All too often in Pakistan, those who are accused of blasphemy are murdered by vigilantes or lynched by rabid mobs before they can even be tried, or after they’re acquitted. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are a human rights abuse of monstrous proportions, but to denounce them would be “Islamophobic,” and so the international human rights community is largely silent about them.
“Teenager kills man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan police station,” by Katharine Houreld, Reuters, May 16, 2014:
(Reuters) – A teenager walked into a Pakistani police station on Friday and shot dead a 65-year-old man from a minority sect accused of blasphemy, their spokesman said, the second murder involving the country’s controversial blasphemy laws in as many weeks.
Rights activists said the attack, and a spike in the number of blasphemy cases, was evidence of rising intolerance in the mainly Sunni Muslim South Asian state of 180 million people.
Victim Khalil Ahmad was a member of the minority Ahmadi community, a sect who say they are Muslim but whose religion is rejected by the Pakistani state.
Ahmad and three other Ahmadis had asked a shopkeeper in their village in central Pakistan earlier this week to remove inflammatory stickers denouncing their community, said Saleem ud Din, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community.
In retaliation, the shopkeeper filed blasphemy charges against the four men on May 12. Ahmad, a father of four, was in police custody when the teenage boy walked in, asked to see him, and shot him dead, Din said.
He said police told him that the shooter, a high school student, had been arrested.
Din said the lapse in security would have to be investigated. Pakistani police are notoriously poorly trained and security is often lax, critics say.
“They told us the person who shot Mr. Khalil is just a boy,” Din told Reuters. “The hate campaign carried out against us by the mullahs is going on and on and on.”
Khalil was killed in Sharaqpur police station, about 55 km (33 miles) northwest of the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore.
Ahmadis have been arrested in Pakistan for reading the Koran, holding religious celebrations and having Koranic verses on rings or wedding cards.
Some mullahs promise that killing Ahmadis earns a place in heaven and give out leaflets listing their home addresses. Four years ago, 86 Ahmadis were killed in two simultaneous attacks on Friday prayers in Lahore.
The Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim but believe in a prophet who came after Mohammed. A 1984 Pakistani law declared them non-Muslims, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the country’s blasphemy law.
The colonial-era law does not define blasphemy but says it is punishable by death. Anyone can file a blasphemy case claiming their religious feelings are injured for any reason.
The accused are often lynched, and lawyers and judges defending or acquitting them have been attacked. Rights groups say the laws are increasingly used to seize money or property.
Two politicians who suggested reforming the law were killed, one by his own bodyguard. Lawyers showered the killer with rose petals when he came to court.
The number of accusations is rising, according to a 2012 study by the Islamabad-based think tank, the Center for Research and Security Studies. In 2001, there was only one such complaint, but in 2011 there were 80.
No more recent figures are available but 2014 looks set to be a record. Earlier this week, 68 lawyers were charged with blasphemy at the instigation of a leader of a sectarian group that has been banned for militant violence.
They had been protesting against police violence and chanted the name of a policeman named after a companion of Prophet Muhammad.
Last week a prominent human rights lawyer defending a Pakistani university professor accused of blasphemy was shot and killed after being threatened in court by other lawyers.
Rashid Rehman had been representing the professor, who taught English and was accused by hardline student groups of making blasphemous remarks on his Facebook page in March 2013.
Mirren10 says
You should send this article to that sleazy little creep, Harris Zafar, Robert !
I expect he’ll say islam and mohammed are not to blame …
EYESOPEN says
You beat me to it, Mirren10. I was going to say rub this article in the faces of both Harris Zafar and Qasim Rashid, just to remind them of what pious sunni muzlims think of them and their “sect” of izlam. Of course, it would not make any difference to these worshipers of Satan who live their lives in denial. Talk about a case of “Stockholm Syndrome”!
Jay Boo says
Every Muslim must continually prove they are worthy of Allah or else there is the risk that they might realize that Allah is not worthy.
Allah of Islam has no honor.
Allah is a shameful disgrace to all of humanity.
Allah is a PIG.
Allah is a dirty filthy PIG.
Allah is made in the image of lying Muhammad.
Allah belongs in hell with Muhammad.
Allah is Satan
Allah is written in the shape of a road killed snake.
