The
Pakistan Penal Code
The Pakistan Penal Code (; ), abbreviated as PPC, is a penal code for all offences charged in Pakistan. It was originally prepared by Lord Macaulay with a great consultation in 1860 on the behalf of the Government of India as the Indian Penal ...
, the main
criminal code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
of Pakistan, penalizes
blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
( ur, قانون ناموس رسالت) against any recognized
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
, providing penalties ranging from a fine to
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
. According to the
US Commission on International Religious Freedom
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the lead ...
, around 80 people are known to be incarcerated in Pakistan on blasphemy charges—half of those face
life in prison
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
or the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.
From 1967 to 2014, over 1,300 people were
accused of blasphemy, with
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
constituting most of those accused.
According to
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
groups, blasphemy laws in Pakistan have been exploited not only for persecuting
minorities but also for settling personal rivalries, often against other
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s.
Though no judicial execution has been carried out under these laws, many of those accused, their lawyers and any persons speaking against blasphemy laws and proceedings have become victims of
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
s or street
vigilantism
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
in Pakistan. More than 75 people were murdered for blasphemy between 1987 and 2017.
Context
Many people accused of blasphemy have been murdered before their trials were over,
and renowned figures who opposed the blasphemy law have been assassinated.
Since 1990, 62 people have been murdered following blasphemy accusations.
["Bad-mouthing: Pakistan's blasphemy laws legitimise intolerance".](_blank)
''The Economist'', 29 November 2014. According to one religious minority source, an accusation of blasphemy commonly exposes the accused, police, lawyers, and judges to harassment, threats, attacks and rioting.
Critics complain that Pakistan's blasphemy laws are "overwhelmingly being used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal vendettas,"
but calls for change in blasphemy laws have been strongly resisted by Islamic parties - most prominently the
Barelvi
The Barelvi movement ( ur, بَریلوِی, , ), also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement following the Hanafi and Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, with strong Suf ...
school of Islam.
Many atheists in Pakistan have been lynched and imprisoned over unsubstantiated allegations of blasphemy. When the state initiated a full-fledged crackdown on atheism since 2017, it has become worse with secular bloggers being kidnapped and the government running advertisements urging people to identify blasphemers among them and the highest judges declaring such people to be terrorists.
Cases under blasphemy law have also been registered against Muslims who have harassed non-Muslims.
In 2020, the
European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS)
The European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) is an independent think tank and policy research institute on South Asia. The institute is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
According to its website, the fundamental research of the in ...
in a report entitled, ''Guilty until proven innocent: The sacrilegious nature of blasphemy laws Pakistan'', recommended wide-ranging changes to Pakistan's laws and legal systems.
Laws
By its constitution, the official name of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
is the "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" as of 1956. More than 96% of Pakistan's 167 million citizens (2008) are Muslims.
Among
countries with a Muslim majority, Pakistan has the strictest anti-blasphemy laws. The first purpose of those laws is to protect Islamic authority. By the constitution (Article 2), Islam is the
state religion
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...
. By the constitution's Article 31, it is the country's duty to foster the Islamic way of life. By Article 33, it is the country's duty to discourage parochial, racial, tribal, sectarian, and provincial prejudices among the citizens. Under Article 10A of constitution it is also the state's duty to provide for the right of fair trial.
Religion-related offences on the territory of modern Pakistan were first codified by the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
in 1860, and were expanded in 1927.
Pakistan inherited that legislation when it gained independence after the
partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
in 1947.
Several sections of Pakistan's Penal Code comprise its
blasphemy law
A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, abou ...
s.
Development of Pakistani blasphemy laws
During the 1920s, after assassination of a publisher of a book named ''
Rangila Rasul
Rangina Rasul or Rangeela Rasool (Urdu: رنگیلا رسول, Devanagari: रंगीला रसूल, english: ''Colourful Prophet'': "These opening lines of the provocative Rangila Rasul he Colourful Prophet a slim volume published in 1 ...
'', published in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
. In 1927, under pressure from the Muslim community, the administration of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
enacted
Hate Speech Law Section 295(A),
a part of the Criminal Law Amendment Act XXV. This made it a criminal offence to insult the founders or leaders of any religious community.
After creation of Pakistan in 1947, over the years many
anti blasphemy laws and clauses were introduced in Pakistan's Penal Code.
