Pakistan must protect all citizens regardless of religion - CLAAS

Lahore: December 18, 2009, (PCTV Newsdesk)

The Pakistani government must ensure that its laws give equal protection to all citizens regardless of their religion.  Last week, the world united in commemorating 61 years since the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It was a poignant opportunity to remember and pray for Christians killed in Pakistan as a result of the country’s blasphemy laws.

Most recently, the laws were used as a pretext for attacking Christians in Gojra where six were horrifically burnt to death.  2009 has been the worst year for persecution against Christians in the last decade and it has been largely because of the blasphemy laws.  In the last 10 years, spurious blasphemy claims have been used as justification for killing more than 120 Christians. 

Christians are not the only religious minority to suffer the barbaric effects of the laws.  Shia, Hindu and Amadya communities have also suffered.  Yet it is Christian who have suffered by far the greatest number of killings and casualties this year.  

The blasphemy laws condemn to death anyone who desecrates the Koran and the testimony of just one Muslim is sufficient to bring charges against another individual.  The result is the blatant misuse of the laws to settle personal scores or vendettas by making false claims.  
Anyone suspected of blasphemy is immediately sent to prison where they can remain for months or years pending a trial.  When the trial finally convenes, it is often not a fair one as radical Muslims and clerics gather at the courts to intimidate judges, lawyers and defence witnesses with death threats.

The deadly attacks on Christians in Gojra on 1 August 2009 are one sad example of the way in which the blasphemy laws are being abused to oppress Christians.  Eight Christians were killed, shot dead or horrifically burnt to death after a mob of 3,000 enraged Muslims descended on the town at the behest of the local cleric who told them that some children in the nearby village had committed blasphemy.  The mob didn’t know the details; all they knew was that their cleric was asking them to “teach a lesson to Christians”.   That was enough to unleash the torrent of violence, in which more than 120 houses were looted or set on fire and eight Christians learnt that lesson with their lives.

What happened in Gojra is the bloodiest instance of persecution against Christians in Pakistan but is unfortunately by not an isolated event.  In April this year, four people were injured and one killed in violence against Christians in Karachi, while in July around a hundred houses were burnt to the ground, looted or vandalised, and girls were assaulted in an attack on the village of Bahmani Wala.

The mobs that carry out such attacks are often incited by extremist groups that continue to operate despite being outlawed.  They include the Sipah-i-sahaba or the Lashkar-i-Jhvangi.  The attacks on Christians in recent years make clear that the attempts of the last two governments to ban these groups have proved futile.  It is the blasphemy laws themselves that must be addressed as they not only encourage large-scale attacks but also acts of vengeance by individuals.

On 4 August, a Christian factory owner in Lahore was murdered by his employees simply for removing an outdated Islamic calendar from the wall.  A few weeks later, 21-year-old Fanish Masih died while in police detention one day after being arrested on false accusations of blasphemy.  Such senseless acts of violence point to an underlying hatred towards Christians across Pakistan.  By singling out only Islam for protection, the blasphemy laws give it an elevated status in Pakistani society above all other religions and offer an all too easy justification for attacking Christians.

CLAAS continues to call for the repeal of the blasphemy laws on the grounds that they divide Pakistani society and encourage hatred and violence against minorities.  International Human Rights Day was an opportunity to remember that human rights are universal.  They apply to all people wherever they are.  The Pakistani government should remember that human rights belong to people and not to politics.