Pakistan's medieval Blasphemy laws

[Daredevil]

‘Blasphemy’ claims three more victims (in Pakistan)

‘Blasphemy’ claims three more victims

* Factory owner killed by workers for ‘desecrating holy Quran’ in Sheikhupura

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: A factory owner and two others were killed along Muridke-Sheikhupura Road when factory workers attacked them for allegedly desecrating the holy Quran, reported a private TV channel on Tuesday.

One private TV channel said the owner and the other two were killed over the factory administration’s failure to pay workers, but another private channel reported the attack was prompted by an allegation that the factory owner – identified only as Najeebullah – had desecrated the holy Quran.

A worker entered Najeebullah’s factory at around 2pm and saw that the owner had taken down an outdated calendar – which had verses from the holy Quran written on it – and put it on a table. The worker then misbehaved with the owner over – what he thought – was “desecration” of the holy Quran. When a guard tried to stop him, he ran out into the working area and started gathering his colleagues, claiming the owner had committed ‘blasphemy’.

When an enraged mob subsequently surrounded Najeebullah, his guard tried to protect him by firing in the air, but the crowd started firing shots at the owner and his guard.

The channel said a large number of workers also attacked the factory administration and beat up several employees. They also blocked the road leading to the factory for three hours and later set the unit on fire.

Heavy police contingents rushed to the factory to bring the situation under control, but the angry mob seized their weapons.

The killings on Tuesday come amid heightened tensions in another part of Punjab. Rioters in Gojra burnt alive at least seven Christians on Saturday over blasphemy allegations.

 

[Antimony]

Amzing

Did they realize that they just kicked their jobs out of the door?

 

[I-G]

‘Blasphemy’ claims three more victims

* Factory owner killed by workers for ‘desecrating holy Quran’ in Sheikhupura

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: A factory owner and two others were killed along Muridke-Sheikhupura Road when factory workers attacked them for allegedly desecrating the holy Quran, reported a private TV channel on Tuesday.

One private TV channel said the owner and the other two were killed over the factory administration’s failure to pay workers, but another private channel reported the attack was prompted by an allegation that the factory owner – identified only as Najeebullah – had desecrated the holy Quran.

A worker entered Najeebullah’s factory at around 2pm and saw that the owner had taken down an outdated calendar – which had verses from the holy Quran written on it – and put it on a table. The worker then misbehaved with the owner over – what he thought – was “desecration” of the holy Quran. When a guard tried to stop him, he ran out into the working area and started gathering his colleagues, claiming the owner had committed ‘blasphemy’.

When an enraged mob subsequently surrounded Najeebullah, his guard tried to protect him by firing in the air, but the crowd started firing shots at the owner and his guard.

The channel said a large number of workers also attacked the factory administration and beat up several employees. They also blocked the road leading to the factory for three hours and later set the unit on fire.

Heavy police contingents rushed to the factory to bring the situation under control, but the angry mob seized their weapons.

The killings on Tuesday come amid heightened tensions in another part of Punjab. Rioters in Gojra burnt alive at least seven Christians on Saturday over blasphemy allegations.

In most of the cases , those who commit crimes just try to look for excuses so that they get a easy way out .

But here its saying that large numbers of workers also attacked the factory administration and beat up several employees .. If the owner have desecrated the Holy book what this have to do with other employees ?

 

[I-G]

Mob kills two in Sheikhupura for desecrating Quran

By Rana Sarwar/Muhammad Faisal Ali
Wednesday, 05 Aug, 2009 | 08:24 AM PST

SHEIKHUPURA: Two people were killed when a mob of hundreds of people, including factory workers, attacked a leather processing unit near Muridke on Tuesday over alleged desecration of Quranic verses. Leather unit owner Sheikh Najeeb Zafar is among the dead.

Police however, suspected that desecration issue had been used to instigate workers of East Leather Factory, Khatiala Virkan, and people living in nearby villages to settle some personal score.

Police said there had been a simmering dispute between the management and workers over the wages issue. At least 24 assailants were apprehended in a late-night development.

Sheikhupura DPO Rai Tahir said Qasim Mughal, a representative of workers, held a meeting with Najeeb Zafar on wages. He said Zafar was rolling a calendar carrying Quranic verses at that time.

The DPO said Mughal accused Zafar of desecrating the verses. Later, Mughal conveyed his accusations to fellow workers and nearby villagers through his cell phone.

