Recently, a report published in a local newspaper said that there are 148 blasphemy accused presently in different notorious Punjab jails that are already overcrowded. It also mentioned that out of those accused, 12 have been condemned to death while 54 face life sentences along with fines. The 102 remaining cases are still pending in different courts and some are under trial. The highest numbers of blasphemy accused belong to Lahore with almost 78, Faisalabad with 45, Multan with 35 and Rawalpindi with 12. The highest number of people accused of blasphemy is detained in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail: 25. In comparison, the Central Jail in Sahiwal holds 24, the Central Jail in Faisalabad holds 22, the Central Jail in Bahawalpur holds 13, the District Jail in Jhang holds 10, the Central Jail in Multan holds nine and Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi holds eight. The blasphemy laws were incorporated in the criminal justice system almost three decades ago during the rule of military dictator General Ziaul Haq. Some say that the Islamisation of Pakistan started during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s regime and Zia only cemented it. For instance, the second amendment to the constitution declaring Ahmedis non-Muslims was supported by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to appease right-wing political forces and the mullahs.
There are many other laws that were introduced into the criminal code of Pakistan to cement and promote the Islamisation of the country. Islamisation has threatened Pakistan’s identity and triggered religious fundamentalism and extremism across Pakistan. Shias in Karachi and the rest of Pakistan are not safe; many have been killed over the last 20 years. I daresay that innocent people have been falsely roped into criminal cases using Section 295 (dealing with blasphemy) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Fundamentalism and extremism are at their peak in Pakistan. People are booked in blasphemy cases to threaten them, making Pakistan a safe haven for fundamentalists. Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s speech of August 11, 1947 set out some marvellous ground rules for building a nation, including the acceptance of people of different faiths. His speech does not get the attention of Islamic forces as it is secular and calls for separation of the state from religion.
Blasphemy cases are mostly lodged against Ahmedis and Christians. The reasons behind why people are booked for blasphemy are twofold: the first is religion and the other is politics. People accused of blasphemy are not allowed to defend themselves in court to prove their innocence. Some have been killed in jails by security guards and fellow detainees. Lawyers who take cases of blasphemy on humanitarian grounds are murdered or forced to stand aside from defending the accused. For instance, Rashid Rehman, a lawyer from Multan, was murdered a few of months ago for defending a young man accused of blasphemy. Mr Rehman accepted the case on humanitarian grounds as no other lawyer in Multan was willing to. Some say the accused was falsely roped into a blasphemy case by Jamaat-e-Islami members in Bahauddin Zakariya University. Frivolous allegations were levelled against him. The investigation conducted by the police was not up to standard and untrue statements were made in their report. One day before the assassination of Mr Rehman, he was threatened with death for defending a blasphemy accused by the opposing counsel in front of the judge. On numerous occasions he said that his life was in danger but the government took no step to provide him with reasonable security. The criminal justice system of Pakistan has lots of lacunae. Here I would like to point out that levelling allegations against someone in a First Information Report (FIR) is not proof of their guilt. The duty of determining the falsity or truthfulness of the allegation is with the judiciary. Therefore, if a person is accused of blasphemy he should be given a fair trial to defend himself in court. In Pakistan, this does not happen: the general public and fundamentalists do not allow them to defend themselves and force the courts to find them guilty.
Another example is of the former governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer. He was murdered by his own security guard and his case has been awaiting adjudication in the Islamabad High Court for two years. Mumtaz Qadri, who proudly confessed to the crime, is in the same jail after receiving the death sentence from a trial court. The judge who gave him the death sentence later left the country quietly. The murder of Salmaan Taseer was welcomed by right wing conservative forces and even the lawyers’ community. When he went to court for the first time, Mumtaz Qadiri’s well-wishers showered petals upon him. Salmaan Taseer undoubtedly spoke up for a secular, liberal Pakistan and wanted to challenge fundamentalism and extremism. His intention was to defend downtrodden Pakistani citizens, falsely implicated in blasphemy cases.
Section 295 of the PPC is a tool in the hands of those who do not want Pakistan to be secular, liberal and open. The rights of minorities enshrined in the constitution of Pakistan have never been given to them. Another example is of Muhammad Yousaf, 25, an official prison guard who reportedly said he had dreams that he should kill 70-year-old Muhammad Asghar, an alleged blasphemer and certified mentally ill UK national who has been in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for the past four years. He was awarded the death sentence by a trial court this January. Following his ‘divine instructions’ on the morning of September 25, Yousaf managed to take a pistol into the jail. He went to the barracks where Asghar was detained and shot him in the back. He was hit with two shots and missed the third when nearby guards grabbed him. The bullets passed through the victim’s body, damaging his lungs and ribs. He luckily survived.
The people of Pakistan must ensure due rights to minorities and cases concerning blasphemy must also be stopped. If a person commits blasphemy he must be given the right to defend himself in a court of law; mere allegations are no proof. Secular and liberal voices in Pakistan must also be given space to grow. Blasphemy laws are made incorrectly due to which many innocent people are languishing in jail. I agree with the Senate Standing Committee on National Harmony (SCNH) that in April 2013 met and discussed stern punishment for those making false blasphemy accusations. The committee suggested that the punishment for falsely accusing someone of blasphemy should be the same as that for committing blasphemy. Last year, after the meeting of the SCNH, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said that section 194 of the PPC defines punishment for lodging a false case with the police and there was no need to amend the blasphemy laws. This seems somewhat correct. The need is to discourage people from bringing forward blasphemy cases. I connect the blasphemy cases with a lack of tolerance in Pakistani society. Pakistan can only get rid of its religious extremism and fundamentalism if it embraces secularism, otherwise I am afraid the state of Pakistan will not survive and we all will be affected by violence and fundamentalism.
The writer is an advocate of the high court and lectures in the Law of Succession. He can be reached at [email protected]