Pakistan weighs changes to blasphemy laws; archbishop sees progress in government response
May 27, 2015
The government of Pakistan is considering changes in the country’s blasphemy laws, to guard against abuses and mob violence, the Fides news service reports.
The proposed changes would allow severe punishment for false accusations, making it less convenient for individuals to use blasphemy charges as a way of settling personal disputes. Also, prosecutors would be required to show deliberate intention to blaspheme. The proposals would seek to ensure that religious extremists do not “do justice alone”—a clear reference to the mob violence that has erupted in Pakistani cities after a member of a religious minority group is accused of blasphemy against Islam.
Meanwhile Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore told Aid to the Church in Need that Muslim leaders and government officials had acted promptly to disperse a mob that had attacked Catholic churches after a Christian man was accused of blasphemy on May 24. He said that since an earlier incident of mob violence in March, he had worked closely with officials to seek protection of Christians. The most recent incident, he said, was ‘the first time the government has succeeded in acting in time to save both the people and their homes."
Archbishop Shaw said that the May 24 incident-- in which a young man with a record of mental troubles was accused of burning papers that contained passages from the Qu’ran—illustrates a persistent problem with Pakistan’s blasphemy law. The details of the case are not clear, and it seems likely that the young man was simply tidying up, he said; nevertheless militant Muslims attacked a Christian neighborhood. The archbishop observed: “When a Muslim is accused of blasphemy, it is just that individual who pays the consequences. But if a Christian is accused, the entire Christian community is held responsible."
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Further information:
- Changes to the blasphemy law: the government's bill, Christians approve (Fides)
- In another blasphemy case, Pakistan archbishop credits authorities with fast action to protect Christians (ACN)
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