Indian Defence Review

 “They have been burned to death, hanged by mobs, shot dead in courtrooms and hacked to death on the side of the road, among other forms of extrajudicial executions”, reported Al Jazeera in August 2023. This was reported with regards to the growing intolerance among the masses and to what has been regarded as the most “common violence” faced by the alleged offenders of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, who are being incriminated without any substantial evidentiary proof.

What commenced as an effort to protect the religious sentiments in Pakistan through the utilization of Blasphemy Laws, soon became an exploitative process for persecuting minorities and for settling personal scores amongst people. Historically, this has often been against the non Muslims or the minorities and as a result the misuse of these laws has caused a dire concern amongst various Human Rights groups.

It is important to mention, the blasphemy laws culminated under the British Raj in 1860 and later continued until 1927.

These laws acceded to Pakistan in 1947 after the partition of India. Between the years 1980 to 1986, several addendums were made to these laws under the rule of General Zia-ul Haq’s military government. General Haq sought to “Islamicize” these laws and attempted to legally distinguish the Ahmadi community (who were declared non-Muslim in 1973 in comparison to the rest of the Muslim population in Pakistan).

Over the years, the Blasphemy Laws have been lacking democratic principles and play to a one-sided facet of the society which disregards the life, liberty or fraternity of any non Muslim, especially when they have been used to control those different from the larger Muslim sect in Pakistan or who aren’t Muslim.

Several minority groups such as the Shias, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis are left facing an imminent threat of being persecuted under a mere accusation of blasphemy, which could follow ostracization from the society, loss of employment or even life.

Pakistan is a nation of nearly 250 million  people where Sunnis make up the majority, while the Shia community is approximately 10% to 15% of the total population. Additionally, there are approximately 2.14% Hindus, 1.27% Christians, 0.09% Ahmadi Muslims and 0.02% falling in the category of others.

Most minority groups often find themselves under the crosshairs of Sunni extremist factions, who see them as ‘kafirs’.

According to the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), from 1947 to 2021, around 309 Shias were booked under Blasphemy Laws and two were extra judicially killed.

In late August 2023, massive protests broke out in the Gilgit-Baltistan region after the arrest of a Shia cleric Agha Baqir al-Hussaini ,under Pakistan’s new reinforced Blasphemy Laws. Slogans of “Chalo, chalo Kargil chalo” were carried out by local leaders. Agha Baqir al-Hussaini was charged with blasphemy and was arrested over his comments at an ulema council meeting in Skardu. The meeting was held in an effort to discuss Pakistan making its blasphemy laws stricter to apprehend the people of Shia community. Even though the Shia and the Sunni share some similar tenets of Islam, the Shias do not look up to Islamic figures who opposed the fourth Caliph, Ali.

During the protests, the leaders in Gilgit admonished the Pakistani government of a civil war and made demands to merge with India.

Earlier on 5 August 2023, Abdul Rauf Baloch, an English teacher accused of blasphemy by his students, was killed by some gunmen in Turbat, Balochistan. The murder happened, when Raufwas on his way to explain his position to a jirga of over 100 ulema.

 On 8 August,a rally was organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee condemning Rauf’s murder and accused the jirga of being involved in his murder.

On the same night of the demonstration, Rauf’s brother, and his wife, Hani Baloch, were abducted from the city of Iranshahr in Iran and were later found dead. The bodies of the deceased couple showed signs of torture.

In 16 August 2023, a Muslim mob set four churches and several homes ablaze in Jaranwala in eastern Punjab, after the rumours of two Christian men desecrating the Quran made the news. The mob was led by Muslim clerics and included members of Islamic extremist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan. Akmal Bhatti, Chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan, accused the government and local administration of failing to protect Christian residents. The police arrested over 120 people for their involvement in the civil unrest.

There was also an incident where a 150yr old Hindu Temple of Mari Mata was also demolished in Karachi while another temple was attacked by supposedly a gang of dacoits with “rocket launchers” in Sindh’s Kashmore region.

In October 19 2022, Gurdwara Chubcha Sahib, located in Lahore, was also demolished by district authorities on the pretext of safety concerns. In June 2023, a large Muslim mob attacked a gurdwara in Sukkur Sindh of Pakistan. The attackers demanded the worshippers to halt their Kirtan and warned them from conducting kirtans in the future.

In 2009, the international community took notice of a high profile case with regards to these laws. Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, was arrested for blasphemy owing to a personal dispute amongst her colleagues, who took offense to Asia providing a drink of water to some Muslim colleagues. She was later issued a death penalty in 2010, however after a stay order on the verdict, she was acquitted of all charges of blasphemy and released in 2018 by the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

During Asia’s case proceedings, two high-ranking government officials who had advocated for Asia Bibi were also murdered. The case clearly revealed the biases and the misuse of the blasphemy laws to incriminate a minority.

It is evident that one of the main factors attributed to the violence and misuse of the Blasphemy Laws may be compounded from the fact that the Laws exhibit a certain amount of ambiguity, which leaves scope for interpretations and subjectivity. According to the exact words written as a part of the blasphemy laws “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine”.

