ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on religious harmony Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi has said a joint body of religious scholars in the country’s Punjab province had received over a hundred blasphemy complaints during the ongoing year which were duly addressed and resolved.
Blasphemy is considered a deeply sensitive issue in Pakistan and carries the death penalty. International and domestic rights organizations say blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.
The issue has been in the limelight again this month since a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara, was killed by a mob that also publicly burned his body over accusations he desecrated religious posters. The incident has led to widespread soul-searching in Pakistan, and calls by the government for a “comprehensive strategy” against mob violence and the persecution of minorities.
“During the last one year since November 2020, not a single complaint was registered where blasphemy law was misused,” Ashrafi told foreign media journalists in Islamabad on Wednesday, adding: “The Muttahida Ulama Board [joint board of religious scholars] in Punjab received 113 blasphemy complaints [during this period] from various courts and governments institutions in which relief was provided in 103 instances of minor violations.”
About the lynching of the Sri Lankan national in Sialkot, he said the incident was condemned by the whole nation and the trial of the accused individuals would be conducted inside prison.
Ashrafi said a 20-member committee had been formed by the government to liaise with Pakistan’s minority religious communities: “We have made a mechanism where minority leaders and other community members can share their issues and grievances so they can be addressed in time.”
The committee would also work to raise public awareness on the blasphemy issue, he said, adding that it was time people were educated about the real meaning of blasphemy and how to react to such accusations and incidents.
The prime minister’s aide said the government was also working on the issue of forced conversions, saying they were against basic Islamic values.
“According to our findings, a majority of these incidents are related to love marriages and other domestic issues,” he said, “which are wrongly portrayed as forced conversions.”