Court hearing of Christian charged with blasphemy relocated in Pakistan to avoid mob violence

The court hearings in the trial of a Christian woman accused of blaspheming Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, has been relocated by Pakistani officials to prevent mob violence and endanger the life of the defendant.

According to defense lawyer Ezra Shujat, Judge Rao Abdel Jabar has agreed to move the trial from Chunian near Martha Bibi Masih's home village and preside over the sensitive matter in the district capital of Kasur, near Lahore.

Masih was arrested, January 23, following complaints that she had blasphemed prophet Muhammad.

According to information obtained by the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), Masih allegedly made insulting remarks about Islam's founder during a verbal altercation with another woman who refused to help her retrieve her belongings from a mosque.

Masih and her husband, Boota Masih eke out a living by hiring out construction tools to the builders.

According to Boota Masih, on February 22, his wife had gone to a local mosque construction site to retrieve materials that she had rented out to the builders.

"She requested the people present to go inside [the mosque] and get bamboo [sticks] and logs out for her," CLAAS quoted Boota Masih as saying. "But nobody helped her."

As a Christian, she could not enter the mosque, Shujat, her defense lawyer, explained.

When Bibi Masih asked a nearby woman shopkeeper to help her retrieve the materials, the latter refused, which in turn led to verbal altercation of harsh words.

According to Boota Masih, the shopkeeper later told her husband, Muhammad Ramzan, that Bibi Masih had cursed Islam's prophet during their argument.

Incensed, Ramzan spread word among his neighbours that Bibi Masih had committed blasphemy and gathered a mob which marched towards Masih's home at 10 p.m that night.

"We requested our neighbor, Muhammad Rashid Mughal, to hide us in his home, which he allowed," Boota Masih recalled. The mob searched Masih's home for two hours but dispersed after failing to find the alleged blasphemer.

In the early hours, the following morning, when Bibi Masih came out from her hiding, she was promptly arrested by the local police who took her to the nearby city of Changa Manga.

Ramzan's friend, Muhammad Dilbar, had lodged an FIR (First Information Report) against her with local police, accusing her under article 295–C of the blasphemy law, Boota Singh recalled.

Following the arrest, Bibi Masih's husband and five children had to go into hiding to avoid mob violence, defense lawyer Shujat explained. "They are afraid and worried now," said Shujat, an activist with the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. "They can't work anywhere."

Under Article 295–C of the Penal Code, a person found guilty of blaspheming Muhammad could be sentenced to death. Blasphemy cases are fairly common in Pakistan, but death sentences have rarely been carried out because convictions have always been overturned by high courts for lack of evidence. However, there have been several incidents where the accused, though acquitted by the court, have been lynched by mobs.

Rights groups have claimed that people often make accusations of blasphemy against people they hold a grudge against or belong to a different faith.

The government plans to change the law, probably after parliamentary elections due either late this year, or early 2008.

The Pakistan Muslim League, leading the ruling coalition, is presently reluctant to draw itself into the controversy, as it does not want to hand Islamist opposition parties an issue before the elections for it could cost them votes among a conservative electorate.

President Pervez Musharraf, who sees a philosophy of "enlightened moderation" for his country, was forced to drop plans to amend the laws seven years ago due to fierce opposition from the Islamist parties.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has long demanded repeal of the law which, it said, is misused against the minorities.

Christians are the largest minority community and make up less than three percent of Pakistan's 160 million, pre–dominantly Muslim, population.

"It's important to note that the complainant was not actually at the scene of the event," Compass quoted Shujat as saying. According to the defense lawyer, the district Superintendent of Police (SP) rubber–stamped the FIR without personally investigating the case.

"He just filled out the papers because [officially] it is only the SP who can investigate a [blasphemy] case," Shujat said. "But I believe he has not investigated."

Though some police officials have claimed that the accusation against Bibi Masih is true, yet, many people in Pakistan disagree, suggesting that Masih would not be so naïve to blaspheme the prophet Muhammad knowing the consequences.

In a February 9 letter to the editor posted at online news site Paktribune, one Lahore resident called on the Supreme Court to cancel the "appalling case against Martha Bibi."

"Even the most dim–witted Christian could not dare dream of even approaching anything remotely resembling blasphemy in Pakistan unless it was a novel way to commit suicide," wrote Professor Wasif M. Khan.

Last month a senior Pakistani official, speaking in Paris about the condition of religious minorities in Pakistan, said the government hoped to amend the blasphemy laws.

"Inshallah [God willing], after the election" later this year, Sen. Mushahid Hussain Sayed said when questioned if Islamabad would change the law, Reuters reported.