Between 1980 and 1986, the
military government
A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...
of General
Zia-ul Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...
modified the existing blasphemy laws (which had been inherited from the colonial-era
Indian Penal Code
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...
) to make them more severe, with a number of clauses being added by the government in order to
"Islamicise" the laws and deny the Muslim character of the
Ahmadi
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
minority.
Before 1986, only 14 cases of blasphemy were reported.
Parliament through the Second Amendment to the Constitution on 7 September 1974, under Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, declared Ahmadi Muslims as non-Muslims. In 1986 it was supplemented by a new blasphemy provision also applied to Ahmadi Muslims (See
Persecution of Ahmadis
The Ahmadiyya branch of Islam has been subject to various forms of religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889. The Ahmadiyya Muslim movement emerged from the Sunni tradition of Islam and its adherents b ...
).
PPC
PPC may refer to:
Computing
* Personal programmable calculator, programmable calculators for personal use
* Pay-per-click, an internet advertising model
* PearPC, a PowerPC platform emulator
* Peercoin, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency
* Periphera ...
br>S. 295-C
inserted b
/ref> Between 1987 and 2017 at least 1,500 people were charged with blasphemy and at least 75 people involved in accusations of blasphemy were killed in Pakistan according to the Center for Social Justice.
Religious offences and punishments
Except for § 295-C, the provisions of § 295 require that an offence be a consequence of the accused's intent.
(See below Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
.)
§ 298 states:
:Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person, utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person or makes any gesture in the sight of that person or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Between 1986 and 2007, Pakistani authorities charged 647 people with blasphemy offences. with one source saying Fifty percent of these were non-Muslims, who represent only 3% of the national population.[ No judicial execution for blasphemy has ever occurred in Pakistan,] but 20 of those charged were murdered.[
The only law that may be useful in countering misuse of the blasphemy law is PPC 153 A (a), whoever "by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or incites, or attempts to promote or incite, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities" shall be fined and punished with imprisonment for a term that may extend to five years.
On 12 January 2011, Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani once again said that there would be no amendments to the blasphemy law.
]
Sharia
The Federal Shariat Court
The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) is a constitutional court of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has the power to examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with Sharia law. The court was established in 1980 during the gov ...
(FSC) is a religious body which rules on whether any particular law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam. If a law is repugnant to Islam, "the President in the case of a law with respect to a matter in the Federal Legislative List or the Concurrent Legislative List, or the Governor in the case of a law with respect to a matter not enumerated in either of those Lists, shall take steps to amend the law so as to bring such law or provision into conformity with the Injunctions of Islam" (Constitution, Article 203D). In October 1990, the FSC ruled that § 295-C was repugnant to Islam by permitting life imprisonment as an alternative to a death sentence. The Court said "the penalty for contempt of the Holy Prophet ... is death." The FSC ruled that, if the President did not take action to amend the law before 30 April 1991, then § 295-C would stand amended by its ruling.
Promptly after the FSC's ruling in 1990, Bishop Dani L. Tasleem filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which has the power to overrule the FSC. In April 2009, the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court considered the appeal. Deputy Attorney-General Agha Tariq Mehmood, who represented the federal government, said that the Shariat Appellate Bench dismissed the appeal because the appellant did not pursue it. The appellant did not present any argument on the appeal because the appellant, according to reports, was no longer alive. Consequently, it appears to be the law in Pakistan that persons convicted under § 295-C must be sentenced to death with or without a fine.
Vigilantism
Those who are accused of blasphemy may be subject to harassment, threats, and attacks. Police, lawyers, and judges may also be subject to harassment, threats, and attacks when blasphemy is an issue. Those accused of blasphemy are subject to immediate incarceration, and most accused are denied bail to forestall mob violence. It is common for those accused of blasphemy to be put in solitary confinement for their protection from other inmates and guards. Like those who have served a sentence for blasphemy, those who are acquitted of blasphemy usually go into hiding or leave Pakistan. Pakistan's blasphemy laws are known to be widely abused by those seeking personal gain from those accused as evidenced by the Imran Ghafur Masih case study. Masih was accused and sentenced to life in prison under section 295B of the blasphemy laws after his neighbor manipulated and tricked him into unknowingly throwing away a copy of the Quran, because the neighbor wanted to gain Masih's storefront real estate.
