ICC Note:
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws continue to be abused by the country’s Sunni majority to persecute religious minorities, including Christians. In the most recent incident, a Muslim minority group came under attack after a youth from that sect was accused of defacing a picture of the Khana Ka’bah. A mob of Sunni Muslims attacked the youths neighborhood and burned down many houses. Following the attack, it was confirmed that three were killed. Attacks on the Christian community are frequent in Pakistan, especially after a blasphemy accusation has been leveled against a Christians. Please pray for Pakistan.
7/29/2014 Pakistan (Pakistani Christian Post) – On July 28, 2014 Advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill,a human rights defender and Chief of LEAD, received a number of phone calls by different people. Those people have put one important question to Mr. Gill, “How long have blasphemy laws in Pakistan been used as a major tool to persecute against religious minorities?”
According to different sources, another incident involving Pakistan’s blasphemy laws occurred recently with burning of homes of Ahmadi minority by a charged mob in the late evening on Sunday, July 27th. In that incident, three Ahmadis, including two minors, killed in Gujranwala.
This tragic incident happened on the pretext that an Ahmadi youth had defaced a picture of the Khana Ka’bah (the Sacred Mosque) on Facebook.
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“This is a new way of [using] social media in blasphemy cases about which we have fears and concerns that it will not be ended,” said Gill.
He further added that LEAD is providing legal assistance in a number of blasphemy cases of Ahmadi religious minority group in Pakistan.
LEAD has launched an international campaign against blasphemy laws for their repeal because under these blasphemy laws all religious minorities in Pakistan are not safe and feel insecure every time and on every point because of happening of like incidents.
Last year, 2013, a fully charged mob of almost 4,000 religious zealots gathered around Joseph Colony, a Christian-dominated area, and burnt more than 180 homes of Christians including two churches after a false accusation of blasphemy was leveled against a Christian man from that area.
In November 2010, Asia Bibi, a Christian mother, was convicted under section 295-C of the PPC and sentenced to death. From the accusation to the conviction, she has been languishing in jail and is awaiting her appeal, which is now pending in the Lahore High Court. Her appeal hearing has been cancelled consecutively five times. The last one time, it was postponed when the counsel for the complainant did not turn up.
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