Pakistan under pressure to rein in blasphemy law

In this file photo, People from a Pakistani Christian community pray for the recovery of a blasphemy suspect Sajid Masih, who suffered serious injuries after jumping off a federal building, gathered outside a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan on Feb. 26, 2018. (AP)
Updated 09 March 2018
Follow

Pakistan under pressure to rein in blasphemy law

LAHORE: One of the most frightening things about Pakistan’s blasphemy law is that the simplest act can spiral into charges that can bring the death penalty. In the case of Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, it started when she brought water to her fellow women workers on a farm.
On that hot day in 2009, Bibi had a sip from the same container and some of the Muslim women became angry that a Christian had drunk from the same water. They demanded she convert, she refused. Five days later, a mob accused her of blasphemy. She was convicted and sentenced to death. Later this month, the Supreme Court is expected to hear her appeal.
Pakistan is under new international pressure to curb Islamic extremism, and activists at home say one place to start is by changing its blasphemy law.
In January, the US State Department cited the law as one of the reasons as it put Pakistan on a watch list of countries accused of “severe violations of religious freedoms.”
The move came as the Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Islamabad, freezing security aid until it cracks down on militant networks operating from its soil to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Moreover, the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental agency that combats money laundering and terror financing, has given Pakistan until June to show how it will tackle radicalism or else be put on a black list, a step that could hurt its international financial ties.
Opponents of the blasphemy law say it has turned into a force corroding Pakistani society, feeding extremism, implicating the justice system in radicalism and ultimately undermining rule of law.
Often the law is used to punish rivals in personal feuds. Just making an accusation is enough to convince neighbors or others in the community that the defendant is guilty and must be punished, whipping up a vengeful anger even if the courts find the accused innocent. Authorities are often too afraid to push back against the public fury. In at least one case, officials have kept a man acquitted of blasphemy in prison, fearing riots if he is freed.
Militant groups have embraced the law, using it to cultivate support and attack those who try to break their power.
“It has become much more dangerous over the last few years. The reason is that they have created a sense of fear,” said Zahid Hussain, a political analyst and the author of two books on militancy in Pakistan. “It has become a ready tool not only against non-Muslims, but also against Muslims, who do not agree with their world view.”
According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, 71 countries have blasphemy laws — around a quarter of them are in the Middle East and North Africa and around a fifth are European countries, though enforcement and punishment varies.
Pakistan is one of the most ferocious enforcers.
At least 1,472 people were charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws between 1987 and 2016, according to statistics collected by the Center for Social Justice, a Lahore-based advocacy group. Of those, 730 were Muslims, 501 were Ahmedis — a sect that is reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics — while 205 were Christians and 26 were Hindus. The center said it didn’t know the religion of the final 10 because they were killed by vigilantes before they could get their day in court.
While Pakistan’s law carries the death penalty and offenders have been sentenced to death, so far no one has ever been executed.
A key test will come when Pakistan’s Supreme Court rules on the case of Aasia, whose world was turned upside down after a mob of villagers accused her of insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad after the water incident.
Aasia’s case even reached the Vatican, where Pope Francis last month met with her husband, Ashiq Masih, and daughter Eisham, who traveled to Rome to witness the Colosseum being bathed in red light in a sign of solidarity with persecuted Christians around the world.
During the emotional encounter, Eisham gave the pope a kiss that she said her mother asked her to deliver.
“The blasphemy law is misused in Pakistan,” Masih told The Associated Press in a rare interview. “It has nothing to do with the Holy Prophet or Islam, it is just to settle grudges.”
He spoke at a small Christian-run school in Lahore which Eisham and a younger, disabled daughter, attend. The school’s principal and owner, Joseph Nadeem, has become a guardian to Masih and his children.
Masih, who said his wife was innocent, points to his arm where a bullet struck him, fired by a protester outraged with his wife’s alleged crime. He never lives in one location too long, because it is potentially dangerous, he said.
Aasia’s lawyer, Saiful Malook fears the Supreme Court will buckle to extremists’ pressure and reject his client’s appeal when it hears it later this month. Her only hope in that case would be a presidential pardon, he said.
Just defending her is dangerous. Malook’s home in Lahore is protected by police. He also is a target because he prosecuted Mumtaz Qadri, the elite police guard who killed Punjab’s provincial governor, Salman Taseer, in 2011, after Taseer defended Aasia Bibi and criticized the misuse of the blasphemy law.
Qadri was hanged for his crime, but he has since become a martyr to millions, who make a pilgrimage to a shrine erected in his name by his family outside the federal capital. Giant posters of Qadri emblazon buildings not far from the school where The AP interviewed Aasia Bibi’s husband.
Fear of being connected with a blasphemy case is so strong that Nasreen Abid, a Christian woman, moved out of earshot of others and whispered as she told the AP her family’s story. She spoke outside Lahore’s Mayo Hospital, where she was waiting to learn the condition of her son, Sajjid, who suffered multiple injuries, including two broken legs, after he jumped from a third-story window of a police investigation unit.
She said the police called in Sajjid after his cousin, Patras Masih, was arrested on accusations of sharing a blasphemous picture on Facebook. Police wanted to check Sajjid’s phone but found nothing, said his mother.
Then police stripped Sajjid and his cousin, taunted them and told them to have sex with each other, she said. Instead, her son flung himself out the window. Police say they are investigating the incident.
“There shouldn’t be this law,” Abid said. “Now look at us. We shouldn’t be treated like this. We are citizens of Pakistan. We are being treated wrongly because we are poor and we are weak.”
In Jand Wala Saroo, a small village near Pakistan’s border with India, Razia Bibi wonders whether she will ever again see her brother, Muhammad Mansha.
Mansha spent nine years in jail accused of blasphemy until the Supreme Court acquitted him last year, saying the evidence was insufficient. But he remains imprisoned because authorities say his release would start a riot in the village.
“I pray the village will forgive him, but no one wants him back here,” Razia said, sitting on a traditional rope bed surrounded by her many children. “All the villagers are agreed. He shouldn’t come back. Some even said they would kill him.”
Two local men accused Mansha of destroying pages of the Qur’an at a mosque, though neither witnessed the alleged act. The only purported witness was a child who can neither hear nor speak.
One of the complainants, Allah Ditta Nadeem, told the AP he was at home when people came and told him what had happened. He said he then went to the mosque, where the child explained with hand gestures. Still, Nadeem said he was convinced of Mansha’s guilt.
Hussain, the analyst and author, said most Pakistani politicians privately acknowledge the need to change the law, but are too afraid. Also they often use religious groups when they need them to win elections.
“Neither the military nor the civilian government has a clear strategy how to deal with extremism or militancy in this country,” said Hussain. “For me this is the biggest existential threat to Pakistan because if extremism is not controlled or contained . . . it is going to destroy the social fabric of this country.”