United Nations
Pakistan's support of blasphemy regulation has caused it to be active in the international arena in promoting global limitations on freedom of religion or belief and limitations on freedom of expression. In March 2009, Pakistan presented a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
in Geneva which calls upon the world to formulate laws against the defamation of religion. See blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
.
Internet censorship
In May 2010, Pakistan blocked access to Facebook because the website hosted a page called Everybody Draw Muhammad Day. Pakistan lifted the block after Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
prevented access to the page. In June 2010, Pakistan blocked seventeen websites for hosting content that the authorities considered offensive to Muslims. At the same time, Pakistan began to monitor the content of Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
, Yahoo
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...
, YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
and Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a variety ...
.
In January 2021, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) convicted and sentenced three men to death for sharing blasphemous content on social media. A fourth accused in the same case, one Anwaar Ahmed, Professor of Urdu language, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs100,000. He had been accused of disseminating controversial blasphemous views during a lecture at the Islamabad Model College. During the trial, court did not admit witnesses for the defence because they were blood relatives of the accused.
Public opinion
On 19 March 2014, ''The Nation'' polled its readers and later reported that 68% of Pakistanis believe the blasphemy law should be repealed. On the other hand, the International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...
reports that
Pakistani human rights activists say that charges of blasphemy are being used to harass minorities and settle personal conflicts. Harshil Mehta, South Asia's political observer, has commented that it is "an urgent need to replace these laws" in his article in ''Outlook''. If the Islamic Republic, he wrote, "wants to prove itself as a haven for religious freedom, then it must ban these regressive laws."
Selected cases
Arrests and death sentences issued for blasphemy laws in Pakistan go back to the late 1980s and early 90s. Despite the implementation of these laws, no one has yet been executed by the order of the courts or governments as to date, only imprisoned to await a verdict or killed at the hands of felons who were convinced that the suspects were guilty.
According to Sohail Khattak and Noman Ahmed of The Express Tribune,'' Pakistan', in 2014 Professor Dr Muhammad Shakil Auj, the then officiating dean of Islamic Studies Faculty at the University of Karachi was gunned down. Police investigators suspected likely involvement of his own colleagues including one previous dean in texting and circulating blasphemy charges with message 'sar tan se juda (Beheading is the punishment)' against Auj, being not happy with the orientation of his research.
Some of the widely reported cases were:
* In December 2017, a 58-year-old man accused of blasphemy was freed after spending over nine years in jail. Bahawalnagar District
Bahawalnagar District (Urdu and pa, ), is a district of Punjab province in Pakistan. Before the independence of Pakistan, Bahawalnagar was part of Bahawalpur state governed by the Nawab of Bahawalpur. The city of Bahawalnagar is the capital o ...
court and Lahore High Court
The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...
sentenced the man to life imprisonment which was overruled by Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...
as the evidence used was not in accordance with the Evidence Act
Evidence Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to evidence. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Evidence Bill during its ...
*In July 2017, Faisal Mahmood was charged with blasphemy law U/S 295C by the court of magistrate special judicial Gujarat and could be sentence to death.
* In March 2017, Prime Minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...
supported a crackdown on blasphemous material posted on social media and described blasphemy as an "unpardonable offence". Shortly after, Pakistani blogger Ayaz Nizami
Ayaz Nizami is a blogger and political prisoner in Pakistan known for his arrest on 24 March 2017 for alleged blasphemy, and is currently facing the death penalty on such charges.
Biography
Early life
Nizami is a religious scholar, who pr ...
, founder of realisticapproach.org, an Urdu website about atheism, and Vice President of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan, was detained under the charges of blasphemy and could face the death penalty.
* In January, 2014 Muhammad Asghar, a 70-year-old British man from Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death by a court in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
. Asghar had initially been arrested in 2010 after sending letters in which he declared himself a prophet, and had lived in Pakistan for several years prior to his arrest and trial. Javed Gul, a government prosecutor, disclosed to Agence France Presse that, "Asghar claimed to be a prophet even inside the court. He confessed it in front of the judge." Asghar's lawyers had argued during the trial that he should be granted leniency on account of a history of mental illness, but a medical panel later rejected this argument after reviewing his case.
* In September 2013, a Lahore-based woman Salma Fatima was arrested by police after she distributed pamphlets declaring herself a prophet.
