Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws have attracted international attention in recent years, after a large number of cases were filed against Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus as well as Muslims for alleged acts of blasphemy. In many cases, militant Islamic clerics in Pakistan have shot and killed defendants in blasphemy cases inside the courtroom, as well as off the court premises after the defendant was granted bail.
In 2010, the case of Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, generated mass controversy after she was condemned to death under Section 295-C, one of the blasphemy-related laws that stipulates the death penalty. A section of the liberal intelligentsia in Pakistan has called for amending the blasphemy laws, saying that they are being misused by Islamic clerics to whip up an extremist mindset and intolerance of religious minorities.
The main victims of the blasphemy laws are Ahmadi Muslims, who are declared non-Muslim under the Pakistani constitution, and who for this reason may not even call themselves Muslims. A wide-scale public hate campaign is being waged against them by Islamic clerics in Pakistan. Ahmadi Muslims are despised for allegedly not believing that Islam's Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet of God.
In a recent article, titled "The Double Standards of Our Kharijites," Pakistani lawyer Latif Hamdani argued that the existing laws related to blasphemy and religious freedom in Pakistan are sufficient to prosecute the Islamic clerics for inciting hate against Ahmadi Muslims. However, he also added that the Pakistani state and the judiciary have not treated the religious minorities as per the Pakistani laws, that are meant to protect them.
Following are some excerpts from the article:[1]
Under the Pakistani Constitution, "The Ahmadi Community Is a Religious Community… Which Should, in Principle, Enjoy the Same Protections of Law and Constitution as Any Citizen of Pakistan"
"The Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, declares that, for the purposes of the law and constitution, Ahmadis are non-Muslims. Specifically, the Ahmadis have been mentioned as a non-Muslim community along with other faiths. It therefore follows that the Ahmadi faith is a separate, recognized religion of a class of citizens of Pakistan known as Ahmadis under our constitution, which protects freedom of religion, and law… [and also] protects all classes of citizens in Pakistan in principle against violence and persecution. If there was any doubt about the legal position of Ahmadis, 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) crystallizes their position as non-Muslims.
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"Now let us review the blasphemy laws of Pakistan, which are always used to persecute minorities but never to protect them. 295-A, for example says, 'Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both.'
"One may also refer to 153-A of the aforesaid PPC which says, 'Whoever
'(a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation or otherwise, promotes or incites, or attempts to promote or incite, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities; or
'(b) commits or incites any other person to commit, any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional, groups or castes or communities or any group of persons identifiable as such on any ground whatsoever and which disturbs or is likely to disturb public tranquility; or
'(c) organizes, or incites any other person to organize, any exercise, movement, drill or other similar activity intending that the participants in any such activity shall use or be trained to use criminal force or violence or knowing it to be likely that the participants in any such activity will use or be trained to use criminal force of violence, or participates, or incites any other person to participate, in any such activity intending to use or be trained to use criminal force or violence, or knowing it to be likely that the participants in any such activity will use or be trained to use criminal force or violence against any religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community or any group of persons identifiable as such on any ground whatsoever and any such activity for any reason whatsoever causes or is likely to cause fear or alarm or a feeling of insecurity amongst members of such religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine.'
"Now, admittedly, under the law and constitution of Pakistan, the Ahmadi community is a religious community and class unto itself, which should, in principle, enjoy the same protections of law and constitution as any citizen of Pakistan must enjoy. Clearly then it follows that the founder of their faith, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, also enjoys the privilege of 295-A, and to defile his memory ought to be punishable by incarceration extending up to 10 years. It is also clear that any incitement against Ahmadis amounts to an incitement against a group of citizens of Pakistan defined by its religious beliefs, which is punishable under Pakistani law.
"The foremost guilty party is the state itself. Every time the state prints a passport form or form for an identity card describing the founder of the Ahmadi faith as an impostor, liar and false prophet, it violates 295-A. The next guilty party is every mullah [cleric] and his mother-in-law. If Pakistan applied its laws justly and fairly, every ignorant mullah using the pulpit to abuse Ahmadis and inciting people to violence against them would be behind bars for combined sentences of 15 years at the very least.
"Instead, the violators of the PPC, like the ignorant Alim Online [religious television program hosted by Dr. Amir Liaquat Husain], are hailed as great scholars. Another ignorant mullah announces prize money for the death of a poor hapless woman incarcerated under clearly false charges through a dubious and unfair process and no one has the courage in this country to try him. Our great and mighty chief justice [Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry of Supreme Court] who has a penchant for suo motu [i.e. acting on his own] notices has yet to invoke 153-A against the said mullah."
'[It] Seems That Pakistan is Not an Islamic State or a Shi'a State or a Sunni State... Held Hostage By Our... Mullahs, Who Are Hell-Bent on Destroying the Rest of Us – And… Pakistan Itself"
"No sir, in Pakistan, the law does not protect the weak, helpless and marginalized. It persecutes them. Ignorant and hypocritical mullahs have made a mockery of the constitution, law and process in Pakistan. Justice Sardar Muhammad Iqbal, in his famous judgment in Kaikaus v. President of Pakistan PLD 1976 Lah 1608… described the petitioners as Kharijites [i.e. those who left Islam]. Thirty-four years later, it seems that Pakistan is not an Islamic state or a Shi'a state or a Sunni state. It is now a Kharijite state held hostage by our Kharijite mullahs who are hell bent on destroying the rest of us and, in the process, Pakistan itself.
"What depths will we not fall to? Could the contrast be any greater to our founding principles? At the height of the Pakistan Movement, [Pakistan's Founder Mohammad Ali] Jinnah refused to endorse a cover for Time magazine on its editor's request because it was derogatory and insulting 'to the Hindu Community.' Our nation state was built on positive values, not hatred for others.
"Yet we now seem to call into question its very existence by our actions. Incidentally, questioning the creation of Pakistan is also punishable under Section 123-A of the PPC, though it has never stopped the… [ruling Pakistan People's Party of President Asif Zardari] from sharing power with the JUI-F [Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of Maulana Fazlur Rehman], a party whose famous antecedent Maulana Mufti Mahmood, the posthumous godfather of the Taliban and bigoted forces, historically denounced the creation of Pakistan."
[1] Daily Times (Pakistan), December 20, 2010. The text of the article has been lightly edited for clarity.
