PAKISTAN: Military capitulates on blasphemy law
On May 17, Pakistan's military ruler General Pervaiz Musharraf announced that he was withdrawing his plan to amend the controversial blasphemy law. His announcement came after conservative clerics from various Muslim parties threatened countrywide demonstrations on May 19.
The blasphemy law has existed since the creation of Pakistan in 1947. It was designed by the British colonial rulers of India to prevent people from slandering each others' religious beliefs.
In 1985, military dictator General Zia ul-Haq modified the law to allow imposition of the death sentence on those proven guilty of blasphemy. The law quickly became a source of discontent among the 35 million-strong Christian community and minority Muslim groups, such as the Ahmadis.
Zia used the law to segregate the Christian community, who mostly voted for the Pakistan People's Party of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose elected government was overthrown by Zia in 1977.
Zia also prevented Christians from contesting general elections, instead offering them a handful of special Christian-only seats in parliament.
Two recent cases illustrate how the blasphemy law has come to be used.
On May 2 in Faisalabad, Ashiq Masih was charged with "offering insult to the Holy Prophet Muhammad". Ashiq, a convert to Islam, had become involved in a brawl with Rana Nisar Ahmed who wanted to prevent Ashiq meeting with Ahmed's Christian relatives. Ahmed registered the blasphemy case six weeks after the incident.
On May 12, two Christian brothers, Rashid Masih and Saleem Masih (no relation to Ashiq Masih), were sentenced to 35 years imprisonment and fined 75,000 rupees for "offering insult to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Koran".
They had scuffled with a street ice cream vendor after the vendor did not allow them to use his utensils. The vendor first sought to have them charged with destroying his merchandise and stealing 1000 rupees but, after that failed, filed a blasphemy charge against them. They were convicted solely on the verbal testimony of the street vendor.
Musharraf, in an attempt to give the regime a human face and thereby appease its Western donors, had decided to change the way in which blasphemy cases are registered. Presently, anyone who is accused of committing blasphemy is arrested without an initial investigation being conducted. Under Musharraf's proposal, accusations of blasphemy were to be referred to a civil servant to conduct an investigation before an arrest was made.
This would not have changed the legal requirement that anyone proven guilty of blasphemy would be sentenced to death or life imprisonment; it would merely have drawn out the process.
Naveed Hassan, leader of the National Students Federation which demands that the blasphemy law be repealed, said that with the budget due next month the military regime could not risk domestic opposition, especially since it is moving ahead with plans for massive privatisation and price increases for gas, electricity and petrol.
BY DR AMJAD AYUB