Vandalism victims to be compensated

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Monday it will compensate people whose property was vandalized during protests over the acquittal of a Christian woman on blasphemy charges.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told Arab News around 1,200 people had been arrested and that more than 135 cases had been registered involving damage to public and private property.
“We have been receiving data from provincial governments as well as citizens directly to arrest culprits who damaged public and private property during the protests,” said Yasir Shakeel.
“Definitely the government will compensate all those whose moveable and immovable properties are damaged during the protests,” he said. “A mechanism will be developed for it after receipt of all complaints and facts from relevant government departments.”
There were no details — such as a timeframe — for the mechanism mentioned by the spokesman.
The ministry has set up a hotline and promoted a WhatsApp number that people can use to share photos and videos of those involved in vandalising public and private property during the protests.
It says the identity of those sharing information will be kept secret. It has released pictures of people involved in destroying property and injuring others during the demonstrations.
“We will release more pictures of those involved in rioting and destroying public property in the coming days,” a ministry statement read.
The protests followed the acquittal of Aasia Bibi on controversial blasphemy charges. Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam can lead to attacks and even murder by religious extremists. 
The days of violence ended after the government signed a widely criticized five-point deal with the far right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, whose supporters took to the streets to protest against the ruling.
Islamabad was accused of capitulating to the TLP by a human rights activist, Farzana Bari.
“The government should have registered cases under treason and incitement for hatred and violence against the TLP leadership and arrested them,” she told Arab News, “all else is just any eyewash.”
Bari said the government had set a precedent by yielding to the demands of “violent protesters” that would haunt the state.
Political analyst Professor Tahir Malik urged the country’s political leadership to amend the blasphemy laws to include a strict punishment for false accusers.
“We have seen that blasphemy laws are often misused to settle personal scores,” he told Arab News. “This must come to an end if we really want to be a true democratic, prosperous and peaceful country.”