Pakistan's Minister for Minorities has been shot dead in the capital Islamabad.

Shahbaz Bhatti had been calling for changes to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws, which can impose the death penalty.

He was travelling to work through a residential district when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets, the BBC reports.

The police say the assailants sprayed at least 25 bullets into the car, in broad daylight.

Following the killing, Christians gathered in the city of Multan to protest against the assassination.

Tyres were set alight and protesters chanted slogans.

Earlier this year, the governor of Punjab province Salmaan Taseer was killed by a bodyguard who said he was angry that the politician opposed the laws.

Source: Radio New Zealand, March 3, 2011 (local time)

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Pakistan's PM rules out softening blasphemy laws

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Yousaf Gilani, said yesterday that his government had no plans to amend the country's controversial blasphemy laws, despite an earlier undertaking that the legislation would be reformed.

Addressing parliament, Mr Gilani said the policy of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) did not include a draft bill that would have altered the laws which impose a maximum penalty of death on offenders.

"Neither the government has moved a bill nor any committee has been formed to amend the said law as both the treasury and opposition benches are on the same page and are unanimous on this sensitive issue," he said.

Mr Gilani was speaking just a month after the Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer, was assassinated in Islamabad because of his outspoken calls to reform the law.

Earlier, Mr Gilani told a meeting of parliamentarians that it was the PPP that had initially introduced blasphemy legislation and "therefore any amendment in this law would be against our party line".

The Prime Minister's comments were the latest in which he stressed the government's decision to back away from the issue, amid widespread protests from conservatives who have demanded the laws not be altered.

20,000 supporters of fundamentalist parties rallied in the streets of Karachi last month in support of Pakistan's blasphemy laws as they escalated threats against liberal politicians who want to see them amended.

At the demonstrations the face of Mr Taseer's assassin, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, was prominent on placards held by supporters.

MP Sherry Rehman, a former information minister, was among those who led efforts to reform the laws and produced a draft bill to amend them. Ms Rehman is now fearful for her safety and keeping a low-profile in Karachi after public death threats were made against her.

She had drafted the bill against the backdrop of the case of Aasia Noreen, commonly known as Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of insulting Islam and promoting her own faith, charges that she denied.

Mr Taseer was also a supporter of Ms Bibi, incurring the wrath of hardliners when he visited her in prison.

Source: The Independent, February 5, 2011

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'Thousands rally over blasphemy law in Pakistan'

KARACHI — More than 20,000 people rallied in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Sunday, police said, against proposed amendment to blasphemy laws that were recently used to sentence a Christian woman to death.

The protest follows Tuesday's assassination of the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, by one of his bodyguards, after the politician sought to reform the law that gives the death penalty for defamation of the Prophet Mohammad.

Pakistan's most high-profile political killing in three years has bitterly divided the country, horrifying moderates but winning praise from religious scholars and lawyers who festooned the presumed killer in garlands.

Two senior police officers in Karachi said more than 20,000 protesters had joined the rally and more were arriving, while senior police official Irshad Sehar told AFP that more than 30,000 people were taking part.

Banners at the event included some supporting Taseer's presumed killer, police commando Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who has been praised by religious conservatives for shooting his boss outside an Islamabad coffee shop.

"Mumtaz Qadri is not a murderer, he is a hero," said one banner in the national Urdu language.

"We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the dignity of the Prophet Mohammad," read another.

Activists at the rally, which has been organised by conservative religious groups, called for "Jihad" or holy war.

The protest forced the closure of the city's main road and all markets in the teeming southern metropolis.

Controversy over the law flared when former information minister Sherry Rehman tabled a private member's bill in November, calling to end the death penalty for blasphemy, after a Christian mother-of-five was sentenced to hang.

Rights activists also say the law encourages Islamist extremism in a nation already beseiged by Taliban attacks.

Politicians and conservative clerics have been at loggerheads over whether President Asif Ali Zardari should pardon Asia Bibi, the Christian mother who was sentenced to death under the blasphemy law.

Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but Bibi's case has exposed the deep faultlines in the conservative country

Bibi was arrested in June 2009 after Muslim women labourers refused to drink from a bowl of water she was asked to fetch while out working in the fields.

Days later, the women complained that she made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Bibi was set upon by a mob, arrested by police and sentenced on November 8.

Most of those convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan have their sentences overturned or commuted on appeal through the courts.

Rights activists and pressure groups say it is the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistan for blasphemy.

Only around three percent of Pakistan's population of 167 million are estimated to be non-Muslim.