They said that Shabbir, a village prayer leader, played a major role in instigating the villagers through the loudspeaker. He announced that Zafar tore apart the holy book and threw its pages in a nearby drain.

Police said the workers held a demonstration inside the factory, while the villagers blocked Sheikhupura Road.

When the protesting workers stormed Zafar’s office, security guards confronted them and reportedly opened fire. Some workers snatched the gun from a security guard and returned the fire.

The crossfire left Zafar and labourer Muzammil Shah dead. The protesters later ransacked the factory and set fire to it. Police reached the scene and dispersed the protesters.

Dawn learnt that Zafar had a quarrel with some people over a business issue two weeks ago. There were reports that he had been facing business-related disputes with his family business partners.

Zafar’s body was brought to Mayo Hospital’s city morgue for a post-mortem examination at around 10:40pm. A source at the morgue told Dawn that two shots had been fired at Zafar that caused his death.


DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Mob kills two in Sheikhupura for desecrating Quran

 

[Rage]

Protest in Rome against Pakistan's blasphemy law

AFP
Yesterday

Italian and Pakistani (Christian) protesters hold posters reading "Religious Freedom is a
Fundamental Right", "Let's save Asia Bibi and all those condemned for blasphemy"
during a demonstration in front of the Italian Parliament in central Rome. -AFP Photo


ROME: Italian lawmakers and religious associations protested in Rome Wednesday against Pakistan's blasphemy law, calling for the release of a Christian woman sentenced to death under the legislation.

Catholic and Jewish associations joined human rights group Amnesty International and representatives of the Pakistani community in Italy in a 100-strong demonstration in front of the Italian parliament.

"We want this law to be abolished," Pakistani-born Joseph Philip told AFP, explaining that his uncle, a Catholic Bishop, had been killed for his religious beliefs. He said he had come to the protest along with 15 compatriots.

Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old, Christian mother-of-five, was sentenced to death in November after Muslim women labourers who worked with her in the fields complained she made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.

Umberto Bossi, head of Italy's anti-immigrant and populist Northern League Party and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's partner in the centre-right coalition, attended Wednesday's protest here.

"We want to express our solidarity," he told journalists. A delegation from the protest also met Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Last Thursday the European parliament urged Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to pardon and release Bibi following calls from several countries, international organisations and an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI.

European parliamentarians also called on the Pakistani government to revise their blasphemy laws and their application.

Their request followed the January 4 assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was shot dead by a police commando after calling for reform of the blasphemy law used to sentence Bibi to death.

Taseer's killing met with mixed reactions in Pakistan, with many from the country's conservative religious quarter praising the gunman for acting to silence the outspoken moderate politician.


http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/26/protest-in-rome-against-pakistans-blasphemy-law.html

 

[Tshering22]

I would not be pleased with that. Italy and Europe has no right to intervene on the grounds of so-called Human Rights. Sorry, but their intervention in this part of the world has caused enough problems already. Personally I disagree.

But politically, it is good too see that Italy is also pissed off.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Pakistan Blasphemy Laws Used to Target Bible

Pakistan Blasphemy Laws Used to Target Bible - World - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com

Pakistan's blasphemy Laws may now be used to ban the Bible in that country.

CNS News reports that an influential political party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Samiul Haq) or the JUI-S party -- made up of radical Pakistani clerics -- has asked the Pakistan Supreme Court to declare portions of the Bible blasphemous.

The clerics contend that portions of scripture depicting certain biblical characters such as Abraham and Isaac, whom Muslims regard as Islamic prophets, are flawed.

They allege that several portions have been added to the Bible that undermine the sanctity of holy figures by charging them with a variety of moral crimes. Such insertions, said party leader Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi, offend the Muslims who hold those prophets and holy books in high esteem.

The group warned that if the Supreme Court fails to declare some of the portions blasphemous, their lawyers are prepared to submit an application to completely ban the Bible in Pakistan.

Pakistan's blasphemy law is notorious as it is routinely misused to target Christians and other religious minorities. These minorities sometimes face religious lynching.

 

[Phenom]

Pakistan court awards death sentence to Qadri (Taseer's Assassin)

A Pakistan anti-terror court awarded the death sentence to policeman who assassinated Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

Taseer served as governor of Punjab from May 2008 to January this year.

Read more at: Pakistan court awards death sentence to man who killed Pakistan's Punjab Governor


Brave Judgement considering the amount of support that Qadri received from the public. Let's hope they give better protection to the Pakistani Judge than they did to Gov. Taseer.

