Daily Times

This Sunday, Rome’s ancient Colosseum was lit red to show solidarity with persecuted Christians across the world – including those in Pakistan.Hundreds gathered in the Roman amphitheatre, which is a symbol for the resilience to persecution of the early Christians at the hands of the Roman Empire.This show of unity with persecuted Christians is significant for Pakistan because the attendants were addressed by the husband and daughter of Asia Bibi – charged and convicted of blasphemy in 2010.The Asia Bibi case had first drawn international attention when this paper’s founder Salmaan Taaseer and Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti were killed in separate incidents after they made public statements defending Asia Bibi.

At this event, secretary general of the Italian Bishop’s conference Archbishop Nunzio Galantino declared that blasphemy laws are meant to crush people with different belief systems. This cannot be denied if one observes the history of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. After all, in over 80 percent of blasphemy cases, the accused are eventually acquitted, meaning that the law has a high potential for abuse. A 2015 report by the International Commission of Jurists entitled “On Trial: The Implementation of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws”highlights other injustices. According to the report, court rooms are hostile environments for those accused of blasphemy. Often they are flooded by members of extremist groups who openly threaten the accused during the trial. In addition to this, judges often conduct themselves like aggrieved parties rather than impartial arbitrators.Justice is compromised further because the lawyers defending those accused of blasphemy are treated as pariahs by their colleagues in addition to facing death threats. Worse of all, the vague language used in the blasphemy law violates the principle of legality and does not even take the accused person’s intention or state of mind into account.

Pakistani Christians continue to suffer as a result of the blasphemy laws.The most recent cases are of Sajid Masih and his cousin Patras Masih, who stand accused of uploading blasphemous material on a Facebook page.Sajid, who has attempted suicide, accused FIA officials of torturing him and attempting to force him to molest his cousin.This is yet another stain on Pakistan’s human rights record. One hopes that the protest in Rome causes some self-reflection in Islamabad. *

Published in Daily Times, February 26^th 2018.