Source: Agence France-Presse, January

Below: Video: Thousands rally in Pakistan over blasphemy law, Al Jazeera

Pakistani Writers Debate Death Penalty For Christian Woman Under Pakistan's Blasphemy Law and Its Validity in Koran, Sunnah

Aasia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman and the mother of 5 children, has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for committing an act of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. The death sentence was handed down under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code. It is not just members of the Christian and Hindu minorities, but also Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan who are regularly accused by Islamic clerics of committing an act of blasphemy by allegedly not believing the Prophet Muhammad to be the last prophet of God.

The clerics are demanding that Aasia Bibi be hanged. There is a public struggle raging in Pakistan between a vast section of the population led by orthodox, often militant, Islamic clerics and the secular intelligentsia, who are best represented by Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province. Governor Taseer has sought to preempt the death penalty by trying to secure a presidential pardon. The Lahore High Court has issued a preemptive order against a presidential pardon, saying the case is being heard by it.

In the following 2 articles, Pakistani writers Abbas Zaidi and Dr. Mohammad Taqi debate the implications and rationale of the controversial blasphemy law in Pakistan. In the first article, titled "The Blasphemer Must Not Be Pardoned," Abbas Zaidi, a sociolinguist, argues that the clerics should not be allowed to have their way, as it will embolden the clerics, causing further such threats to the nearly five billion people who are not Muslim.

In the 2nd article, titled "Blasphemy Laws: What Does the Koran Say?" prominent writer Dr. Mohammad Taqi argues that the Holy Koran and Sunnah, i.e. the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, do not prescribe any punishment for a blasphemer. He reasons that the clerics are misusing a Koranic verse dealing with war and sedition to call for the death penalty for blasphemy.

The following are excerpts from both articles, as they appeared in the Lahore-based liberal newspaper Daily Times.[1]

Abbas Zaidi: "Aasia Bibi Must Not Be Pardoned – Otherwise, the Lives of Around Five Billion Humans [i.e. Non-Muslims] Might Be Jeopardized"

"Hundreds of mullahs [clerics] have taken to the streets to warn against the possible pardon President [Asif] Zardari might grant Aasia Bibi, who allegedly blasphemed against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They say that if Aasia Bibi, the Christian blasphemer, is pardoned, they will launch a jihad against the government and the entire world and kill all the blasphemers. Aasia Bibi must not be pardoned. Otherwise, the lives of around 5 billion humans might be jeopardized. And now the Lahore High Court has also passed an order on the petition of a private citizen that the president cannot pardon Aasia Bibi because the case is sub judice. Why do mullahs so fanatically react to each case of perceived or alleged blasphemy?

"The logic is very simple. Non-Muslims have, roughly speaking, two views of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): One, they (for instance, Christians and Jews) do not consider him to be a prophet at all; and two, they (Hindus, Buddhists, and the rest) are not bothered about the issue at all. Now this is not acceptable as far as our furious mullahs are concerned. They demand that the world positively accept him to be the last prophet. Which effectively means that non-Muslims either convert or be ready for the sword.

"Was the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) the last prophet of Islam or the world? This is a tricky issue, which the mullahs are not prepared to deal with. If he were the last prophet of Islam, then it would be unfair on our part to force non-Muslims to accept him as the last prophet of Islam. If the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the last prophet of humankind, then we must look for guidance in the Holy Koran. And if the Holy Koran says that he was the last prophet of humanity, then we must seek guidance from the Book of Allah and see if Allah instructs us Muslims to wage a jihad against those [e.g. Ahmadi Muslims] who deny Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) prophetic finality. If Allah gives no such an instruction, then we Muslims must fear His wrath because Allah very, very explicitly said in the very beginning of the Koran that whosoever kills one human being is guilty of killing all of humanity. Thus, by wanting to kill humans in the name of the Prophet (PBUH), these mullahs, in letter and spirit, want to launch an insane jihad against Allah."

"My Plea that Aasia Bibi Must Not Be Pardoned is Based Upon a Different Logic – If She Is Pardoned, It Would Establish Her Guilt"

"But my plea that Aasia Bibi must not be pardoned is based upon a different logic – if she is pardoned, it would establish her guilt. The president of Pakistan has a constitutional privilege to pardon anyone who has been punished for some offence. Now this implies that the person pardoned is indeed guilty. Thus, it would mean that Aasia Bibi did, in fact, commit a crime of an immensely heinous nature, which resulted in the death penalty verdict against her.