 

[Ray]

It shows that the educated are tired of Pakistan being a synonym for terrorists.

It shows that the educated are also tiring of the mayhem unleashed in the name of 'real' Islam!!

Wahhabism is no real Islam.

 

[one]

Expect some early Diwali. How can a soldier of god be given death sentence. Evil kaffur judge.

 

[agentperry]

rift between intelligentsia and illiterate radicals will increase in pakistan. the worst thing is to award shahadat to anyone.
this death sentence will be idealized and will be used as an example by radical mullahs to lure in more of such people to engage in assassination of high profile and liberals in pakistan. it would be better to give him life imprisonment.

 

[sob]

Good to see a decision by the court so fast. Compare our case where we are still dragging our feet after almost 4 years.

 

[Daredevil]

Kidnappers of Taseer's son want release of Qadri

Amir Mir
Monday, October 03, 2011

LAHORE: Expressing grave concern over the release of Malik Mohammad Ishaq, one of the founding members of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) an al-Qaeda-linked anti-Shia and anti-US Sunni-Deobandi sectarian-turned-jehadi organisation, the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has accused the Punjab Law Minister [Rana Sanaullah Khan] of conniving with the abductors of Shahbaz Taseer, the son of former Punjab Governor, Salman Taseer, to ensure the release of his assassin - [Malik Mumtaz Qadri who was sentenced to death on October 1, 2011 by an antiterrorism court on the basis of his confession].

Founded in 1986 by a prominent group of jurists and human rights activists in Asia, the Asian Human Rights Commission is an independent, non-governmental organisation, which seeks to promote greater awareness and realization of human rights in the Asian region. The Commission has regretted in a statement which has already been posted on its website (www.humanrights. asia) that "a mass killer - Malik Mohammad Ishaq – has been provided protection by the state while the families of his victims continue to suffer threats".

"[Mumtaz] Qadri, the killer of Governor of Punjab [Salman Taseer] has been given the status of a hero of Islam who is enjoying every facility of life in custody; facilities which he never had in his ordinary life being a head constable in Punjab police. He has access to his network through mobile phones and is being held in a special ward of the jail and allowed to have visitors who meet him regularly. All of this is contrary according to the prison manuals", the AHRC statement observed.

The AHRC then regretted that the whereabouts of the son of the assassinated Governor of Punjab, Shahbaz Taseer, who was abducted by militants from Punjab on August 27, 2011, remain unknown. "It is reported that the LeJ is negotiating through the Punjab government for the release of [Malik Mumtaz] Qadri in exchange for Shahbaz Taseer. The negotiations are apparently being carried out under the supervision of the Punjab Law Minister [Rana Sanaullah Khan] who is notorious for having relationships with the banned militant groups. Therefore, all efforts for the release of Shahbaz have been in the interests of the militant organizations", the AHRC statement added.The Asian Human Rights Commission statement said that the state has totally failed to provide protection to the citizens from the religious militant organisations who are surviving on the mercy of jehadis. "We urge the government of Pakistan to realize that the international community is closely monitoring the situation and is quite capable of seeing the very blatant discrepancies in the treatment of the victims and the perpetrators. We vehemently condemn the protection provided for a mass murderer (Malik Ishaq) while his victims continue to face death threats and religious intolerance. We urge that action must be taken against the LeJ and its members. The Minister of Law of Punjab who is aiding and abetting this organisation must be prosecuted particularly for his connivance with the abductors of Shahbaz Taseer to obtain the release of a murderer. We also urge the government to ensure the safe release of Shahbaz and that suitable compensation and rehabilitation be provided to the victims and the families of the Mastung carnage".

Approached for comments, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan strongly refuted the "baseless allegations" levelled against him and the Punjab government by the "socalled" Asian Human Rights Commission, saying they were simply farcical and politically motivated. About the Commission's claim that the Punjab law minister was conniving with the abductors to pave the way for Mumtaz Qadri's release in exchange for Shehbaz Taseer, Rana Sanaullah said: "Let me make it clear that no talks are going on with the abductors at any level as far as I know. I reject AHRC's allegations regarding my connivance with any militant group at any level. The Punjab government would lodge a formal protest with the AHRC for spreading this baseless propaganda. Such unsubstantiated speculations would only hinder the progress being made in the case by the investigators.

