The Blasphemy Law and its Impact on Christians

Contents

- Introduction
- Pakistan Penal Codes (PPC) relating to religious offenses
- The use of PPC 295 B, 295 C, 298, 298 A,B,C
- The difficulty faced by Police to conduct investigations.
- The difficulties faced by the courts.
- The absence of social structure to stop the mob mentality.
- The difficulties of legislative body to revisit the law and make any amendments or repeal.
- Ground realities which contribute to the misuse of the law.
- The purpose of the law.
- The status of Christians.
- Examples of cases.
- Protests.
- Mass attacks.
- Media.
- Politicians.
- Civil Society.
- International bodies.
- Islamic world.
- International media.
- Reformation.
- Present Possibilities and the Future.

Introduction The allegation of blasphemy against Christians is not a new phenomenon. Even Christ Jesus himself was accused of blasphemy in his trial before the Jewish supreme court composed of 70 judges (religious scholars), a real full bench! The accusation of being a traitor against the state did not convince the Roman governor Pilate and for three times, he declared before the Jewish hierarchy that he could not charge him of any crime and wanted to release him. In the end the Jewish leaders and mob accused Jesus of blasphemy (blasphemia is a Greek word used in the New Testament) and asked Pilate to award him death penalty. Thus in the end it was the accusation of blasphemy which mobilized the mob to create enough commotion that the governor succumbed to the pressure and ordered Jesus’ crucifixion, the cruelest form of Roman death penalty, normally given to the hard core criminals and freedom fighters against Romans. Jewish law did not allow crucifying any one, though the dead body of an accused could be hanged for short period for a public display. The Romans used crucifixion at a large scale and as many as 500 could be handed in day out side the walls of Jerusalem. The normal Jewish way of death penalty was stoning. Jesus saved one women from stoning and asked the crowd, ” Let him who is without a sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” ( ESV). A challenge which became a famous maxim. The first Christian martyr, Stephen was accused of blasphemy and then Paul was accused of desecration of the temple and ultimately beheaded in Rome after lengthy trials in the court of Caesar, the supreme court of Rome, the mightiest empire on the face of earth at that time.

In the Old Testament the blasphemer against God was to be executed (Leviticus 24:16). This law was applied to the non Jews also. There was no law given for execution for those who insulted the prophet Moses. There was an instance where people tried to stone Moses, and God took it as contempt (NIV), { or despise (ESV) } against Himself and wanted to punish Israelite. Prophet Moses interceded at this point and asked for mercy for the people and God granted that.

The most interesting interesting case of blasphemy is found in the Old Testament in which a man named Naboth was stoned to death. The real issue was his property, a vineyard which happened to be adjacent to King Ahab’s palace who wanted to make this vineyard as part of palace. This is a classic case where a law was misused. ( see full account in the book of 1 Kings chapter 21 in the Old Testament). There is no law in the Old Testament which awards death for the insulting the prophet of Israelite.

In the New testament, Jesus Christ asks for mercy for those who were insulting him and crucified him on the cross. He even mentioned at the time of his arrest that he could have ordered more than twelve legions (72000) of angels at his disposal to save him from arrest.

It seems that the prophets of the Old Testament and the last one of them, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ did not use the powers at their disposal to save their lives.

The Islamic Sharia law is mainly based on the Holy Quran and the Hadith. The Hadith caries almost equal weight when it comes to be considered as the source of the Islamic Law. In fact there are more details in the Hadith on which laws and daily life practice are based. There is no verse in the Holy Quran which says that non-Muslims desecrating the Holy Quran or the person of the prophet should be killed. The only example of mercy reported in Holy Quran is about the prophet’s (pbuh) forbearance for the insult meted against him by a Jewish women who used to throw garbage on him when he passed on the street. The Holy Quran was not written in book form during the life time of the prophet (pbuh), so there is no mention of any kind of desecration of pages being torn and burnt or thrown on the ground. Though, through an intricate system of Islamic jurisprudence, laws have been enacted to punish the blasphemer of the prophet (pbuh) and also those who desecrates the Holy Quran. In Pakistan modern day laws have been made in the penal code system in addition to the Anglo-Saxon laws which ascribe punishment for those who desecrate religious places and artifacts. There is no law against those who blaspheme Allah Almighty.