Teenage Iranian protester Nika Shakarami ‘was killed by police’

Updated 13 min 9 sec ago
Follow

Teenage Iranian protester Nika Shakarami ‘was killed by police’

JEDDAH: Iranian authorities ordered the arrest of activists and journalists on Wednesday after a leaked Revolutionary Guard report revealed that secret police had sexually assaulted and killed a teenage girl during Iran’s “hijab protests” in 2022.

Nika Shakarami, 16, died during demonstrations over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for wearing her headscarf incorrectly.

Shakarami’s death also sparked widespread outrage. Authorities said she died after falling from a tall building, but her mother said the girl had been beaten.

In a report prepared for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and leaked to the BBC, investigators said Shakarami had ben arrested by undercover security forces who molested her, then killed her with batons and electronic stun guns when she struggled against the attack.

Iran’s judiciary said on Wednesday that the BBC story was “a fake, incorrect and full-of-mistakes report,” without addressing any of the alleged errors.

“The Tehran Prosecutor’s Office filed a criminal case against these people,” a spokesman said, with charges including “spreading lies” and “propaganda against the system.” The first charge can carry up at a year and a half in prison and dozens of lashes, while the second can bring up to a year’s imprisonment.
It was not clear if prosecutors had charged the three BBC journalists who wrote the report. Those associated with the BBC’s Persian service have been targeted for years by Tehran and barred from working in the country since its disputed 2009 presidential election and Green Movement protests.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the BBC report was an effort to “divert attention” from protests at American universities over the Israel-Hamas war. “The enemy and their media have resorted to false and far-fetched reports to conduct psychological operations,” he said.


Drone footage shows devastation in Ukraine’s strategic eastern city of Chasiv Yar as Russians advance

Updated 38 min 22 sec ago
Follow

Drone footage shows devastation in Ukraine’s strategic eastern city of Chasiv Yar as Russians advance

  • The destruction is reminiscent of the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, which Ukraine yielded after months of bombardment and huge losses for both sides
  • Russia launched waves of assaults against Chasiv Yar’s outnumbered defenders as Ukraine's US and European allies dilly-dallied on sending fresh supplies

KYIV, Ukraine: Months of relentless Russian artillery pounding have devastated a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, new drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows, with barely a building left intact, homes and municipal offices charred and a town that once had a population of 12,000 now all but deserted.