* In October 2012 teacher Arfa Iftikhar was forced into hiding after a furious mob stormed Farooqi Girls High School in the eastern city of Lahore over a piece of homework she set that allegedly contained derogatory references to the Islamic prophet Mohammad.
* Rimsha Masih (some reports use the name "Rifta" or "Riftah") is a Pakistani child who was arrested in Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
by Pakistani police in August 2012 and who could face the death penalty for blasphemy for allegedly desecrating
Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful, contemptuous, or destructive treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.
Detail
Many consider acts of desecration to ...
pages of the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
(or a book containing verses from the Quran) by burning. She is a member of Pakistan's Christian minority.
* In July 2011 Muhammad Ajmal escaped the raid of a local religious group in Rawalpindi, who later announced that anti-Islamic material and blasphemous material against the prophet of Islam was found in his apartment, both printed and on his laptop. Ajmal disappeared in July 2011.
* On 12 December 2011, a teacher, Shahid Nadeem, in the missionary school of Faisalabad, was accused by Qari Muhammad Afzal (a member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia ...
, a banned organisation) who registered an FIR on 28 December 2011 at the local police station claiming that the culprit had deliberately torn the pages of Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
and burned them.
* On 2 March 2011 Shahbaz Bhatti
Clement Shahbaz Bhatti (9 September 19682 March 2011), popularly known as Shahbaz Bhatti, was a Pakistani politician who was elected as a member of the National Assembly from 2008. He was the first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs from N ...
, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs (a Roman Catholic member of the National Assembly), was killed by gunmen in Islamabad as he was travelling to work, a few weeks after he had vowed to defy death threats over his efforts to reform Pakistan's blasphemy laws.
* In November 2010, Asia Bibi
In 2010, a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen ( ur, , translit=Āsiyāh Naurīn, ; born ), commonly known as Asia Bibi () or Aasia Bibi, was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court and was sentenced to death by hanging.
In October ...
was sentenced to death by hanging on a charge of blasphemy. She said the accusation was false and was simply revenge after an argument in a berry field over drinking water. The case sparked international reactions, and in 2018, thanks to international advocacy, Bibi was acquitted of the blasphemy charges after spending 8 years on death row. Punjab Governor Salman Taseer
Salman Taseer ( Punjabi and ur, ); ( 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011.
A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party since the 1980s, h ...
was shot dead by his security guard for supporting Asia Bibi
In 2010, a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen ( ur, , translit=Āsiyāh Naurīn, ; born ), commonly known as Asia Bibi () or Aasia Bibi, was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court and was sentenced to death by hanging.
In October ...
. Salman Taseer had visited Bibi in Jail and had held a press conference with her. He had told media that she would be released soon and the President of Pakistan will soon annul her death sentence. This triggered mass protests in Pakistan with many imams of local mosques claiming that Salman Taseer had defied Mohammed
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
and should be sentenced to death for it. Taseer was later assassinated in early 2011.
* In July 2010, a trader in Faisalabad complained that one of his employees had been handed a pamphlet which contained disrespectful remarks about Muhammad. According to the police, the pamphlet appeared to have the signatures and addresses of Pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajid, who were Christians. The brothers were shot and killed while being escorted by the police from a district court. Both had denied the charge of blasphemy. Allama Ahmed Mian Hammadi, a Pakistani Muslim cleric, claimed that Shahbaz Bhatti
Clement Shahbaz Bhatti (9 September 19682 March 2011), popularly known as Shahbaz Bhatti, was a Pakistani politician who was elected as a member of the National Assembly from 2008. He was the first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs from N ...
, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities, had himself committed blasphemy by branding the murdered Christian brothers as victims of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.
* On 9 July 2009, a FIR was registered against two teenager brothers, complainant falsely accusing them that they had spoken against Muhammad and this family had to leave the country for their safety. On 30 July 2009, hundreds of members of ''Sipah-e-Sahaba'' and International Khatm-e-Nabuwat 'IKNM' the banned Muslim organisations, torched the Christian homes and killed Christians in the Punjabi city of Gojra
Gojra ( Punjabi and ur, ), the administrative capital of Gojra Tehsil, is the city of Toba Tek Singh District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Gojra is from Faisalabad, from Lahore and north of Toba Tek Singh. Founded in 1896 during the B ...
