youths drawing a cross on a rubbish heap, was arrested on blasphemy charges. Later the same youths returned with an image of the Ka'abah soiled with excrement, saying she had done the desecration. Naseem was jailed awaiting trial. Her husband states that she was stripped and beaten in custody.

Amnesty International stated that six people had been given the death penalty, but these cases were all overturned on appeal and the individuals were acquitted. One of those sentenced to death was a 12 year old boy at the time of his "offense".

Extremists have campaigned to keep the blasphemy laws in place, despite worldwide protests against their unjust nature. Even lawmakers are not safe from these zealots. CWSA states that in 1997, a judge, Justice (R) Arif Ibaql Bhatti in October 1997 was killed after he acquitted Rehmat and Salmat Masih of blasphemy charges.

Some judges themselves are extreme. In 2000, Lahore High Court Judge Mr Justice Nazir Akhtar publicly stated that anyone accused of blasphemy should be killed on the spot by Muslims as a religious obligation (swab).

Although officially no one has yet been executed under the blasphemy law, at least four Christians have died at the hands of extremists. Bantu Masih died at the hands of armed fanatics in 1991. A post mortem revealed that Tahir Iqbal had been poisoned while in prison. Nehmat Ahmer, a Christian from Faisalabad, was murdered in 1992. Manzoor Masih, Rehmat and Salamat Masih were shot at outside Lahore High Court in 1995. While Rehmat and Salamat survived the ordeal, Manzoor Masih was killed on the spot.

The fate of Qamar David will be unknown, but according to police officer Imran Minhas, he has already confessed to blasphemy, so his future is not bright.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 26, 2006 8:52 PM

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