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Mohammed Younus Shaikh is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist and freethinker.
The situation of Human Rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law.
The Pakistan Penal Code outlaws blasphemy against any recognized religion, with punishments ranging from a fine to the death penalty. According to various human rights organizations, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have been used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal rivalries, frequently against other Muslims, rather than to safeguard religious sensibilities.
In Islam, blasphemy is impious utterance or action concerning God, but is broader than in normal English usage, including not only the mocking or vilifying of attributes of Islam but denying any of the fundamental beliefs of the religion. Examples include denying that the Quran was divinely revealed, the Prophethood of one of the Islamic prophets, insulting an angel, or maintaining God had a son.
The Ahmadiyya branch of Islam has been subjected to various forms of religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889. The Ahmadiyya Muslim movement emerged within the Sunni tradition of Islam and its adherents believe in all of the five pillars and all of the articles of faith required of Muslims. Ahmadis are considered non-Muslims by many mainstream Muslims since they consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement, to be the promised Mahdi and Messiah awaited by the Muslims.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria operates two court systems. Both systems can punish blasphemy. The Constitution provides a customary (irreligious) system and a system that incorporates Sharia. The customary system prohibits blasphemy by section 204 of Nigeria's Criminal Code.
In 2010, a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen, 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 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted her based on insufficient evidence, though she was not allowed to leave Pakistan until the verdict was reviewed. She was held under armed guard and was not able to leave the country until 7 May 2019; she arrived in Canada the next day.
Persecution of Christians in Pakistan has been recorded since the country's independence in 1947. The persecution has taken many forms, including violence, discrimination, and blasphemy laws.
2012 Fatehpur Violence refers to the attack on the minority Hindu community in the Fatehpur village under Kaliganj upazila in Satkhira District in south-western Bangladesh on the 31 March 2012.
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 to violence. In some cases Christian churches and the worshippers themselves have been attacked. Although, there is very little record of this. Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".
On March 15, 2014, a crowd of Muslims burnt a Hindu temple and a dharmashala in Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan, after unverified allegations of a Hindu youth desecrating a copy of the Quran.
On 15 March 2015, two explosions took place at Roman Catholic Church and Christ Church during Sunday service in Youhanabad, Lahore, Pakistan. At least 15 people were killed and seventy were wounded in the attacks.
Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, better known as Mumtaz Qadri, was a terrorist who murdered Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando of the Elite Police and, at the time of the assassination, a member of the squad of personal bodyguards assigned to protect Taseer. A follower of the Barelvi version of Sunni Islam, he assassinated Taseer on 4 January 2011. He claimed to have killed the Governor because Taseer spoke in defense of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death. Qadri was convicted by the Islamabad High Court, sentenced to death and hanged in February 2016.
Mashal Khan was a student at the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan who was killed by an angry mob in the premises of the university on 13 April 2017, over allegations of posting blasphemous content online. Following investigations, the Inspector General Police later stated "We did not find any concrete evidence under which [a blasphemy] investigation or legal action can be launched against Mashal, Abdullah or Zubair". Mashal's friend Abdullah stated to the police in writing that both Mashal and Abdullah were devout Muslims, but were actively denouncing mismanagement by the university and had previously led protests against it. Following the death of Khan, at least 61 suspects were identified. 57 of the 61 suspected were arrested and sentenced on 7 February 2018. One culprit was awarded the death penalty, five were awarded life-time imprisonment and 25 other culprits were awarded four years jail sentence. 26 suspects were acquitted in the case because of lack of evidence. Four suspects were on the run, who later surrendered to the police in June 2018. Later on 21 March 2019, two more culprits in Mashal Khan case were awarded life imprisonment by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). Mashal Khan's father, speaking to media on 21 March 2019, claimed that he was satisfied with Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) verdict.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is a far-right Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in August 2015. It was the fifth largest party in Pakistan at the time of the 2018 Pakistani general election, and secured over 2.2 million votes. It failed to win any seat in the National Assembly or the Punjab Assembly, but won three seats in the Sindh Assembly.
Khadim Hussain Rizvi 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 blasphemy law.
On September 15, 2019, in Ghotki city of Sindh province of Pakistan, a large number of extremist Muslims desecrated three Hindu temples, a private school and attacked shops and houses belonging to the Hindu community over the allegation of blasphemy against the Hindu principal of the Sindh Public School made by a school student. A delegation investigating the attack found that the attacks were pre-planned and had political support.
Events from the year 2021 in Pakistan.
On 28 November 2021, religiously motivated arsonists destroyed a police station in Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
References
- ↑ "Lahore: extremist crowd sets fire to girls schools over alleged blasphemy". www.asianews.it.
- ↑ "Angry protesters set girls' school on fire in Lahore". The Times of India. November 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Pakistan police probe Lahore school attack". BBC News. 1 November 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Pakistan 'blasphemy school' headteacher remanded". Arab News. November 4, 2012.
- ↑ "Pakistan 'Blasphemy' Teacher In Hiding As Students Protest". Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty.
- ↑ Hameed, Salman (November 9, 2012). "Blasphemy laws are darkening Pakistan's skies". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Blasphemy Charges On The Rise In Pakistan". NPR . Archived from the original on 2023-05-11.
- ↑ "Mob burns girls' school in Pakistani city over alleged blasphemy". Christian Science Monitor.
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