Blasphemy Law and Its Abuse in Pakistan

Arshi Saleem Hashmi

 By Arshi Saleem Hashmi

 Human rights organizations have urged Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws and protect a young Christian girl who was arrested for allegedly burning pages from the Holy Quran.

10 year old Rimsha, who is reported to have Down’s syndrome, was taken into custody in a suburb of Islamabad last Thursday after angry Muslims protesters demanded she be punished. 

Pakistan’s strict anti-blasphemy law has rendered desecrating the Holy Quran illegal and potentially punishable by death.

 

Arshi Saleem Hashmi, SAVE’s Chapter Leader in Pakistan, comments on this recent case:


Respect for our holy book and beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and all the Prophets before him does not need endorsement through violent extremism. On the contrary, love for our Prophet must be expressed by love for all human beings and all living things.

This is sadly not the case in today’s Pakistan. To appease the growing religious political groups during the 1980s, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq issued an ordinance according to which any person accused of doing or saying any derogatory thing against the Prophet (PBUH) and the holy book would be punished. Now who in his or her senses would do anything to disrespect the holy book or the Prophet, no Muslim and certainly no non-Muslim in a country where Muslims are not only the majority but religious conservatives are very much empowered and politically protected!

Still, we have few exploiters of our peaceful religion who think that they are the real guardians of our faith. In this case, a local cleric from the mosque found a good opportunity to “justify” his position as a religious leader and tried to exploit the people by saying that if they didn’t oppose the Christian girl who was accused of burning the holy Quran, their prayers would be wasted.

Using God’s name to harm God’s creatures has become these so-called religious leaders’ business, and unfortunately, they find supporters who blindly follow the half-baked truth preached by Mullahs who are not even properly educated on Islam.

More than anything it is the state that is supposed to take action instead of tolerating such irrational behavior. Sadly, the Christians in Islamabad’s slums are mainly sweepers and house maids. The girl accused of blasphemy was most probably sorting out the trash and might have found the burned pages which are a common scene in local “Muslim” localities where people disregard loose pages or very old copies of the holy book.

In this particular case, the accused was holding a “Noorani Qaida” which is a basic copy of the easy introductory book for children to learn the Arabic words and their pronunciation. Usually, even Muslim children read the book and sell it to dealers or paper collectors from different areas when they are finished reading it. But of course, all this is ignored when it happens in Muslim localities.

Respect can only be achieved through tolerance; it cannot be forced through punishment and most importantly, it must not be selective against vulnerable minorities. The present blasphemy law has become an instrument in the hands of extremist groups and religious orthodox leaders to settle scores with others. Respect for our holy book and the Prophet (PBUH) is indeed in our heart and that should continue to be there, but a review of man-made laws that do not respect basic human rights is the need of the hour.

Israeli Teenagers Held in Attack on Palestinian Youths

Two fifteen year old girls were arrested on Monday in Jerusalem, bringing to seven the number of Jewish teenagers arrested in connection with the brutal hate attack on young Palestinians last week, which left one of them critically injured.

"Two 15-year-old girls were arrested today, in addition to the five youngsters already arrested… One of the girls incited the teenagers to attack the young Arabs by saying that she had been attacked by Arabs in the past" police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.

The Israeli government has expressed condemnation of the attack, which took place in Jerusalem's crowded Zion Square. According to witnesses, there were hundreds of onlookers who failed to intervene and stop the violence.

The assault on several Palestinian youths raises concerns that
the poisoned political divide is affecting some Israeli youths.

Interaction between Israelis and Palestinians sharply declined since the second intifada and the erection of the wall along and within the West Bank. Ten years ago, many Israelis spoke Arabic while Palestinians also learned Hebrew, but today this is no longer the case as the two communities are growing increasingly isolated from one another.

According to Robi Damelin, SAVE’s Chapter Leader in Israel, many Palestinian youths have never made an Israeli friend in their lives, and a great number of Israeli youngsters have never even met a Palestinian outside of army service: “We speak to more than 25,000 students every year, these kids have never met a Palestinian in their lives. They have no idea who is on the other side and this is one of the biggest problems that we have as two nations." According to Robi, this isolation often leads to the development of stereotypes that hinder acceptance and tolerance among the young generations on each side of the conflict.

Robi, who lost her son while he was serving in the Israeli Army, joined efforts with Siham Abu Awwad, SAVE’s Chapter leader in Palestine who also lost a brother during the first intifada. Together, both mothers advocate for a human solution to the ongoing conflict.

SAVE strongly condemns the attacks in Jerusalem; it is truly troubling and saddening to see youngsters carrying so much hate when they are meant to be the future peacemakers of our world. SAVE encourages women and mothers in particular to follow in the footsteps of Robi and Siham and surround their families and communities with the crucial values of tolerance and non-violence.

For more information on the attacks read Isabel Kershner's article in the NYT.

Listen to Siham Abu Awwad and Robi Damelin’s message of peace and forgiveness:

Response to Recent Shootings at the Wisconsin Sikh Temple

By Evita Mouawad

Most Sikhs living in the United States were not surprised by Sunday’s attack on their temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where a gunman opened fire killing seven people and injuring three others. The FBI is treating the attack as a domestic terrorist incident, while recent media reports have described the shooter as a US Army veteran and a lead guitarist in a racist hardcore rock band.

Since the events of 9/11, the Sikh community has been feeling particularly vulnerable in the country. Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Washington-based Sikh Council on Religion and Education, released a statement to the Associated Press saying: "This is something we have been fearing since 9/11, that this kind of incident will take place… It was a matter of time because there's so much ignorance and people confuse us [as] being members of Taliban or belonging to [Osama] bin Laden."

Family members of the victims gather at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin - Photo by Reuters

Sisters Against Violent Extremism strongly condemns the attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Violent incidents such as this one --and the many others we have witnessed this year, from Toulouse in France to Kandahar in Afghanistan-- reveal a growing sense of intolerance towards other cultures, religions and ethnicities in a world that is constantly under threat. This feeling of insecurity, coupled with misinformation and a lack of trust in others, will inevitably lead to an increase of violent extremism and must be tackled on the community and educational levels.

Amardeep Kaleka, son of the president of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, center, comforts members of the temple, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012, in Oak Creek, Wis. Satwant Kaleka, 65, founder and president of the temple, died in the shooting. He was among four priests who died. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Police officers described the attacker as a bald, white man, dressed in a white T-shirt, black pants and with a 9/11 tattoo on one arm. This particular tattoo was the first piece of evidence to hint out that the shooting was in fact a hate crime. It must be said that most of us in Europe, America and the world tend to forget that the victims of 9/11 hailed from many different religious and ethnic backgrounds, even Islam. In fact, several dozen Muslims perished in the attacks on the World Trade Centers, some were employees in offices, hotels and restaurants; others were NYPD cadets and firefighters who lost their lives rescuing victims.

Whether Sikhs, Muslims, Christians or Jews, the reality is that we are ALL affected by violent extremism in today’s globalized world. We must set violence and intolerance aside, and focus on the values that unite us as global citizens who share the common goal of building a more peaceful world for future generations.