Blasphemy in Court in Pakistan

Aasiya Ashaq is believed to be the first female ever handed down capital punishment under the country’s controversial blasphemy law.

KBR, Jakarta - Last month a court in Pakistan sentenced a Christian woman to death for making sacrilegious remarks about the holy Prophet Muhammad.

Aasiya Ashaq is believed to be the first female ever handed down capital punishment under the country’s controversial blasphemy law.

The Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered a fresh inquiry into this particular case and assured that existing law will be amended; the first such move since its creation in the 1980s.

But now, there are widespread protests in the Pakistan.

Christians are demanding Ashaq’s release while Muslims are rallying for the government to execute her.

For Asia Calling, Naeem Sahoutara reports.

Christians and Hindus protest against the conviction of Aasiya Ashaq outside the Karachi Press Club. They shout slogans, demanding the government release Ahshaq and repeal the blasphemy law.

Former legislator Michael Javed is the chief of the Pakistan Minorities Front.

“All over the country the Christians are protesting. This is very first case in history of country that a lady belonging to Christian community has been convicted and sentenced to death. It is unfair and unjust, we feel! We are against that conviction.”

Aasiya Ashiq, 45-year-old mother of five, was a farmer. In June of last year police arrested her from her suburban village after her Muslim neighbors alleged that she made sacrilegious remarks about the holy Prophet Muhammad. Abdul Samad, the Additional Prosecutor General of Punjab, explains the prosecution’s case.

“The allegation against convict Aasiya is that she delivered derogatory remarks towards the holy Prophet Muhammad. After concluding evidence and investigation, the Additional Sessions Judge, Nankana Sahib, Muhammad Naveed Iqbal, sentenced her to death penalty, which is maximum punishment.”

But Michael Javed says the case doesn’t make sense. He says that Pakistan’s religious minorities such as Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis are respectful of Islam. He says because religious minorities make up only five percent of Pakistan’s population, they are vulnerable and wouldn’t commit blasphemy.

“Nobody belonging to minority community can be a blasphemer, because we know that we’re marginalized and living in this country which is Islamic and nobody can dare to say anything derogatory about the Prophet Muhammad. In fact, we all respect Prophet Muhammad.”

He claims that the cases under the blasphemy charge, like this one, are usually just excuses to settle personal scores. Najma, the sister of the convict, agrees.

“Everyone here are Muslims and we’re the only Christian family. They’ve propagated against us and falsely alleged Aasiya insulted Islam. In fact, they asked her to convert her religion and become a Muslim, but she refused. Why, should she do so? Then Muslim clerics dragged her in streets, beat and tore her clothes.”

She says the court trial isn’t fair and Rana Khalil, the defense counsel for Ashaq, agrees.

“Legal deficiency is prevailing in the trial. First of all, the case was not registered properly and secondly the investigation was not conducted properly.”

However, the state prosecutor Abdul Samad argues that the trial was fair.

“It’s very much established from the record (of the case) that accused lady neither produce any defense evidence nor appeared herself under Section 342 of Criminal Procedure Code to disprove the allegation leveled against her.”

Over the past twenty five years, hundreds of Pakistanis have been sentenced and punished under the blasphemy law.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan statistics show that 38 non-Muslim women were accused of blasphemy over the past two decades. Some were lynched by angry mobs before the completion of the court trial. In the Gojra riots in 2009, six Christians were burned alive. Rights activist Syed Shamasuddin says religious extremist groups are fanning the violence.

“Minorities are being intimated by conservative groups, who are very militant and enlarge minor issues. Many times, it was noted that some extremist religious leaders excite public because of their personal gains and grudges and they blame any person for blasphemy.”

Chaplain of Karachi’s St. Joseph Church, Father Qaiser Feroz, says changes to the blasphemy law are critical.

“Every Pakistani has a right to live with dignity and these laws are against the human dignity. Christians and other minorities’ groups are demanding constitutional amendments (to blasphemy law). As long as these changes are made, we feel insecure.”

Because of the national and international criticism of the Ashaq case, the Pakistani President Zardari has ordered a fresh inquiry, and assured that the blasphemy law will be amended.

Kamran Michael, the Minister of Punjab on Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, supports the proposed legislation.

“We’re really supporting the federal government on this issue, they are going to amend the blasphemy law.”

But the some in the government don’t want changes to the blasphemy law. Noted Muslim scholar Mufti Muhammad Naeem says the law is not discriminatory. He’s Chairman of the government’s Ruet-e-Hillal Committee.

“This is a common law that is equally applicable on all Pakistanis whether they’re Muslims or non-Muslims. It’s a misconception that this law is discriminatory against the non-Muslims.”

And this week, the major Islamist religious parties pressured the Parliament to refrain from discussing the issue.

The activists of Islamic political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, are protesting in front of the Sindh High Court in Karachi. They are demanding the government execute Aasiya.

One of the protestors, Imran Ahmed, a tea vendor, says the convict must be punished.

“Aasiya is a blasphemer; so she must be punished and not pardoned. If, she’s freed, then more people will rise up against our religion. That’s why she should be punished.”

Haji Muhammad Hanif Tayyab, the General Secretary of the Sunni Ittehad Council, an alliance of Sunni religious parties, warns if the government changes the law there will be more large scale agitation.

“If the government amends the existing law, we’ll strongly resist such a move.”

Azra Bashir, a government sanitation worker, mops the street in the pre-dawn light with her small child. Azra, a Christian, says all Pakistani minorities want is religious freedom.

“We want only freedom to perform our religion without any restriction, as the Muslims do.”

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