Pakistan: New round of persecution against Ahmadis, using blasphemy laws

The blasphemy laws are a supremacist tool aimed at scaring non-Muslims and dissenting Muslims into silence and keeping them in line according to the whims of their overlords, as are all assaults on free speech that aim to suppress criticism of Islam. "Harassment: Three Ahmedis accused under blasphemy laws," by Rana Tanveer for the Express Tribune, December 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

LAHORE: The police have registered cases under the blasphemy laws against a student and his father in Khushab and a headmaster in Gujrat, all three of them Ahmedis.

Morality policing is a cheap way for authorities to look pious and busy. If they are spending resources on this, there is something more constructive they could be doing that they are not doing, like, for example, investigating honor killings.

Sajeel Ahmed, 18, of Khushab was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in a first information report (FIR) registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which carries the death penalty. The complainant is his classmate Waqas Nadeem, who said that Sajeel had tried to convert other students and made remarks that hurt their religious sentiments.

Sajeel’s father Hakim Jameel was accused of describing his son as a Muslim in his school admission form, an offence under Section 298-C of the PPC with a penalty of up to three years in prison. The complainant in the case is Qari Saeed Ahmed, who submitted that “the Muslims of Khushab are worried about the increasing number and activities of Qadianis in the city”.

That is what this is really about. The Ahmadis commit "blasphemy" by not disappearing.

Mujahid Ahmed, Sajeel’s brother, said that the police had registered the cases under pressure from religious leaders. “They have been making announcements at local mosques against Ahmedis and taking out protest rallies,” he said. He said that Qari Saeed had a long-term dispute with his father over property. He said that Saeed’s own son, a former teacher of Sajeel, had given police a statement in support of Sajeel. Previously, Jameel had said the charges against them were baseless.

Meanwhile in Gujrat, the police registered a case against Basharat Ahmed, headmaster at Government High Schools Kang Chanan, Gujrat, under Section 295-B of the PPC. He is accused of defiling the Holy Quran, an offence that can be punished with life imprisonment.

Ahmed allegedly snatched Arabic books from students who were cheating during exams at his school and threw the books in a pond. The complainant, Qari Mazhar Zargar, accused him of defiling Quranic verses written in those books.

Mubarik Ahmed Chaudhry, the brother of the accused headmaster, said that no one from the school had joined the case against his brother. He said that Zargar was being directed by people who had a property dispute with his brother.

“The teachers have all given statements to the police backing my brother. The police have been put under pressure by clerics here. The case has been registered six days after the alleged incident,” he said.

Sub Inspector Akhtar Shah, the investigation officer for the case, said that the headmaster had been arrested and investigations were ongoing.

A spokesman for the Jamaat-i-Ahmediya said that the community faced “an organised campaign of hatred and persecution” in Pakistan. “The campaign of hatred has reached new heights where even educational institutions are not safe for Ahmedi students and teachers,” he said.

“Such baseless cases against Ahmedis will not deter us,” he said. “This is not the first time that such cases have been registered against Ahmedis and will not be the last one. As in the past, these cases will also be proven false.”

He said that since 1984, 298 Ahmedis had been charged under the blasphemy laws.

« Previous Entry | Home Page | Next Entry »

3 Comments

| Leave a comment

salah | December 24, 2011 8:53 AM | Reply

“They (religious leaders) have been making announcements at local mosques against Ahmedis .."
"THEY" are the true culprits, "THEY" are the source of this hatred, "THEY" must be brought to justice.
Let's hope these poor Ahmadis won't end up like these Ahmadis...
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/02/indonesia-lynching.html

Remco Kimber | December 24, 2011 9:05 AM | Reply

Here, again, we are offered yet another example of why Islam is wholly incompatible with Western values.

An ominous marker of any totalitarian regime is a set of laws under which a citizen, more accurately a subject, can be charged criminally at any time and/or on no basis. Such laws are intended to keep subjects wary and on guard at all times such that no mischief against the state can be generated. In other words, “peace.” Stated differently, peace to the leftist means no opposition to the state. And in Islam the state is Islam, and Islam is the state.

In any totalitarian regime the state is first and foremost, with individuals allowed to exist only to perpetuate the state.

Obedience-through-fright is the objective of these deliberately vague laws. JW readers may recall Section 301 of Turkey's penal code which criminalizes behavior which "offends Turkishness." Pakistan's infamous Section 295 acts similarly, criminalizing various forms of "blasphemy." [Section 295-A forbids outraging religious feelings; Section 295-B forbids defiling the Quran; Section 295-C forbids defaming Muhammad.]

In American jurisprudence such laws would be stuck unconstitutional under the due process clauses of either the 5th Am. (for federal behavior) or the 14th Am. (for state behavior) on the basis that these laws are void for vagueness.