"In 1992, the Pakistan government formulated the blasphemy law, whose fruit Aasia Bibi is made to taste today. At that time, I wrote against the law, saying that it would be misused by criminals and criminally minded people to settle personal scores and commit acts of robbery and snatching people's possessions. Many people resented my argument and blamed me for being a Jewish agent. Three mullahs came over to 'see' me in the newspaper office where I worked. Those were different times.

"Now I may be dealt with in a different manner. However, certain things never change. In 1992, I wrote that the stature of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was not so weak as to need, of all the people, Pakistanis for protection. I say the same thing today: The great Prophet (PBUH) needs no protection from a country [i.e. Pakistan] which, year after year, is a contender for the top slot on the international list of the most corrupt countries. The Prophet (PBUH) does not need to be protected by the fascists who commit the ultimate blasphemy against Allah by killing people, His creation, in His prophet's name."

Dr. Mohammad Taqi: "[In Koranic Verses] Neither Has a Direct Order Been Given To Impart a Punishment, Nor Has A Set Punishment Been Prescribed [for Blasphemers]"

"[T]he Holy Koran and Sunnah [deeds of the Prophet] ostensibly form the premise of Article 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and, without revisiting what they actually say about blasphemy, the only challenge that might be successful against this law would be to have its procedural aspects modified. The Koran and Sunnah indeed are the two material sources of the Shari'a law, but were eventually supplemented by a corpus of interpretation largely agreed upon by a majority of Muslim scholars (ijma) and deductive analogy (qiyas) to form the basis of Islamic jurisprudence…"

"I would point to one… [Koranic] verse: 'Verily! We have seen the turning of your (Mohammad's) face towards the heaven. Surely, We shall turn you to a Qiblah (direction of prayer) that shall please you, so turn your face in the direction of Al-Masjid al-Haram' (2:144). This is a unique verse; while the Koran and other holy books speak to what humans, including the prophets, must do to earn the pleasure (raza) of the Almighty, here Allah is doing something purely to earn the pleasure or raza of His Prophet (PBUH).

"So is it possible then that the Almighty, who has thus exalted the status of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), left us without any guidance on how to deal with speech or actions that attempt to disparage Him? Could the Koran be silent on a matter of such grave importance? Have we been left to rely on the ijma and qiyas of the clerics who came some two centuries after the Prophet (PBUH)?

"Indeed not, but that is something that the ones after a poor woman's scalp would have us believe. Let us consider Surah Al-Ahzab, verse 57: 'Lo! Those who malign Allah and His messenger, Allah hath cursed them in the world and the Hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained.'

"The Koran also mentions the most important case of blasphemy ever committed against Mohammad (PBUH). The Koran says in Surah Al-Massad: 'The power of Abu Lahab will perish, and he will perish. His wealth and gains will not exempt him. He will be plunged in flaming fire. And his wife, the wood-carrier, will have upon her neck a halter of palm-fibre.'

"The common theme between the verses noted above is that while the highest condemnation has been heaped on anyone reviling or attempting to revile the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and eternal damnation promised for the perpetrator, neither has a direct order (amr) has been given to impart a punishment nor has a set punishment been prescribed – not even for Abu Lahab!"

"[One Koranic] Verse Dealing with War, Sedition and Rebellion Is Invoked to Punish What May not Even Qualify as Theocratic or Religious Dissent [e.g. on Blasphemy]"

"Let us also consider the Arabic terms used to describe blasphemy against God and the Prophet (PBUH). The Arabic words sabba (abuse, insult) and shatm (vilification) denote blasphemy and have been adopted in Persian and Urdu as well. It must be stated that the word shatm does not occur in the Koran at all, while a derivative of sabba is used only in 1 verse, and that too to proscribe the Muslims from hurling sabba on other people's gods and deities (Chapter 6:108).

"So where then do punishments like death or chopping off limbs for blasphemy come from? Usually, anecdotal reports are cited from the Hadith in which the Prophet (PBUH) allegedly condoned the death or punishing of a blasphemer. However, for each such incident – usually reported on weak authority – there are two others where the Prophet (PBUH) tolerated and indeed pardoned insults against him. Not a single incident can be cited from the Sirah traditions [i.e. Sunnah] where charges of blasphemy were filed, a trial held and the punishment meted out.

"Almost all proponents of severe or capital punishment for blasphemy, therefore, quote verse 33 of Surah Al-Maidah, in support of their argument: 'The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.'

"It is a travesty of justice that a verse dealing with war, sedition and rebellion is invoked to punish what may not even qualify as theocratic or religious dissent. In fact, Article 295 is not just a travesty of justice, it is an iftira (slander) against the Almighty and Prophet (PBUH) as it attributes to them what they never mandated. The presidential pardon is most commendable in the current case and procedural changes to the blasphemy laws would be welcome.

