Dr. Osama Siddique explained the differences on Twitter. The laws referenced are not blasphemy laws as such. The reference is to the laws that existed before Pakistan was created. That has to do with hurting religious sentiments & violating the sanctity of a place of worship. So, it is not blasphemy law as such.
Sanctity of the place of worship? Is the place of worship in Pakistan? Who defines how religious sentiments were hurt - some might say seeing a convicted felon in masjid hurts their sentiment?
Additionally lets just say that Medina falls in Pakistans jurisdiction- is the incident even a crime ? They shouted slogans outside the mosque clearly where you can even see markets etc. And those slogans are not blasphemous at all, whether we like it or not it is freedom of speech, and only Saudi Govt can define how people practice it in their borders. Even under Pakistani laws shouting slogans against a political party or leader is not against the law.
Do you remember what happened in 2017, when PTI helped TLP whip up religious sentiments to an extent that Pakistan's interior minister was shot? I hope you do & I hope you understand that complacency was wrong at the time. I hope you also understand that PML-N had not done something out of ill-will but was forced to pay a price regardless.
I would ignore this for now, as it is not relevant to the case in hand. If we need to do a comparison of PTI vs PMLN - who has/had more links with extremists and terror outfits etc. we can list it then.
Now let us compare that situation with the current one - we have evidence of premeditation (planning) of harassment. We have video evidence. We know the people who made videos & shouted abuses. We know at least one ex-SAPM of IK's government, who happens to be IK's friend also, on the scene. So, compared to what happened in 2017, this is much worse & reprehensible.
What evidence of planning? Was this evidence collected legally? I would discuss if it is even possible to plan this from Pakistan later.
So IK is now liable for what their ex employees and friends do now? There was a PMLN MPA accused of rape of college student a few years ago, should we book NS and SS for this? I was expecting better arguments here.
And again being there proves nothing, my brother was in US when 9/11 happened- doesn’t mean he should be held responsible for it.
I do hope that the people who planned this suffer the consequences. If there are no consequences, these things will repeat.
First it didn’t happen inside the walls of the mosque. Second incident is not even in Pakistan. Third the act itself is not blasphemy or illegal by any reasonable democratic standards. Fourthly no concrete proof of IK or PTI involvement has been provided - for now it is just heresay and rhetoric. We have hardcore terrorists getting off scott free from our courts, and then going back to killing right after - I cannot wait to see what proofs of planning and execution will be provided for chanting slogans in a foreign country in Pakistani courts now (provided that Pakistani courts first believe that calling SS chor in Madina is a crime!)
Now lastly- its ridiculous to think that PTI can execute a mission like this from Pakistan in Saudi Arabia. Can you even think of the resources required to execute such a plan? PTI would need to know the exact details and movements of Saudi state guests, track where Shabhbaz , Maryam A, Bugti is and intercept them in Medina at the right time under the nose of Saudi state intel and security agencies. You are telling me a disorganized rag tag non militant party of ‘burgers’, which has even been dumped by Pakistani establishment now, can pull this off in such a short notice in international borders - that equation doesn’t add up at all sir.
I think whats obvious is just embarrassing for PMLN, that a handful of poor Pakistani migrants in SA just saw PMLN leaders and wanted to get their frustration out. And now ‘evidences’ are being concocted, along with a lot media spin and use of molvis, to create a narrative of conspiracy by evil PTI.