Even though recent media reports have suggested that Pakistan wishes to reform its existing blasphemy laws, one cannot help but recall the last time a lawmaker tried to make such reforms; religious extremists assassinated him.
After the chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom took note of the gravity of religious freedom violations in Pakistan and went on to label the country as ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (CPC) in one of its reports, Pakistani legislators seem to have sensed an urgency in reforming their existing blasphemy laws.
“Pakistan wants to be a member of the world community. Lawmakers finally did draft this bill to revise the current blasphemy laws, to kind of get rid of some of the very easy abuses,” said Bruce Allen, of Forgotten Missionaries International.
While Pakistan’s constitution promises religious freedom to all its citizens, Christians have continued to suffer under the country’s draconian blasphemy laws, one of which stipulates that any individual defiling the Quran or Prophet Mohammad must be punished with life sentence or death sentence. According to the country’s minority Christian population, these blasphemy laws are loosely written and open to wide interpretation, which is why they can be misused by Muslims to settle scores during personal feuds. More often than not, the accused has little scope to defend himself or herself in court as allegations of blasphemy by a Muslim against a non-Muslim are enough evidence for the said crime. Even though no person has been executed under this legislation, dozens of accused have been lynched by the mob that arbitrarily takes the law into its own hands. Some have also had to wrongfully serve jail terms of up to several years.
In 2011, Salman Taseer, the 26th governor of Punjab province, was murdered by his own security guard, after he urged the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who had been convicted under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law in 2009 and currently faces the death penalty. Taseer’s advocacy for Bibi’s release and implication that close friend and then President Asif Ali Zardari would annul her death sentence, triggered mass protests, with imams at local mosques going on to accuse Taseer of defying the Prophet and committing blasphemy himself.
Attempts to tighten the language of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been made fleetingly since 2000 but legislators started to focus on the issue only after the need for reform gained worldwide attention in 2010, following Bibi’s sentencing. Round about the same time, Islamist political parties began to lobby in favour of the laws and that is primarily what has kept Pakistan from executing the long-awaited overhaul.
While legislators have already prepared the draft of a bill that tightens certain loopholes, Allen said there is a long way to go before people can start celebrating.
“It’s not been signed into law yet. According to the rules of the Pakistani senate, the bill has to pass through three different readings by the lawmakers before being voted upon,” he said.
Since the draft deals with issues closely linked with Islam, any member of parliament is free to object to it on grounds of the bill being repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
“So, if any one of the members raise that objection, then the Senate may, by a motion approved by not less than 2/5 of the total membership, refer the question to the Islamic council of ideology. From there, the council considers this question: What we’re doing to the law, in reforming it, is it going against Islam?” he explained.
Archbishop Joseph Coutts, president of Pakistani Bishops’ Conference, welcomed the recently proposed modifications to Pakistan’s dreaded blasphemy laws, which would require the accused to undergo psychological testing to ensure innocent individuals are safeguarded from malicious accusers.
In an attempt to explain why Christians have been protesting against these laws, Coutts said, “The point that has finally got across is that it’s not just about the abolition of the law but the way the law is framed. We need safeguards to prevent the misuse of this law, which is what has been happening all along.”
Coutts also said the persecution faced by Pakistani Christians has prompted many of them to immigrate to other countries, including Sri Lanka and Thailand.
“A number have already found refuge in Sri Lanka and a few hundred fled to Thailand, precisely because they see no future [in Pakistan]. But for me, we should not give up hope,” Coutts said.
According to the archbishop, even though Christians have been made to suffer excruciatingly under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, their suffering cannot be compared with that of some other religious minorities, like the Ahmadis, a minority Muslim sect that is considered heretical by the majority of Sunnis.
Photo Credits: Dawn