"However, Article 295 is repugnant to the Koran and Sunnah and, as long as it remains on the books, it will be a direct negation of the verse 'Wama arsalnaka illa Rehmatan-lil-alameen' (We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures – 21:107). By not prescribing harsh penalties, the Almighty prevented this exalted status of Mohammad (PBUH) from being undermined…"

Endnote: [1] Daily Times, Pakistan, December 3, 2010. The text of the articles has been lightly edited for clarity.

Source: Middle East Media Research Institute, December 17, 2010

Pakistan court: Christian convicted of blasphemy must wait for pardon

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A court in Pakistan on Monday blocked the government from pardoning a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy until her case has been heard by an appeals court, a senior government law officer said.

Chauhdary Hanif Khatana, deputy advocate general of Punjab province, said the Lahore High Court has ruled that because Asia Bibi's death sentence is not final and subject to confirmation by a higher court, the president must wait to legally use his powers to pardon.

Bibi's defense lawyer, Khan Chauhdary, said that he has filed an appeal against the death sentence but that the appeal would take two or three years to be heard.

There have been calls for a presidential pardon, and last week Pakistan's minister for foreign affairs concluded a three-day investigation into the case, saying Bibi is innocent and should be released.

"This case was filed on the basis of religious and personal enmity," Minister Shahbaz Bhatti said.

A spokesman and spokeswoman for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, however, said Wednesday that the president would pardon Bibi if necessary and only after the legal process has taken its course.

Zardari did ask Bhatti to propose names for a committee of scholars and experts who would recommend reforms "to effectively prevent the misuse of the blasphemy law for personal and political reasons."

Bibi was convicted of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during an argument last year with Muslim fellow field workers.

Source: CNN.com, November 30, 2010

Don't pardon Christian woman, Pakistan Muslim leaders demand

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two prominent Pakistani Muslim leaders threatened Wednesday to call for nationwide protests if the president pardons a Christian woman sentenced to death for insulting the Muslim prophet Mohammed.

"If the president pardons Asia Bibi, we will raise our voices across the country until he is forced to take his decision back," nationally known mufti Muneer Ur Rehman said.

Hafiz Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, a leading cleric in Lahore, said pardoning the woman would be "criminal negligence" and would cause inter-religious tension.

Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer told CNN Tuesday that President Asif Ali Zardari would pardon Bibi if the High Court did not grant her request for mercy.

Source: CNN.com, November 24, 2010

Blasphemy case splits Pakistanis

PAKISTAN'S President faces mounting pressure to intervene in the case of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.

The case has drawn the Vatican's attention and sparked street protests in this Muslim-majority nation.

In a report delivered to President Asif Ali Zardari, Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti recommended that the woman, Asia Bibi, 45, be pardoned or released from prison if her pending appeal is not quickly addressed.

Mr Bhatti said he also recommended amendments to the nation's controversial blasphemy law.

The report followed calls for clemency by Pope Benedict XVI, rights groups, newspapers and the governor of the province where Bibi became the first woman condemned to hang for blasphemy.

But opponents have been equally loud, and the response of Mr Zardari's government will be viewed as a barometer of its will to stand up to hard-line religious groups, including some political allies.

Hundreds of Muslim demonstrators in Lahore threatened violence this week if Bibi is released.

Her ordeal began last year when Muslim women in her village near Lahore accused her of speaking ill of the prophet Muhammad. Human rights organisations have long urged a repeal of the blasphemy law, and Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party - whose government depends on a fragile coalition with conservative religious parties - has vowed, but done little, to prevent its abuse.

''All Pakistanis, no matter what their religion, are equal under the law,'' said Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for Mr Zardari. ''President Zardari has followed the case of Asia Bibi closely and will take appropriate action, if necessary, to issue a pardon or grant clemency.''

Several people have been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, but none have been executed. Instead, rights activists and lawyers say the law is widely used to ostracise religious minorities or settle personal scores.

Though police are supposed to investigate cases, lawyers say that accusers often do little more than gather an intimidating group to lodge a claim and police make an arrest to avert an uprising.

That is what happened in Bibi's case, according to Mr Bhatti, who is a Christian. He said Bibi drew the ire of fellow farmhands after a dispute in June 2009, when they refused to drink water she collected and she refused their demands that she convert to Islam.