Pakistan Penal Codes relating to religious offenses

Pakistani laws and courts run on the British system which replaced the Qazi system of Mughal Muslim rulers in the sub-continent. The basic law concerning desecrating the holy places and artifacts, which has continued even after the British have left is, penal code no. 295, which was enacted in 1860.

The relevant provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code and sections which were added during the time of Zia ul Haq and Nawaz Sharif rule are as follows:

1. Offences related to religion (original text)
Section 295.

Injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class: Whoever, destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Section 295-A.

Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs: 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.

2. Blasphemy Laws
Section 295-B.

Defiling, etc., of copy of Holy Koran: Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Koran or an extract there from or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.

Section 295-C.


Use of derogatory remarks etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet:

Whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death.

Section 298.


Uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent of wounding religious feelings:

Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person or makes any gesture in the sight of that person or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Section 298-A.


Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of holy personages:

Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of any wife (Ummul Mumineen), or members of the family (Ahle-bait), of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), or any of the righteous Caliphs (Khulafa-e-Raashideen) or companions (Sahaaba) of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Section 298-B.


Misuse of epithets, description and titles, etc., reserved for certain holy personages or places:

1. Any person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves “Ahmadis” or by any other name) who by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation: (a) refers to, or addresses, any person, other than a Caliph or companion of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as “Ameer-ul-Mumineen”, “Khalifat-ul-Mumineen”, “Khalifat-ul-Muslimeen”, “Sahaabi” or “Razi Allah Anho”; (b) Refers to, or addresses, any person, other than a wife of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as Ummul-Mumineen; (c) refers to, or addresses, any person, other than a member of the family (Ahle-bait) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as Ahle-bait; or (d) refers to, or names, or calls, his place of worship as Masjid (mosque); shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall be also liable to fine.

2. Any person of the Qadiani group or Lahori group (who call themselves “Ahmadis” or by any other name) who by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, refers to the mode or form of call to prayers followed by his faith as “Azan” or recites Azan as used by the Muslims, shall be punished with imprisonment or either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

Section 298-C.


Persons of Qadiani group, etc., calling himself a Muslim or preaching or propagating his faith:

Any person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves “Ahmadis” or by any other name), who, directly or indirectly, pose himself as a Muslim, or calls, or refers to, his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

The use of 295 B, 295 C, 298, 298 A,B,C


As is clear from the above examples, the basic law which was enforced from the British time was felt inadequate because of two religious groups within Islam in Pakistan. The first one is Ahmadis who believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ( Born 1840 in village Qadian, India) was a prophet who received revelations. Their number started growing and many top leaders adhered to this faith including top politicians and army officers. There were widespread campaigns against them during Ayub Khan’s govt. and a famous supreme court inquiry which was conducted had an interesting investigation in which a question was asked about the definition of Muslim. It took about twenty more years before this group was declared as non-Muslims through a resolution of the parliament during Z.A Bhutto’s govt. Before this resolution there were widespread attacks on these people. One of our Muslim friends named Yousaf, a carpenter, was working in one of house of Ahmadi in Abbottabad, located in front of the Presbyterian church. This Ahmadi man was an employee of the govt. and lived in a govt. housing block. As the mob came to this house, Yousaf helped the ladies and children by letting them climb on his back and jump over the wall. The mob came and killed the man and took his belongings and burnt them on the road in front of the church. I saw the charred road the next day. The Jamal building in Abbottabad was also burnt ( MCB bank is now located at the site ). Our friend Yousaf than became the follower of Christ and openly declared himself and family as Christians and kept on running his business in the city. He then joined our church along with his family. Several new additions to the blasphemy laws were introduced to stop the spreading of this group.

