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Pakistan to abolish blasphemy law
Wednesday, 28th January 2009
By: George Conger.
The government of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will introduce legislation annulling the countrys blasphemy laws. In a Jan 14 interview the Minister for Minorities, Mr Shahbaz Bhatti promised that the laws will be abolished.
Under Pakistans penal code section 295C, blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed is a criminal offence. The laws, however, have been used to persecute Christians and members of minority Muslim groups. The laws have been widely condemned by civil rights groups as capricious and arbitrary as blasphemy is not defined under the code, and prosecutions can be brought on the word of one complainant. Cases of commercial and personal rivalries between Muslims and Christians have led to trumped-up charges of blasphemy to clear away rivals, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and other civil rights groups have claimed.
As of mid-2008, 892 Christians and Muslims have been jailed for blasphemy, while 25 others accused of blasphemy have been murdered by mobs since the law as introduced 22 years ago.
In an interview with the ANS news service, Mr Bhatti said religious minorities have been neglected, victimized and oppressed in Pakistan.
They have faced constitutional and institutionalized discrimination and inequality, he said, adding the government of President Zardari was committed to address the long-standing issues of minorities. We are making all-out efforts to uplift and empower minorities.
In a meeting at Lambeth Palace on Dec 18, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams thanked Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan for his governments efforts in protecting minority rights.
Dr Williams shared with the Pakistani High Commissioner concerns expressed by the Bishop of Peshawar, the Rt Rev Mano Rumalshah of the difficulties Christians were facing in the country. The ambassador told Dr Williams his government had given minority rights a high place on its legislative agenda.
A spokesman for the archbishop told ReligiousIntelligence.com that Dr Williams thanked the High Commissioner for his governments initiatives but observed that what was said officially in Islamabad was sometimes not what happened on the ground, and this had been the experience some minorities, including Christians in Peshawar.
In a private meeting in Islamabad on Dec 30, the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, also thanked President Zardari for his governments commitment toward the protection of minority rights. According to a government press release, President Zardari spoke of the importance of interfaith harmony and tolerance in battling militancy and thanked the Church of Pakistan for its services towards the countrys national interests.
Wednesday, 28th January 2009
By: George Conger.
The government of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will introduce legislation annulling the countrys blasphemy laws. In a Jan 14 interview the Minister for Minorities, Mr Shahbaz Bhatti promised that the laws will be abolished.
Under Pakistans penal code section 295C, blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed is a criminal offence. The laws, however, have been used to persecute Christians and members of minority Muslim groups. The laws have been widely condemned by civil rights groups as capricious and arbitrary as blasphemy is not defined under the code, and prosecutions can be brought on the word of one complainant. Cases of commercial and personal rivalries between Muslims and Christians have led to trumped-up charges of blasphemy to clear away rivals, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and other civil rights groups have claimed.
As of mid-2008, 892 Christians and Muslims have been jailed for blasphemy, while 25 others accused of blasphemy have been murdered by mobs since the law as introduced 22 years ago.
In an interview with the ANS news service, Mr Bhatti said religious minorities have been neglected, victimized and oppressed in Pakistan.
They have faced constitutional and institutionalized discrimination and inequality, he said, adding the government of President Zardari was committed to address the long-standing issues of minorities. We are making all-out efforts to uplift and empower minorities.
In a meeting at Lambeth Palace on Dec 18, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams thanked Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan for his governments efforts in protecting minority rights.
Dr Williams shared with the Pakistani High Commissioner concerns expressed by the Bishop of Peshawar, the Rt Rev Mano Rumalshah of the difficulties Christians were facing in the country. The ambassador told Dr Williams his government had given minority rights a high place on its legislative agenda.
A spokesman for the archbishop told ReligiousIntelligence.com that Dr Williams thanked the High Commissioner for his governments initiatives but observed that what was said officially in Islamabad was sometimes not what happened on the ground, and this had been the experience some minorities, including Christians in Peshawar.
In a private meeting in Islamabad on Dec 30, the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, also thanked President Zardari for his governments commitment toward the protection of minority rights. According to a government press release, President Zardari spoke of the importance of interfaith harmony and tolerance in battling militancy and thanked the Church of Pakistan for its services towards the countrys national interests.