To a question, Rana Sanaullah said: "As a matter of fact, Shehbaz Taseer's abduction case is not being dealt with by the Punjab Police alone. In fact, there is a highlevel Joint Investigating Team (JIT) being led by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) which is investigating the case. The Crime Investigation Department of Punjab and the Special Branch of Punjab Police are only assisting the investigators in their efforts to track down the kidnappers". Asked about the identity of Shehbaz Taseer's abductors, the law minister said: "I can say positive progress has been made in the case and the investigation is going in the right direction". Asked if the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was involved in the kidnapping, Rana Sanaullah said such reports were baseless. Those investigating the case do have a very clear idea about the kidnappers. But I can't make public any information at this stage due to sensitivity of the matter," the law minister added.

While slamming the Punjab government for its soft corner towards extremists, the AHRC statement said: "Banned militant religious groups are exciting violence in Punjab with full institutional protection from the ruling party of the province (PML-N). Federal minister for interior had accused the Punjab government that its ministers and officials are closely associated with the LeJ which is why no action has been taken against the group. Ishaq's September 22 protective detention under the guise of house arrest comes after his organisation, the Lashkar-e- Jhangvi, claimed responsibility for the killings of 29 Shia pilgrims." The AHRC statement further said: "The LeJ has overtly opened offices in many districts of the Punjab province and collecting funds on the streets by means of collection boxes in shops and restaurants. After the killing of 29 Shia pilgrims from the Hazara tribe in Mastung, the Lashkare- Jhangvi has come out openly and announced to continue its movement against the Shia sect as they are infidel and they should be declared a non- Islamic religious group. One must ask if this is another attempt at appeasement by the government towards the militant religious groups".

While expressing dismay at the recent release of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's operational chief, Malik Ishaq, the Asia Human Rights Commission said: "Malik was bailed from the Supreme Court of Pakistan [on July 14, 2011] from many cases regarding killings and bombings. Malik remained in detention for 14 years but the [Punjab] government could not provide protection to witnesses [against him]. Also, the prosecution produced very weak cases which ultimately benefited defence. He was thus released on bail by the Supreme Court on the grounds of these weak cases".

"Malik Ishaq was then detained on September 22 [2011] on the pretext that he was facing death threats and needed protection. His arrest was made under Article 5 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) for ten days. The house detention generally does not fall under the term of punishment in the country as during that period the detainee has access to communications via cell phones, internet and the electronic media. Immediately after his release on bail he visited many places and roused the people on sectarian issues. At the same time, he (Malik Ishaq) organized his group, the LeJ, which is supposedly banned by the government", the AHRC statement added.

However, a senior official of the Punjab Home Department [who requested anonymity] refuted the AHRC statement as a pack of lies, adding that Ishaq has not been sent to jail because he was facing death threats and needed protection. In fact, the official said, he has been detained for a period of one month to preempt sectarian strife in the province. He said not only Malik Ishaq, but another LeJ leader Ghulam Rasool Shah has also been confined in his hometown, Bahawalnagar. Therefore, the spokesman said, it is simply ridiculous to accuse the Punjab government of having a soft corner towards extremists.

 

[Daredevil]

As expected another drama ensues in this death sentence. The Qadri supporters have done their ground work to get him released by kidnapping Taseer's son. So now the choice in front of the Taseer's family is to let the killer of Salman Taseer go free by pardoning him as per shariat law or let the son of Taseer also die. Very tough choice for the family.

 

[asianobserve]

Whoever the judge of that Court is will surely be in a lot of trouble... never mind the full pledged jihadists, even from all those petal trowing Paki lawyers alone.

 

[Blackwater]

what happen to Tasser son? he was kidnapped month ago..

Jinda ha kya ?????

 

[Bangalorean]

^^ Zinda hai. The kidnappers have demanded Qadri's pardon/release in exchange for the son's release.

 

[Blackwater]

^^ Zinda hai. The kidnappers have demanded Qadri's pardon/release in exchange for the son's release.

Jee baat.... i likes

 

[Daredevil]

Pakistan's blasphemy laws have left even judges in fear of their lives

The furore over the killing of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer for allegedly licentious behaviour is merely the latest and most extreme example of an appallingly divisive issue

So he's going to swing – perhaps. On Saturday a Pakistani judge sentenced Mumtaz Qadri, the police bodyguard who assassinated the Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, to death by hanging. The young policeman smiled and thanked God. "My dream has come true," he reportedly said.