The women complained to a cleric, who gathered a crowd that forced her to the police station, Mr Bhatti said. He said police did not investigate and a court, without hearing her full account, handed down a death sentence four months later.

Mr Bhatti said he had concluded that Bibi, a mother of five who has been in prison for 17 months, never criticised Islam and the case against her was riddled with flaws.

People accused of blasphemy are frequently so threatened that they must leave their towns, and several convicted blasphemers have been killed in jail, said Ali Dayan Hasan, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.

''The cases that go to trial are really the tip of the iceberg,'' Mr Hasan said. ''The law creates this legal infrastructure which is then used in various informal ways to intimidate, coerce, harass and persecute.''

Bibi's husband and children were in hiding, Mr Bhatti said.

''We are frightened,'' Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, a brickmaker, told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday. ''We are receiving threats, especially from clerics.''

Sahibzada Fazal Karim, the leader of the Sunni Ittehad Council, a key Muslim body, said he agreed that the law should be amended - but not towards leniency. Instead, he said, it should make blasphemy against other religious figures, such as Jesus, also punishable by death.

''Death is the only punishment for a person who commits blasphemy,'' Mr Karim said. ''If such a man or woman is set free by the President, ignoring the decision by the judiciary, it will have a ruinous effect on peace and harmony in the country.''

Source: theage.com.au, November 27, 2010

No quick pardon for Pakistani Christian

Pakistan's president will not immediately pardon a Christian woman sentenced to die for insulting Islam, but may do so later if an appeals court delays her case too long, an official said on Thursday.

The case against Asia Bibi has inflamed religious passions in Pakistan. Hard-line Muslims demonstrated again on Thursday against any pardon for her, and minority Christians held their own protests calling for abolishment of the blasphemy law, which critics say is misused by some to settle personal scores and persecute minorities.

Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for the release of Bibi, a 45-year-old mother of five who has said she was wrongly accused by a group of Muslim women with a grudge against her. The Pope said her case highlights the persecution of Pakistani Christians, who make up less than 5 per cent of the country's 175 million people.

Bibi, 45, is the 1st woman condemned to die under the blasphemy law. She has been jailed for 18 months and was sentenced November 8 to hang for insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

Her lawyer has filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court, and President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to let the appeal process play out instead of immediately pardoning her, said Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, who met with Zardari on Thursday.

Pardoning Bibi would carry political risk for Zardari, whose broadly secular ruling party relies on the support of Islamist groupings in parliament.

However, the president agreed to pardon Bibi later if the appeal case is unduly delayed, said Bhatti, who delivered a report to the president on Thursday recommending Bibi be immediately freed. Zardari's spokesman could not be reached on Thursday.

Bhatti said Zardari did not specify any deadline but he believes the president "will not wait months or weeks."

About 100 Muslim demonstrators rallied on Thursday in the central city of Multan, warning against any presidential pardon for Bibi and burning an effigy of the Punjab provincial governor who has supported her appeal.

"We will resist if the government moves against the court verdict and attempts to amend the blasphemy law," warned Tariq Naeemullah, a leader of Citizen Front of Multan.

Dozens of Christians held their own protest in the southern city of Karachi, carrying a large crucifix and placards reading Down with Black Law and Stop Discrimination Against Religious Minorities.

Pakistan's higher courts have always struck down lower courts' death penalties in past blasphemy cases. Still, Bhatti said many who are falsely accused are unjustly jailed for months and often targeted by violence. 2 Christian brothers in Punjab were gunned down earlier this year as they were leaving a court hearing on a blasphemy charge.

The minorities minister acknowledges that repealing the blasphemy law is politically unfeasible but has proposed changes to it including making it a crime to falsely accuse someone, abolishing the death penalty for the crime and requiring initial cases to be heard by higher courts instead of local ones.

Source: Associated Press, November 27, 2010

Pope Benedict Urges Pakistan For A Blasphemy Case

Pope Benedict, a religious figure for Christians and right now the most respectful personality alive for mostly all the Christians of the world has now given statement especially about the Pakistan Blasphemy case which have charges against a Pakistani Christian women named 'Asia Bibi' who was accused of blasphemy one year ago. Although, Pakistani media did not highlighted the case very much may be because of the sensitive nature of the case or anything else but now Pop Benedict has appealed to the Government Of Pakistan to save her life.

Asia Bibi is a 45 year old women and have 5 children, she was sentenced to death according to the constitution of Pakistan which has no lenient regulations for Blasphemy cases. Some of the human right NGO's and activists are trying to save her and now Pop has himself jumped into the matter and appealed.



Let's see where the 'war of religions' lead us..