Faisalabad and in the nearby village of Korian, District Faisalabad. The professed reason for the violence was that a Christian had defiled and spoke against Muhammad.
* On 22 January 2009, Hector Aleem a Christian Human Rights Activist in Pakistan was arrested on a blasphemy charge. According to the FIR, someone sent a blasphemous text message to the leader of Sunni Tehreek. Hector Aleem was arrested because the sender had once contacted him. Hector Aleem, the Chairman of Peace Worldwide, had been working for a church in Islamabad which was demolished by the CDA (Capital Development Authority) for having been built illegally. When Hector Aleem objected to the destruction of the church he was faced with several threats and lawsuits ranging from fraud to criminal charges. He fought all of them in the courts and proved his innocence. He also faced several assassination attempts. Hector Aleem was eventually arrested on the charge of blasphemy.
* In February 2008, Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
reminded Pakistan's representative of the matter regarding Raja Fiaz, Muhammad Bilal, Nazar Zakir Hussain, Qazi Farooq, Muhammad Rafique, Muhammad Saddique and Ghulam Hussain. According to the allegations received, the men were members of the Mehdi Foundation International (MFI), a multi-faith institution utilising the name of Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi
Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi ( ur, ) (born 25 November 1941) is a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual movements ''RAGS International'' (now known as Messiah Foundation International) and ''Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam''.
He is the author ...
. They were arrested on 23 December 2005 in Wapda Town. The police confiscated posters on which Gohar Shahi
Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi ( ur, ) (born 25 November 1941) is a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual movements ''RAGS International'' (now known as Messiah Foundation International) and ''Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam''.
He is the author ...
was shown as "Imam Mehdi." On 13 July 2006, the Anti-Terrorism Court No. 1 in Lahore sentenced each accused to five years of imprisonment, ''inter alia'', under § 295-A for having outraged others' religious feelings. Since 27 August 2006, the seven men have been detained in Sahiwal Jail, Punjab, where they were forced to parade naked, and were suspended from the ceiling and beaten. For this reason, they were constantly threatened and intimidated by prison staff as well as by other detainees.
* Christians and Muslims in Pakistan condemned Dan Brown
Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), ''In ...
's novel ''The Da Vinci Code
''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...
'' as blasphemous. On 3 June 2006, Pakistan banned the film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
. Culture Minister Ghulam Jamal said: "Islam teaches us to respect all the prophets of God Almighty and degradation of any prophet is tantamount to defamation of the rest."
* On 11 August 2005, Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the Anti-Terrorist Court found (another) Younus Shaikh
Mohammed Younus Shaikh ( Punjabi, ur, , born 30 May 1952) is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist and freethinker.
When he was a teacher at a medical college in Islamabad, Shaikh was an active member of the South Asia Peace Move ...
guilty of defiling a copy of the Quran, outraging religious feelings, and propagating religious hatred among society. Shaikh's conviction occurred because he wrote a book: ''Shaitan Maulvi'' (Satanic Cleric). The book said stoning to death (''Rajam'') as a punishment for adultery was not mentioned in the Quran. The book said also that four historical ''imams'' (religious leaders) were Jews. The judge imposed upon Shaikh a fine of 100,000 rupees, and sentenced him to spend his life in jail.
* In October 2000, Pakistani authorities charged M. Younus Shaikh
Mohammed Younus Shaikh ( Punjabi, ur, , born 30 May 1952) is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist and freethinker.
When he was a teacher at a medical college in Islamabad, Shaikh was an active member of the South Asia Peace Move ...
, a physician, with blasphemy on account of remarks that students claimed he made during a lecture. The students alleged that, ''inter alia'', Shaikh had said Muhammad's parents were non-Muslims because they died before Islam existed. A judge ordered that Shaikh pay a fine of 100,000 rupees, and that he be hanged. On 20 November 2003, a court retried the matter and acquitted Shaikh, who fled Pakistan for Switzerland soon thereafter.
