Sir: Who says Ziaul Haq died a quarter century back? He did not because he is alive as long as Pakistan remains buried in the fallout of the US-Soviet war in Afghanistan. His sellout of Pakistan to act as a surrogate mother in order to facilitate those who fought inside Afghanistan with the help of US weaponry and dollars has become a never-ending misery for Pakistanis. Of his many evil doings, one of them includes the 8th Amendment in the constitution. Because of the street power and nuisance value of religious parties, no government, whether civilian or military, has ever been able to touch this amendment. Even the much acclaimed 18th Amendment, which restored much of the constitution to its original shape, failed to even discuss this legacy of Zia, let alone change/repeal it. Out of many one-sided changes, the 8th Amendment made some far-reaching changes to the blasphemy law, including the death penalty for blasphemers. This was a turning point for evil minds to take the law into their own hands. Since the promulgation of this law, hardly any one person has been sentenced to death in a court of law but hundreds of people have been killed, injured or made homeless by mobs and individuals accusing them of blasphemy. Those killed include not only alleged blasphemers but also civil rights workers, lawyers, judges and police officers working on such cases. It is widely claimed that the blasphemy law was used by evil minds with vested interests to provoke bloody conflict between communities, settle scores, vacate properties and force someone out of business, etc. Even if the courts freed the alleged blasphemers for lack of evidence, the accusers were never implicated for falsely accusing others.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has now been discussing awarding the death penalty for false accusers. For some people this may be an attempt to make the law a bit balanced but I do not think any such amendment will make any difference on the ground. It will be wishful thinking that, by this proposed amendment, the misuse of the blasphemy law will stop. Most of these cases are settled by mobs before reaching the police and courts. Unless this mentality, which allows murder as a religious duty/obligation, is defeated, nothing will change. I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel in today’s Pakistan.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail,
Saudi Arabia