All who follow Allah will go to hell.
Religious feelings are the least thing they should be worried about.
mortimer says
Pakistani lawyers who support vigilantism are like the lawyers who supported Hitler.
Angemon says
“Victim Khalil Ahmad was a member of the minority Ahmadi community, a sect who say they are Muslim but whose religion is rejected by the Pakistani state.
Ahmad and three other Ahmadis had asked a shopkeeper in their village in central Pakistan earlier this week to remove inflammatory stickers denouncing their community, said Saleem ud Din, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community.
In retaliation, the shopkeeper filed blasphemy charges against the four men on May 12. Ahmad, a father of four, was in police custody when the teenage boy walked in, asked to see him, and shot him dead, Din said.
[…]
The colonial-era law does not define blasphemy but says it is punishable by death. Anyone can file a blasphemy case claiming their religious feelings are injured for any reason.”
No further comment is needed…
john spielman says
just more Islamic works righteous theology at its worst; killing in the name of Allah, because Allah is impotent and unable to punish transgressors of his laws himself.
Jay Boo says
When the Jews of Medina caught Muhammad
in yet another perverse lie
that he claimed that Allah had said,
Islam’s satanic verse prophet offered his shameless reply,
“I was tricked by Satan, off with their heads.”
Salah says
“Some mullahs promise that killing Ahmadis earns a place in heaven and give out leaflets listing their home addresses.”
These mullahs are the ones who should be arrested and face trial, they are the real murderers.
The Qur’an itself needs to be put on trial, convicted, and BANNED. It’s a hate book, a manual of terrorism, an accursed book.
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/05/accursed-book-le-livre-maudit.html
j says
my point exactly in my JW post about 4/5 years ago. take these bastards to court and let the chips fall as they may; of course, with O (zero) as pres., the truth in these matters will be hard to find….god help us all!
Champ says
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are a human rights abuse of monstrous proportions, but to denounce them would be “Islamophobic,” and so the international human rights community is largely silent about them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, and the international human rights community are enablers of this evil and culpable, as well …
Ralph says
Allah has arranged for Pious Muslims a non-stop and non-interrupted sex in Islamic heavens because Mullahs will remain busy only with unlimited sex and wine for billions of years to come. These are rewards from the merciful Allah for killing and torturing those enemies of Allah by Mumeen Muslims.
In the Hadiths the Prophet Muhammad gave the believers a final choice of a open sex market in heaven where there will be no limit of the number of sexual partners. Women are in display like open fruit market. Hadith: Al hadiths, Vol. 4, Page-172, No.34: Hozrot Ali (r.a) narrated that the Apostle of Allah said, “There is in paradise an open market wherein there will be no buying or selling, but will consist of men and women. When a man desires a beauty, at once he will have intercourse with them as desired.
In this open sex market of heaven one can easily imagine what type of fun is going to happen there. Say one particular day of heaven—one very pious Muslim (who prayed five times a day and visited Mecca) who has been permitted to the best of Islamic heaven. There one day he decided to visit (out of curiosity) the famous sex market of heaven, and when he reached there, he found out that all his great great grandfathers, grandfather, father, brothers also were there visiting “Islamic Brothel” called heavenly sex market. Now, they all got excited by the paragon beauty of heavenly houris with very swollen breasts, dark eyes and fair skin. The great great grandfather will command all his descendents family members to feel free to enjoy the sweet taste of houris. In that case the great great grandfathers, grandfather, father, brothers—they all will start simultaneous orgy of sexual intercourse right in front of each others. Can you imagine that terrific scenery folks? Allah is really great and merciful indeed!
Jeff says
Merely by allegations alone, people are being killed. Islam is the sick man in the room. The idea of honor in Islam is quite different from our concept of it in the West. Muslims attain honor by being dishonorable.
hinduismisawayoflife says
Today there is a beacon of light in South Asia against Islamist supremacism. One small step towards the elimination of the fascist Islamic ideology. With the crowning of Narendra Modi as the head of government of India, we have a new ideologue supporting this fight against this inhuman ideology.
The people of India realize this danger and have wisely exercised their vote in favor of a man who will be in the forefront to fight this inhuman ideology.