* The police arrested Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian bricklayer for blasphemy on 14 October 1996 and jailed him for violation of § 295-C. Muhammad Akram, a Muslim neighbour to Masih, complained to the police that Masih had said Christianity was right, and Masih had suggested that Akram read Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
's ''Satanic Verses''. The same day that Masih was arrested, Muslim villagers forced the entire Christian population of Masih's village (fourteen families) to leave the village. Masih's family had applied under a government program that gave housing plots to landless people. Local landlords resented Masih's application because the landlords had been able to oblige landless Christians to work in the fields in exchange for a place to live. Masih's application gave him a way out of his subservience to the landlords. Upon Masih's arrest, the authorities gave Masih's plot to Akram. Akram shot and injured Masih in the halls of the Session Court at Sahiwal on 6 November 1997. Four assailants attacked Masih in jail. The authorities took no action against Akram or against the other assailants. On 20 April 1998, Judge Abdul Khan sentenced Masih to death and levied a fine of 100,000 rupees. Two judges of the Lahore High Court heard Masih's appeal on 24 July 2001. Shortly thereafter, the judges affirmed the judgment of the trial court. On 16 August 2002, the Supreme Court of Pakistan set aside the judgment of the lower courts. The Supreme Court noted Akram's acquisition of Masih's property and concluded the case had been fabricated for personal gain. The court also noted other breaches in the law of due process.
* In first of its kind case, a 30-year-old Shiite Taimoor Raza has been sentenced to death by Anti-Terror Court, for posting blasphemous content on Facebook. He was booked in 2016 after he engaged in sectarian debate with a counter-terrorism official on Facebook.
*In November 2016, a Facebook campaign was launched by the followers of Khadim Hussain Rizvi
Khadim Hussain Rizvi ( ur, ; 22 May 1966 – 19 November 2020) was a Pakistani Islamic author and the founder of Tehreek-e-Labbaik, a political-religious organization founded in 2015, known to protest against any change to Pakistan's blasphe ...
, against Malik Shahrukh, a PhD researcher who was previously associated with an Islamabad-based diplomatic news publication. Malik was accused of calling the Quran "''an ordinary book, produced by Mohammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
for economic and political purposes.''" A video of the local Imam of Sargodha
Sargodha ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as ...
, in which he incited people during the Friday sermon to kill Malik, went viral. Several applications were made to the authorities against Malik, demanding that he be sentenced to death. Authorities could not arrest Malik because he was not in Pakistan at the time. Sources claim that Malik is being framed for criticizing Tahreek-e-Labbaik and its chief.
* In 2019, Junaid Hafeez, formerly a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University
Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) ( ur, ) is a public university with its main campus in Multan, Pakistan. Bahauddin Zakariya University was founded in 1975 as Multan University, and is the 2nd largest university in Punjab. It was renamed i ...
in Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
, was sentenced to death for blasphemy after being arrested in 2013 and accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. Hafeez's first attorney, Rashid Rehman
Rashid Rehman (13 October 1958 – 7 May 2014) was a prominent Pakistani lawyer and a regional coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). He was well known for his work with clients who were poor or who were charged under Pa ...
, was murdered in his office in 2014 after agreeing to represent Hafeez. The verdict prompted an outcry from human rights groups; Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
called it a "'vile and gross miscarriage of justice."[Junaid Hafeez: Academic sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan]
BBC News (21 December 2019).[Shah Meer Baloch & Hannah Ellis-Petersen]
Death sentence for Pakistani lecturer in blasphemy case prompts outcry
''The Guardian'' (21 December 2019).
*In June 2020, an assistant professor of the Shah Abdul Latif University namely Sajid Soomro was arrested under contested blasphemy charges, allegedly he just claimed Islam being male dominated religion. Another professor from Sindh University Dr Arfana Mallah
Arfana Mallah ( ur, عرفانہ ملاح) is a Pakistani Human rights activist, leader of the Women's Action Forum and a professor of Chemistry at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan.
Education
Arfana BegumMallah received a maste ...
came under severe pressure for supporting and terming blasphemy law to be unfair. Various NGOs including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ) (HRCP) is an independent, democratic non-profit organisation. Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest human rights organisations in the country.
HRCP is committed to monitoring, protecting a ...
condemned misuse of blasphemy law in case of professor Sajid Soomro.
*In July 2020, there was an attempt by Qamar Riaz, a local leader of the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...
in Narowal
Narowal ( ur, ) is a city located on the western bank of river Ravi in the northeast of the province Punjab, Pakistan. The city is the capital of district Narowal, and a part of the Gujranwala division. It is the 94th largest city of Pakistan. ...