The footage shows Chasiv Yar — set amid green fields and woodland — pounded into an apocalyptic vista. The destruction is reminiscent of the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, which Ukraine yielded after months of bombardment and huge losses for both sides.
The strategically important city has been under attack by Russian forces for months. Capturing it would give Russia control of a hilltop from which it can attack other cities that form the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defenses.
That would set the stage for a potentially broader Russian offensive that Ukrainian officials say could come as early as this month.
Russia launched waves of assaults on foot and in armored vehicles at Chasiv Yar’s outnumbered Ukrainian troops, who have run desperately short of ammunition while waiting for the US and other allies to send fresh supplies.
Rows of mid-rise apartment blocks in Chasiv Yar have been blackened by blasts, punched through with holes or reduced to piles of timber and masonry. Houses and civic buildings are heavily damaged. The golden dome of a church remains intact but the building appears badly damaged.
No soldiers or civilians were seen in the footage shot Monday and exclusively obtained by the AP, apart from a lone man walking down the middle of a road between wrecked structures.
Regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said Wednesday on Ukrainian TV that 682 residents have held on in Chasiv Yar, living in “very difficult conditions.” The city had a pre-war population of over 12,500. Filashkin said that those remaining have lacked running water and power for over a year, and that it is “ever more difficult” for humanitarian aid to reach them.
The destruction underscores Russia’s scorched-earth tactics throughout more than two years of war, as its troops have killed and displaced thousands of civilians.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged Monday that the delayed delivery of allies’ military aid to Ukraine had left the country at the mercy of the Kremlin’s bigger and better-equipped forces.
Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to deploy critical new military aid that can help check the slow but steady Russian advance as well as thwart drone and missile attacks.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian authorities reported that two civilians died and at least nine others, included an 11-year-old boy, were wounded Wednesday after Russian aerial guided bombs pummeled a village in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
According to Gov. Oleh Syniehubov, a 64-year-old man and 38-year-old woman — both locals — were killed after one of the bombs detonated near their car in Zolochiv, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border with Russia.
In the southern Black Sea port of Odesa, at least 13 people were wounded after a Russian ballistic missile slammed into the city late Wednesday, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said in a Telegram update. He did not say what had been hit, but reported the blast had sparked a major fire.
Videos circulating on social media showed huge plumes of smoke rising skywards at the site. Nova Poshta, a large Ukrainian postal and courier company, said in a Facebook post Wednesday that one of its sorting depots had been struck, but claimed no employees were among those hurt.
Odesa has been a frequent target for Russian firepower, with eight civilians killed by Russian missiles in the city over the past two days.
 


Where We Are Going Today: Kaak Al-Farah

Updated 48 min 59 sec ago
Follow

Where We Are Going Today: Kaak Al-Farah

Kaak Al-Farah — which translates as “the cookie of joy” — is an Instagram shop that offers kaak, a traditional date-filled treat enjoyed in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.

A cherished part of celebrations such as Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha, weddings and baby showers, kaak are similar to maamoul cookies, which include semolina.

Kaak Al-Farah makes each cookie with care, using ornate molds to shape the date-stuffed dough. After baking, the cookies are packed in a beautiful reusable box.

Made from locally sourced ingredients, including wheat, dates and traditional Saudi flavors such as cardamom and cloves, each bite is a celebration of the region’s rich culinary heritage.

What makes Kaak Al-Farah stand out is not just the delightful taste of the cookies but also the thoughtful packaging which reflects the essence of Saudi culture.

The round box features designs redolent of the joyful spirit found in Saudi communities, including a cheerful ring of colorful flowers symbolizing happiness and beauty and a portrait of a lady representing peace and love. Added to each box is a personalized greeting card.

Kaak Al-Farah delivers to various cities throughout the Kingdom and can be found on delivery apps including The Chefz and Hayak.

For more information, visit their Instagram profile — @kaak.alfarah.


What We Are Reading Today: The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs 

Updated 02 May 2024
Follow

What We Are Reading Today: The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs 

Author: Gregory S. Paul

The bestselling “Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs” remains the must-have book for anyone who loves dinosaurs, from amateur enthusiasts to professional paleontologists. Now extensively revised and expanded, this dazzlingly illustrated large-format edition features nearly 100 new dinosaur species and hundreds of new and updated illustrations, bringing readers up to the minute on the latest discoveries and research that are radically transforming what we know about dinosaurs and their world.


UK police officer charged with showing support for Hamas

Updated 02 May 2024
Follow

UK police officer charged with showing support for Hamas

  • Mohammed Adil, from Bradford in northern England, was arrested last November and charged following an investigation
  • Adil, a police constable, has been suspended from his job with West Yorkshire Police and is due to appear in court on Thursday

LONDON: A British police officer has been charged with a terrorism offense for allegedly publishing an image in support of Hamas, a group banned in Britain as a terrorist organization, police said on Wednesday.

Mohammed Adil, 26, from Bradford in northern England, was arrested last November and charged following an investigation by British counter-terrorism officers, Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said the inquiries had focused on messages shared on WhatsApp which had concluded the case should be referred to prosecutors.
“On Monday, PC Mohammed Adil, 26, was charged with two counts of publishing an image in support of a proscribed organization, specifically Hamas, contrary to section 13 of the Terrorism Act,” the IOPC statement said. “The offenses are alleged to have taken place in October and November 2023.”
Adil, a police constable, has been suspended from his job with West Yorkshire Police and is due to appear before London Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, police have arrested and charged a number of people at pro-Palestinian protests in London for showing support for the group, while counter-terrorism commanders say they have also had a large amount of online content referred to them.