CONCEPT – PAKISTAN’S BLASPHEMY LAW

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CONCEPT – PAKISTAN’S BLASPHEMY LAW

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• A dangerous law: Pakistan's blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam. Over time, it has been used to persecute minority faiths and unfairly target minorities.
• Since when? The offences relating to religion were first codified by India's British rulers in 1860, and expanded in 1927. Pakistan inherited these laws when it came into existence in 1947.
• The reign of General Zia-ul Haq: Between 1980 and 1986, a number of clauses were added to the laws. He wanted to "Islamicise" and also legally to separate the Ahmadi community, declared non-Muslim in 1973, from the main body of Pakistan's overwhelmingly Muslim population. The persectuion has continued since then.
• What do the laws say?

1. The law enacted by the British made it a crime to disturb a religious assembly, trespass on burial grounds, insult religious beliefs or intentionally destroy or defile a place or an object of worship.
2. The maximum punishment under these laws ranges from one year to 10 years in jail, with or without a fine.
3. In 1980, making derogatory remarks against Islamic personages was made an offence, carrying a maximum punishment of three years in jail.
4. In 1982, another clause prescribed life imprisonment for "wilful" desecration of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.
5. In 1986, a separate clause was inserted to punish blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad and the penalty recommended was "death, or 5. imprisonment for life", in that order.

• The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP): A voluntary organisation has been documenting blasphemy cases for decades. It says that Muslims constitute the majority of those booked under these laws, closely followed by the Ahmadi community. A total of 633 Muslims, 494 Ahmedis, 187 Christians and 21 Hindus have been accused under various clauses of the blasphemy law since 1987. The vast majority was for desecration of the Koran - far fewer for blasphemy against the Prophet.
• Unfairly applied: Critics say the fact that minorities figure so prominently in the cases shows how the laws are unfairly applied. Often the laws are used to settle personal scores
• Murders: When Punjab Governor Salman Taseer - a prominent critic of the law - was assassinated by his bodyguard in 2011, Pakistan was divided, with some hailing his killer as a hero.
• Why do the authorities not amend them? Amending the blasphemy laws has been on the agenda of nearly all the popular secular parties. But none of them has made much progress - principally because of the sensitivities over the issue.

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