, to file a blasphemy case against former Minister for Foreign Affairs Khawaja Muhammad Asif
Khawaja Muhammad Asif (; born 9 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician currently serving as the Defence Minister of Pakistan since April 2022, He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, since August 2018. Previously, he was a ...
for allegedly saying "Islam and all religions are equal" in a speech in Pakistan's National Assembly. United States Committee on International Religious Freedoms expressed grave concerns against the same.
*In August 2020, at least 42 cases pertaining to blasphemy were registered across Pakistan in a single month, Most of those accused of blasphemy were associated to the Shia community, who have been booked under 295-A and 298 sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly insulting the companions of Muhammad
*In September 2020, a court in Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
, Pakistan, sentenced a Christian man, Asif Pervaiz, to death for sending a "blasphemous" message to his former supervisor at work in 2013. The defendant said that his supervisor had tried to convert him to Islam, which he refused to do; however, the court rejected his testimony.
See also
* Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslims, Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic language, Arabic and Glossary of Islam ...
* Asia Bibi blasphemy case
In 2010, a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen ( ur, , translit=Āsiyāh Naurīn, ; born ), commonly known as Asia Bibi () or Aasia Bibi, was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court and was sentenced to death by hanging.
In October ...
* Court system of Pakistan
The judiciary of Pakistan ( ur, پاکستان کی عدلیہ) is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior (or higher) judiciary and the subordinate (or lower) judiciary. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme ...
* Criticism of Pakistan
* Pakistan National Commission for Minorities The Pakistan National Commission for Minorities is a commission for the preservation of religious minorities in Pakistan. It is under Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony.
Background
In June 2014, the Supreme Court of Pakistan in t ...
*
* Forced conversion to Islam in Pakistan
* Freedom of religion in Pakistan
Freedom of religion in Pakistan is guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan for individuals of various religions and religious sects.
Pakistan gained independence in 1947 and was founded upon the concept of Two-nation theory. At the time of ...
* Islam in Pakistan
Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Ba ...
* Islamization in Pakistan
Sharization or Islamization ( ur, اسلامی حکمرانی) has a long history in Pakistan since the 1950s, but it became the primary policy, or "centerpiece" of the government of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the ruler o ...
* Pakistan Penal Code
The Pakistan Penal Code (; ), abbreviated as PPC, is a penal code for all offences charged in Pakistan. It was originally prepared by Lord Macaulay with a great consultation in 1860 on the behalf of the Government of India as the Indian Penal ...
* Religion in Pakistan
The official religion of Pakistan is Islam, as enshrined by Article 2 of the Constitution, and is practised by approximately 96.47% of the country's population. The remaining less than 4% practice Hinduism, Christianity, Ahmadiyya, Sikhism and ...
* Religious discrimination in Pakistan
Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue for the human rights situation in modern-day Pakistan. Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Shias, and Ahmadis among other religious minorities often face discrimination and at times are even subjected ...
*Sectarian violence in Pakistan
Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to attacks and counter-attacks against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's sect, usually a religious extremist group. Targets in Pakistan include the Shia, Barelvis, ...
*Superstitions in Muslim Societies
Superstition is an excessively credulous belief in supernatural causality: the belief that one event is the cause of another without any physical process linking the two, such as astrology, omens, witchcraft, and apotropaic magic. According to Ras ...
*Women related laws in Pakistan
The legislative assembly of Pakistan has enacted a number of measures designed to give women more power in the areas of family, inheritance, revenue, civil and criminal laws. These measures are an attempt to safeguard women's right to freedom of s ...
References
Further reading
*
Court accepts petition not to change Islamic blasphemy law, Aftab Alexander Mughal
On Pakistani Blasphemy law
Masood Ashraf Raja
Masood Ashraf Raja (Urdu: مسعود اشرف راجہ) is a Pakistani-born American writer. Previously, he was an associate professor of postcolonial literature and theory at the University of North Texas. He is also the editor of '' Pakistan ...
Pakistan: Religious freedom in the shadow of extremism, CSW briefing, 2011
Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan
Once a blasphemer always a blasphemer
*Abbas, Shemeem Burney. Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws: From Islamic Empires to the Taliban. N.p., University of Texas Press, 2013.
*Pakistan: The Mullahs and the Military. Belgium, ICG, 2003. Page 22
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasphemy Law In Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Censorship in Islam
Islamic extremism
Law about religion in Pakistan
*
Persecution by Muslims
Political repression in Pakistan
Religious discrimination in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...