The other tragedy in Pakistan
NEWS from Pakistan has been dominated in recent weeks by both the devastating flooding and the diplomatic row after David Cameron referred to the Pakistani authorities’ “looking both ways” on terror. These sad developments have pushed another disturbing event into the background.
On 19 July, two Christian brothers, Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, aged 32, and his brother Sajid, 24, both of them leaders in United Ministries Pakistan, were shot dead in the precinct of Faisalabad courthouse in the Punjab. Both had been arrested on blasphemy charges two weeks earlier, but the charges were about to be dropped in the absence of any evidence.
The scandal of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan has deep roots. In 1978, the tough General Zia-ul-Haq came to power, after a coup deposing the elected President, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. General Zia ruled for ten years, and oversaw a process of Islamisation of the legal system and society in Pakistan.
This included the Hudood Ordinance, in 1979, which prescribed the witness of a Muslim as equivalent to that of two non-Muslims, as well as lesser weight being given to testimony by women (Muslim or non-Muslim). The creation of the federal sharia court in 1980 signified the increasing marginalisation of the civil legal system in favour of an ever-strengthening sharia structure.
THE greatest impact on the country’s two-million-strong Christian community, however, came from the blasphemy amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code in 1986. Section 295-A outlawed “acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens”. Section 295-B prescribed life imprisonment for deliberate desecration of the Qur’an or use of its verses in a derogatory manner.
Section 295-C stated that “whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”
The blasphemy laws served to build up the pressure on religious minorities — including those Muslims whose approach to Islam did not sit well with the religious establishment. The ink was barely dry on these new laws before a string of charges was brought against individuals, often, it seemed, as a cover for settling personal grudges.
One case was that of Tahir Iqbal, a convert from Islam to Christianity. In 1990, an imam filed a complaint alleging that Iqbal was an apostate and had defiled a copy of the Qur’an. After spending two years in prison awaiting trial, Iqbal was found dead in his cell in 1992. His lawyers spoke of “deliberate circumvention of judicial efforts to ascertain the causes of his death”.
ONCE a person was on the blasphemy charge-sheet, the system tended to work against him. A US State Department report of 1994 described this graphically: “When such religious cases are brought to court, extremists often pack the courtroom and make public threats against an acquittal. As a result, judges and magistrates often continue trials indefinitely, and the accused is burdened with further legal costs and repeated court appearances.”
Twenty years on, the Emmanuel brothers were accused of distributing pamphlets critical of the Prophet Muhammad. The complainant was Muhammad Khurram Shahzad, reportedly an activist of the Islamist group Tehrik-i-Hurmat-i-Rasool.
Within days of the brothers’ arrest, hundreds of Muslim youths protested in Dawood Nagar, the brothers’ home town, calling for their execution. The Asian Human Rights Commission reports that mosque loudspeakers were used to incite militants against the brothers: “Banned Muslim extremist groups, which enjoy freedom from the government of Punjab province, made announcements through the mosque loudspeakers asking Muslims to gather at the district-courts building when the Christian brothers would be produced.”
During the final court proceedings, testimony from handwriting experts proved that there was no match between the writing of the brothers and that found on the offending pamphlets. But, as the two brothers stepped out of the court building, about to be released, they were shot by five masked men.
President Asif Ali Zardari instructed the authorities in Punjab to investigate the murders, and to pay suitable compensation. But such measures are merely stop-gaps. In the words of one Pakistani Christian observer: “The scholars, intelligentsia, and those in power need to reverse this trend towards obscurantism which threatens Pakistan’s ideology, integrity, and security.”
Millions have been affected by the worst flooding in Pakistan in living memory. The attention of President Zardari will no doubt be focused on the aftermath of the floods; but sooner or later, he will need to consider repealing the blasphemy laws. Up to August 2009, at least 964 people were charged under the 1986 Code, including 479 Muslims, 119 Christians, 340 Ahmadis, 14 Hindus, and ten others. Some 35 extra-judicial killings have followed these charges — murders committed by individuals or angry crowds. President Zardari has his work cut out, if the rickety ship of state in Pakistan is ever to be put on a steady course.