As one can note, the very phrase “defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)” becomes subjected to several interpretations. There is no specificity or mention of the kinds/types of action or behaviour which would be comprehended as the reason for “defilement”.

Various restrictions have been laid on academic expressions and have also extended to journalistic expressions which also remain vulnerable to blasphemy charges. The question of free speech is suspended in regards to what may be deemed or seen as blasphemous.

This was seen in the case of a local Urdu newspaper Muhasib, owned by Al-Ikhbar group of newspapers. The office of the news agency was sealed by the police under the charges of blasphemy and its Editors were also arrested. The charges were Initiated by the President of the Organization for the Defence of The Finality of Prophethood, following the publication of an article published by the newspaper arguing that wearing a beard in Islam was not mandatory. The writer of the article also criticised the hypocrisy of the clergy for maintaining other modern lifestyles while preaching the orthodox ways in name of the Prophet.

The law courts in the past have tried to alleviate the problems arising from the misuse of Blasphemy Laws by stating the teachings of the Prophet or by quoting instances from the history of the Prophet.

In the case Ghulam Akbar v. State, the Lahore High Court stated that if an individual claiming to be a Muslim denied committing blasphemy, then the accused could seek pardon prior to the trail for mis-understanding without any justification required. The Court further stated the charges should then be dropped keeping in mind the teachings of forgiveness and Mercy of the Prophet.

This was also seen in the case Muhammad Mahboobv. State, the Lahore High Court established that in circumstances where a person had committed blasphemy and denied the charges in the course of the trial or even repented his act, then there were several examples under Islamic legal history to show precedence that a forgiving approach had been adopted.

Additionally in a case in 2006, the Sind High Court stated that the life of Prophet clearly showed an instance where an individual was pardoned after having shown repentance for insulting the Prophet.

However, this hasn’t discouraged the number of blasphemy accusations which have prevailed in Pakistan nor has it been specified if the benevolence of the judiciary extends to the Non Muslims or minorities.

According to voicespk.net, a Pakistani digital news platform, between the months of January and May of 2023, 57 cases of blasphemy were documented. There is also a mention off our cases comprising of extrajudicial killings. These numbers were affirmed by the data collected by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a minorities rights organization.

According to the statistics documented by the CSJ dating back to 1994, 92individuals lost their lives as a result of blasphemy allegations. Among the known reported cases, 50 were declared as Muslims, 23 as Christians, 14 as Ahmadis, two Hindus, and one Buddhist. Majority of the abovementioned cases (January2023-May 2023)were seen in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir.

According to Amnesty International, Pakistan uses its blasphemy regulations to target vulnerable individuals, especially those belonging to minority communities like the Shiites and Ahmadiyya.

In 2022, 171 cases under blasphemy laws were registered with 65% of cases being reported predominantly from Punjab area.

Despite it all, in August 8,2023, the Pakistani Senate passed a Blasphemy Law amendment bill to increase the punitive action against those who were found using derogatory remarks against the Prophet, his family, wives and companions, and the four caliphs. The punishment was increased from three years of imprisonment to a non-bailable apprehension of 10 years minimum to a possible life sentence in prison.

Initially in January 2023, tabled by Abdul Akbar Chitrali of Jamat-e-Islami, a Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by the National Assembly. The Bill was meant to strengthen Section 298 A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)which was strictly to safe guard the sanctitude of “revered” personalities.

The bill extends its legislation over what information is disseminated by individuals online in regards to what Pakistan considers blasphemous.

Interesting enough, anything associated with Blasphemy is being associated with a form of “terrorism disorder within the nation,” i.e. any kind of emotional distress among citizens from different backgrounds due to the acts of certain individuals.

According to the Bill, the existing punishment for blasphemy is not sufficient for the accused. This, it recognizes as a primary reason for the dissatisfaction of individuals, who would break the laws by inflicting violence on those suspected of being blasphemous. Despite several protests and calls to amend or completely repeal the bill, there were many conservative and radical groups who welcomed this new bill.

Conclusion

Pakistan has been consistently in the spotlight due to its blasphemy laws and the reports of their misuse with regards to carrying a punitive action against the so-called alleged offenders.

The attacks on minorities who are alleged for disregarding or disrespecting the laws in terms of Islam have also been on the rise and have left the international community with a growing concern.

While Pakistan will continue to spread its false narratives against India on 27th October calling it a “Kashmir Black Day”, it fails to recount its own hypocrisy, intolerance towards its minorities and failure in protecting its own citizens from its own self-imposed laws and state funded terrorists and radicals against its own citizens. It also forgets to mention that the merger of Princely State of Kashmir with India was due to the invasion it carried out against Kashmir by assisting the Lashkar tribals who invaded Kashmir in the garb of being liberators.

It would be vital for a nation such as Pakistan, who harnesses the concept of authoritarian ideologies and the use of blasphemy laws to eradicate its citizens, to possibly rethink it’s narratives against India which are being exposed as lies.