It was a predictably theatrical turn from Qadri, a former nobody who murdered Taseer in cowardly fashion – shooting the governor 27 times in the back – and who has since revelled in the notoriety of his blood-stained celebrity. Equally predictable, alas, was the reaction on the streets outside.

Close to the courtroom in Rawalpindi, angry young men attacked a monument to the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, defacing her image on the spot where she died in a suicide bombing in 2007. Down in Lahore, turbaned men with long sticks surged through the ancient Anarkali bazaar, thrashing traders who refused to shutter their shops in sympathy for Qadri.

Meanwhile the clerics engineering the protests – old men with soft palms and tinder-dry beards – issued po-faced statements decrying the sentence. Qadri was a good Muslim, they insisted, and Taseer got what he deserved. The governor had offended them by advocating reforms to Pakistan's antiquated blasphemy laws. In particularly they hated him for defending Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother-of-five sentenced to death under those laws last November. He deserved to die, they said.

Taseer's wife and children, in contrast, were silent. They stayed at home, busy worrying about their son and sibling, Shahbaz. The 27-year-old was kidnapped in August as he purred through Lahore in a sports Mercedes – his father's old car, in fact. Word has it he is being held in the tribal badlands of Waziristan; whether his captors are religious extremists, common criminals, or both, remains unclear.

The family is also reeling from character assaults. When Taseer was still alive, conservatives circulated photos of his children, lifted from their Facebook pages, showing them engaged in objectionable activity, such as dating and swimming in a swimming pool. After Taseer died, Qadri's lawyers aired allegations about his sex life, drinking habits and apparent taste for pork – proof, they said, of a licentiousness that justified his cold-blooded murder.

The distasteful spectacle is partly a product of Pakistan's social gulf. The Taseers inhabit the gilded bubble of a tiny elite whose westernised lives play out in Hello!-style photospreads of society magazines. In fact the Taseers own one of the most popular magazines. But it also goes to the heart of a bigger ideological crisis.

In theory, Pakistan is a country that welcomes all creeds and castes. But in practice it is proving to be anything but. Ask Faryal Bhatti, a teenage girl recently expelled from school for the crime of bad spelling.

A week ago last Thursday, the 13-year-old Christian girl was sitting an Urdu exam which involved a poem about the prophet Muhammad when she dropped a dot on the Urdu word naat (a devotional hymn to the prophet), accidentally turning it into lanaat, or damnation. Spotting the error, her teacher scolded her, beat her and reported the matter to the principal. The news soon flamed through her community in Havelian, 30 miles north of Islamabad.

Mullahs raged against Bhatti in their sermons; a school inquiry was hastily convened to examine the matter. Bhatti was expelled; her mother, a government nurse, was banished to another town, and the family has since fled Havelian in fear of their lives. All over a missing dot.

What accounts for such madness? In some parts Taseer's death has inspired a McCarthyite atmosphere in which nobody wants to seen to be soft on blasphemy. But there is also a more profound reason. Devotion to the prophet Muhammad is central to the faith of the Barelvi Sunnis, who make up the majority of Pakistani Muslims. Even a whiff of insult to the prophet can whip up feverish anger.

The core problem, in fact, is that the blasphemy furore exposes the fragility of the Pakistani state – ideological, legal and security-wise. The mixing of religion and politics has long troubled Pakistan, but over the past 30 years that dangerous cocktail has been spiked by the army's policy of nurturing extremists – hence men like Qadri who believe they have a right to kill in the name of God.

Meanwhile President Asif Ali Zardari's government has shown zero leadership when it comes to reforming the blasphemy law – in fact, cowardly ministers have run a mile from any suggestion of change. And those who do dare to stand up for progress – or just the rule of law – live in fear of the next Qadri-style hit.

In truth, Taseer's baby-faced killer is unlikely to be hanged any time soon. A lengthy appeals process is just starting, and the Zardari government has imposed an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment. But the judge who sentenced him, Pervez Ali Shah, faces perhaps shorter odds.

Judges who rule the "wrong" way on blasphemy face immense dangers in Pakistan. In 1997 extremists burst into the chambers of a high court judge who acquitted an accused blasphemer three years earlier, and shot him dead. Justice Shah will be fearing a repeat.

Reporters at Qadri's hearing on Saturday noted that the judge slipped from the courtroom via the back door. He knows he is a marked man. Now only time will tell if the discredited Pakistani state can stand up for at least one good man.

 

[Galaxy]

Looks like this Idiot is happy with the death penalty after murder. :shocked:

72 .......... @ End -- Looks like !!