Pakistan: Islamist parties oppose repeal of blasphemy law

Pakistan's top Islamist parties have warned the government against repealing of blasphemy law in favor of Christians.

The Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadith Pakistan and Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Haqooq Ahl-e-Sunnat Saturday held meetings to oppose the government's move to review the blasphemy law in wake of growing violence against minority Christians in that country.

The Asif Ali Zardari government must not amend the law "if it wants to remain in power," Daily Times quoted Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadith Pakistan chief Hafiz Abdul Guffar Ropari saying.

They cautioned that if the government brings any changes to the bill, Muslims in Pakistan would come out to the streets and vent their anger.

Another prominent party, the Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Haqooq Ahl-e-Sunnat, criticised the Pakistan government for sending the Blasphemy Act to a National Assembly standing committee for revision.

The opposition has come at a time when Christians in an unprecedented manner are holding rallies and demonstrations calling for the annulment of the 'stringent' law that has been the root cause of violence against minority Christians there.

According to the Blasphemy Act passed in 1986, "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 shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."

The law, since its inception, has been used as a pretext to attack and sometimes for personal enmity against religious minorities. According to the Catholic Church survey there, at least 50 Christians have been killed after being accused of blasphemy since 2001.

"The recent tragedy of Gojra, where nine Pakistani Christians were burnt to death by a frenzied mob, has raised yet again the whole issue of the status and security of the religious minorities in an overwhelmingly Islamic country," the Church of Pakistan, in a recent statement, said.

"Such cases have become rampant during the recent decades as the Pakistani society has become increasingly intolerant of fellow Pakistanis, based on their religious identity. This attitude has been sharply accentuated by the new clauses into the Blasphemy Law, which is being blatantly and maliciously abused for the harassment and marginalization of Christians."

"It is very sad to say that the motivation and the impetus for such actions come from the exploitation of faith and thus religion is used as a 'red rag' to incite the masses. These incidents have almost become a continuum and sadly almost all such cases are decided by the 'lynch mobs' which results in the burning of properties and public killing of victims," it lamented.

They called upon the Pakistan government to implement and introduce effective legislative and administrative measures, which would contain and control the situation. "This concerns especially the repeal of the Blasphemy Law which seems to have become a tool for ultimate abuse of any civil law and even a curse for the religious minorities."

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has formally urged the Pakistan government to amend the controversial law. A petition against the law has also been handed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.