The void-for-vagueness doctrine supports accepted American social policies. {ASIDE: Bear in mind that in the American tradition federal and state constitutions are intended so that the people control their governments. That governments are increasingly and deliberately misreading constitutions in order to assert more and more power over the people is a clear perversion of the original design.} First, the void-for-vagueness doctrine encourages the government to clearly distinguish conduct that is lawful from that which is unlawful. Under the due process clauses, individuals must be given adequate notice of their legal obligations so they can govern their behavior accordingly. When individuals are left uncertain by the wording of an imprecise statute, criminal law can become a standard-less trap for the unwary.

Second, the void-for-vagueness doctrine discourages judges from attempting to apply sloppily worded laws. Like anyone else, judges often labor without success when interpreting poorly worded legislation.

Finally, the void-for-vagueness doctrine seeks to avoid encroachment on 1st Am. freedoms, such as freedom of speech, expression, petitioning of grievances. Because vague laws cause uncertainty in the minds of average citizens, some citizens will inevitably decline to take risky behavior that might land them in jail. When the vague provisions of a state or federal statute deter citizens from engaging in certain political or religious discourse, courts will apply heightened scrutiny to ensure that protected expression is not suppressed. For example, a law that prohibits "sacrilegious" speech would simultaneously chill the freedoms of expression and religion in violation of the void for vagueness doctrine.

Islam, not ready for prime time; not now, not ever.

margaritha | December 24, 2011 10:54 AM | Reply

Don't feel sorry for these Ahmedias. They are another set of slime Muslims,who were given refuge in many Christian countries,due to their aleged persecution in Islamic countries. But here they preach against Christianity and Jews, and try to convert them to thier brand of Islam.They are no better than the other Muslims.

NOTE: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.

FrontPageMag.com

Books by Robert Spencer

The Muslim Brotherhood in America, by Robert Spencer

Islamophobia: Thoughtcrime of the Totalitarian Future

Muslim Persecution of Christians, by Robert Spencer

The Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave of the 9/11 Attacks

“My comrade-in-arms, my pal, my buddy.”
— Oriana Fallaci

“Robert Spencer incarnates intellectual courage when, all over the world, governments, intellectuals, churches, universities and media crawl under a hegemonic Universal Caliphate’s New Order. His achievement in the battle for the survival of free speech and dignity of man will remain as a fundamental monument to the love of, and the self-sacrifice for, liberty.”
— Bat Ye’or

“Robert Spencer is indefatigable. He is keeping up the good fight long after many have already given up. I do not know what we would do without him. I appreciate all the intelligence and courage it takes to keep going despite the appeasement of the West.”
— Ibn Warraq

“America's most informed, fearless, and compelling voice on modern jihadism.”
— Andrew C. McCarthy, Senior Fellow at National Review Institute

“Robert Spencer is the leading voice of scholarship and reason in a world gone mad. If the West is to be saved, we will owe Robert Spencer an incalculable debt.”
— Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

"The consummate Islam critic and expert." — Bruce Bawer

“Over the years, we have become friends, and I have received his assistance on several pieces of legislation I proposed.”
— Former Congressman Tom Tancredo

“Few people are capable of applying scholarship, analytical reasoning, and objectivity to their topic -- while simultaneously being readable and witty -- as can Robert Spencer.”
— Raymond Ibrahim

“A national treasure...The acclaimed scholar of Islam.”
— Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy

“I am indeed honored to call him my friend.”
— Brad Thor, novelist

“A top American analyst of Islam....A serious scholar...I learn from him.”
— Daniel Pipes

“A brilliant scholar and writer.”
— Douglas Murray

"One of my best teachers."
— Ashraf Ramelah, Voice of the Copts

“Thank God there’s at least one man with balls left in the West.”
— Kathy Shaidle, Five Feet of Fury

“I read people like [Mark Steyn] and Bob Spencer and the rest of them, and I say, ‘Boortz, you’re pretending you’re an author. These people really are. They really write some entertaining, some standup stuff.’”
— Neal Boortz

“Robert Spencer is the Stephen King of Jihad.”
— Chris Gaubatz, Muslim Mafia

“Armed with facts and fearlessness, Spencer stands up for Western civilization.”
— Michelle Malkin

“Widely read in conservative foreign policy circles.”
— New York Times

“Widely read in many quarters in Washington.”
— Washington Post

“A canny operative who likely has the inside track on the State Department’s Middle East affairs desk should the tea party win the White House.”
— New York Magazine

“A hero of the American right.”
— Karen Armstrong

"The leading anti-Islamic intellectual in the United States....The go-to Islam expert for the right wing."
— Salon Magazine

“Robert Spencer is an Edward Said turned upside down.”
— Stephen Suleyman Schwartz

“One of the nation's most notorious Islamophobes.”
— Hamas-linked CAIR

"Geller and Spencer are probably the most important propagandizing Islamophobes in the world. These people's voices speak very loudly — not just here in the United States but overseas."
— Heidi Beirach, Southern Poverty Law Center

“Satanic ignoramus.”
— Khaleel Mohammed

“The Likud anti-Christ.”
— Dar al-Hayat newspaper (Saudi Arabia)

“Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant.”
— Al-Qaeda’s Adam Gadahn, “Azzam the American”