Daily Times

In a recent news report printed in a daily, it was reported that only five out of 54 Muslim countries have strict laws related to blasphemy. There are other countries that have blasphemy laws, but do not imply strict punishments and cover all the religions including the minorities. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are guided by shariah law that holds punishments as strict as death for the accused. Articles 295-A, B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) are included in the law that were introduced by General Ziaul Haq’s government to woo the religious leaders of the country.

Other countries include Sudan, Afghanistan and arguably Dubai, where the shariah law is only applicable to Muslims, while the non-Muslims are governed by the man-made law. Sudan and Afghanistan are among the countries that are declared war zones and as we claim ourselves to be democratic, it is unjust to compare Pakistan with these two. Egypt is one of the countries that also have laws pertaining to blasphemy in the penal code of the constitution. However, the minimum punishment is for six months, while the maximum is for five years.

The reason for describing these facts is to draw a comparison between the Muslim countries that are apparently more Islamic than Pakistan, but do not have strict laws in their constitutions regarding blasphemy. Egypt’s importance is enhanced by the fact that the Al-Azhar University is situated there. This university not only acts as a centre of Islamic research and history, but also as a centre of Islamic hermeneutics. This country does not have strict punishments in their law regarding blasphemy. Perhaps their research has helped them understand that the God who took the responsibility of protecting the religion and the Holy Scripture, i.e. the Quran, does not need the role of us Muslims in this regard. But unfortunately some scholars and proponents of this law say that Pakistan came into being on the basis of an ideology, not on the basis of nationalism.

Since the enactment of this law, i.e. for almost 25 years, hundreds of people have been indicted by fellow countrymen in the name of Islam. In a recent incident a father — a mosque imam — and his son were imprisoned for life and fined for desecrating the Holy Prophet (PBUH). This was done because they removed a poster from outside of their shop, which was advertising an event related to the Prophet’s (PBUH) birth anniversary. The accuser said that they removed the poster and trampled it under their feet. The accused recently returned from Hajj, but the difference of sects became the root cause of this incident.

It is unfortunate that this law has mostly been used to settle personal enmities. Even this incident clearly describes that the accuser, who was also the organiser of the event, did not like the act and accused the father and son of blasphemy. This is really going out of limits. Are we, being human beings and Muslims, getting so irrational that we have started accusing each other of blasphemy based on our enmities? Islam is a religion of peace; it gave voice to the voiceless and those who were being persecuted. It never came to persecute other people, especially minorities.

Some of our religious leaders have even disregarded the founder of this country by saying that we should not always refer to the Quaid’s sayings, as the Objectives Resolution has now given the Islamic identity to our country. I do not want to name the personality who said this in a talk show, where Justice (retd) Dr Javed Iqbal and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami were also present. It means that the aspirations of the Quaid for making Pakistan a democracy with no place for theocracy have been rendered useless. This is only because the religious leaders are running their campaigns in the name of Islam and have made fools out of the uneducated majority and some of the educated minority as well.

The political as well as the social environment of the country is certainly heated up due to debates and discussions on this law. A vast majority is silent, because they are confused and are refraining from commenting on this issue. They have adopted this approach because our education system has made them do this, which is deliberately designed to feed the people about their religion. The Quaid has clearly said that religion is not the state’s responsibility, because there are a number of minorities living here as well. They should not be alienated and have all the rights as enjoyed by the majority. We got this country based on a difference with the Hindus, which certainly was religion, but instead of preserving the ideology, we have further drawn lines between ourselves, i.e. instead of promoting unity, it is now promoting hatred and the authority to call each other “kafirs” (infidels).

I am afraid a time will come, when based on our separate religious beliefs, we will break the country into countless pieces as many as the sects that we follow.

More than anything else, our priority should be to draw consensus on this matter by inviting prominent figures from all the religious schools of thought, along with policy and law makers. Based on a unanimous decision, we should either make changes in the law or leave it as it is. Otherwise the simplest solution would be to hold a referendum on this issue and let the people decide what they want. I hope that the silent majority will choose what they prefer for themselves and the future of the country.

We certainly cannot afford to venture into more of this foolishness and fanaticism. If the people are confused then they should read the Holy Quran and try to find the answer, instead of leaving the religion at the mercy of the so-called religious leaders. I am sure that they will find an answer that is acceptable to everyone.

The writer is an Islamabad-based development consultant. She can be reached at coordinator@individualland.com