This article first appeared in "The Church Times" (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=99784) on 3 September 2010
On 19 July, two Christian brothers, Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, aged 32, and his brother Sajid, 24, both of them leaders in United Ministries Pakistan, were shot dead in the precinct of Faisalabad courthouse in the Punjab. Both had been arrested on blasphemy charges two weeks earlier, but the charges were about to be dropped in the absence of any evidence.
The scandal of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan has deep roots. In 1978, the tough General Zia-ul-Haq came to power, after a coup deposing the elected President, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. General Zia ruled for ten years, and oversaw a process of Islamisation of the legal system and society in Pakistan.
This included the Hudood Ordinance, in 1979, which prescribed the witness of a Muslim as equivalent to that of two non-Muslims, as well as lesser weight being given to testimony by women (Muslim or non-Muslim). The creation of the federal sharia court in 1980 signified the increasing marginalisation of the civil legal system in favour of an ever-strengthening sharia structure.
THE greatest impact on the country’s two-million-strong Christian community, however, came from the blasphemy amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code in 1986. Section 295-A outlawed “acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens”. Section 295-B prescribed life imprisonment for deliberate desecration of the Qur’an or use of its verses in a derogatory manner.
Section 295-C stated that “whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”
The blasphemy laws served to build up the pressure on religious minorities — including those Muslims whose approach to Islam did not sit well with the religious establishment. The ink was barely dry on these new laws before a string of charges was brought against individuals, often, it seemed, as a cover for settling personal grudges.
One case was that of Tahir Iqbal, a convert from Islam to Christianity. In 1990, an imam filed a complaint alleging that Iqbal was an apostate and had defiled a copy of the Qur’an. After spending two years in prison awaiting trial, Iqbal was found dead in his cell in 1992. His lawyers spoke of “deliberate circumvention of judicial efforts to ascertain the causes of his death”.
ONCE a person was on the blasphemy charge-sheet, the system tended to work against him. A US State Department report of 1994 described this graphically: “When such religious cases are brought to court, extremists often pack the courtroom and make public threats against an acquittal. As a result, judges and magistrates often continue trials indefinitely, and the accused is burdened with further legal costs and repeated court appearances.”
Twenty years on, the Emmanuel brothers were accused of distributing pamphlets critical of the Prophet Muhammad. The complainant was Muhammad Khurram Shahzad, reportedly an activist of the Islamist group Tehrik-i-Hurmat-i-Rasool.
Within days of the brothers’ arrest, hundreds of Muslim youths protested in Dawood Nagar, the brothers’ home town, calling for their execution. The Asian Human Rights Commission reports that mosque loudspeakers were used to incite militants against the brothers: “Banned Muslim extremist groups, which enjoy freedom from the government of Punjab province, made announcements through the mosque loudspeakers asking Muslims to gather at the district-courts building when the Christian brothers would be produced.”
During the final court proceedings, testimony from handwriting experts proved that there was no match between the writing of the brothers and that found on the offending pamphlets. But, as the two brothers stepped out of the court building, about to be released, they were shot by five masked men.
President Asif Ali Zardari instructed the authorities in Punjab to investigate the murders, and to pay suitable compensation. But such measures are merely stop-gaps. In the words of one Pakistani Christian observer: “The scholars, intelligentsia, and those in power need to reverse this trend towards obscurantism which threatens Pakistan’s ideology, integrity, and security.”
Millions have been affected by the worst flooding in Pakistan in living memory. The attention of President Zardari will no doubt be focused on the aftermath of the floods; but sooner or later, he will need to consider repealing the blasphemy laws. Up to August 2009, at least 964 people were charged under the 1986 Code, including 479 Muslims, 119 Christians, 340 Ahmadis, 14 Hindus, and ten others. Some 35 extra-judicial killings have followed these charges — murders committed by individuals or angry crowds. President Zardari has his work cut out, if the rickety ship of state in Pakistan is ever to be put on a steady course.
This article first appeared in "The Church Times" (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=99784) on 3 September 2010