Blasphemy killings: 15 of 34 murdered were Muslims

Human rights organisations urge immediate repeal of blasphemy laws.


Ali Usman December 07, 2010

LAHORE: A total of 34 people were killed extra judicially in Pakistan during 1990-2010 following charges of blasphemy, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The information obtained by the Tribune revealed that 15 of those killed were Muslims and 31 were killed in the Punjab.

16 of the murdered people were Christians, 15 Muslims, two Ahmadis and one a Hindu. All these people accused, of crimes under the blasphemy laws, were either killed extra judicially or found dead in prison under dubious circumstances.

Eight of these people died in the police custody. Five were killed by the police. One of them committed suicide and two were found dead in prison with the cause of their death unknown.  Dr Mehdi Hasan, Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairperson, said that he believed that the extrajudicial killings raised questions in relations to the failure of the police security. “The HRCP has always been condemning such tragic incidents. We have long been campaigning for repeal of these laws,” he added.

Ali Dayan Hasan, the senior South Asia researcher at the Human Rights Watch, said that Pakistan would remain a laboratory for rights abuse in the name of religion if blasphemy laws were not repealed.

National Commission for Peace and Justice (NCPJ) is among the organisations calling for blasphemy laws repeal. NCPJ Executive Secretary Peter Jacob said, “In a society like Pakistan where people can be easily instigated into taking law in their hands, such laws should be immediately abolished.”

Religious scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi said that the Quran does not lay down a punishment for blasphemy. “In talking about these laws, one should understand the circumstances in which Ziaul Haq introduced them,” he said. He also said that the current laws were not Islamic.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2010.

COMMENTS (14)

Khan | 13 years ago | Reply The question is what Islam and Quran says? Is there any proof? TWO most important questions i want to raise here: I am standing on street and i raise finger on you and started telling people that you have said something wrong for our Prophet (PBUH). So by that should i have the right to kill you for putting finger on you? Anyone has prrof of that christian woman who were punished by a muslim that she said wrong things against our Prophet (PBUH)? When we live in a country, a society then do anyone has a right to kill someone on his own saying he has said anything wrong for our Prophet (PBUH)? Then do we need a society? Are we even a human being? We as muslim know what worst people did with Prophet (PBUH) on the times when He (PBUH) was preaching Islam. The people of Makkah i mean. Did he (PBUH) ordered anyone to kill all those people who throwed stones on him? I am confused here. Proofs: I am working on the details and meeting with scholars. Not those mulahs of Pakistan. I mean scholars to discuss on this. But i found few notes at the following link. I want all of you to read those. http://www.insaf.pk/Forum/tabid/53/forumid/1/tpage/1/view/topic/postid/98014/Default.aspx#98014
PRINCE SHAHRYAR RANA | 13 years ago | Reply Foolish system
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