The second group which came to attention after the Iranian Islamic (Shia) revolution was the Shia sect in Pakistan. The Shia differ politically and theologically with the Suni Muslims who lead a war against Ali, the son in-law of the prophet. Hazrat Ali (ra) was murdered and later one of his two sons and his family members were ruthlessly killed by the opponent Muslim ruler who belonged to the Banu Ummiah family, in a battle in Karbala near Euphrates. The head of Hazrat Imam Husain (ra), the grand son of the prophet, was obtained by a Christian monk and washed and placed in the church in Allepo with respect and who also gave food and shelter to devastating women and children. Before this battle, the women of the family of Hazrat Imam Husain (ra) were given head covering, shelter and safe places to stay, by Christians as they traveled from Mecca to reach Karbala. The Shia people always revere these acts of kindness shown to the martyr family by Christians. Hazrat Ayesha (ra), the most favorite wife of the prophet (pbuh) met a violent death on the hands of opponent Muslims. She was tricked in to a peace deal and was asked to sit on a carpet spread over on the big hole in the ground. She fell down and was struck with a poisoned sword erected on the bottom of the pit. The animosity between the Sunni and Shia sect in the pages of history is horrible. The hate literature is on full scale on the both sides. During Zia ul Haq time the Arab countries, after the Shia revolution in Iran, were alarmed and started strengthening Sunni-Salafi-Deobandi- Wahabi Islam version in Pakistan and around the world. For a poor country like Pakistan, oil and revenue were needed to run the state. Zia as a dictator needed more than that, the legitimacy for rule too. So he started the Islamization process of Pakistan called , “The Mission of Zia ul Haq”. The Afghan Jihad against the Soviets proved a good opportunity for him to initiate his mission. Arab money was poured in to keep Islamization process and our country received sectarian legislation, school curriculum revisions, Huddood ordinances (Sharia Punishment for women and thieves), blasphemy laws, mushrooming of religious schools for poor boys and girls (madrassahs) Islamic dress, patronage of sectarian parties into direct politics, making a separate electorate for minorities. His cortege tried to put a column of religion in the national Identity Card ( this move was thwarted by Christians with strong street protests) and making media more Islamic by broadcasting more Islamic programs and with female newscasters wearing modest dress and covering the head as if they were saying their prayers instead of reading news on TV. This man really influenced the society more than any other ruler. After he met a violent death as his plan was sabotaged, the country had already gone through substantial changes in ideas and practices.

Kalashnikovs, a lethal weapon which can be placed in a shoulder bag, heroine, madrassahs (about 20000) fundamentalists Islamic parties in the parliaments, women under threat of Huddood laws, minorities marginalized, making Friday as a public holiday ( it has been changed again to Sunday as the weekly holiday by Nawaz Shrif who thought it was un-Islamic and bad for international business ), Ultra Islamic curriculum form grade one with Jihadi teaching, Pakistan history taught from anti- West and anti India view points, sectarian killings, three million Afghan refugees who changed the social and economic fabric of the society, and host of other byproducts. Thousands of young people were caught up in drug addiction and wasted their lives. Heroine could be obtained for a few rupees anywhere in the country. As an overall result a society emerged which was less tolerant, divided on sectarian,ethnic, linguistic and religious lines, infested with Kalashnikov and heroine and ready to be blamed for the present day terrorism. The 9/11 master mind was captured from Rawalpindi living in a posh, cantonment area.

The Shia community was considered as Kafirs (infidels) by hard line Sunni groups. Thousands of Shia have been killed including some of the top leadership. They also retaliated and killed Sunni leadership. Shia only make up 26% of the population but they are strong and vocal and fight back when they have a chance.

So the above stringent blasphemy and insult laws were promulgated to ensue a brand of Islam which suited Zia for his rule and to appease his Suni Arab masters who always need legitimacy for their rule as kings of the oil producing states and control over Kaaba on the basis of religions. Iranian Shia does not accept this claim of custodianship and a group even tried to capture the Kaaba some years ago, and were killed by French commandoes.

The second group which takes the brunt of blasphemy law, as mentioned above is the Adamidis, the most hated lot. They have almost gone underground and have camouflaged themselves. They are the most active and aggressive missionary sect and follow the Christian missions strategies when it comes to preaching and proselytizing. They are most active in South Africa but operate all over the world posing themselves as Muslims. They do not believe in the finality of the Prophet (pbuh). Instead they believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the last prophet of Islam. They are the primary target of the blasphemy laws (298 B. and C) and even have been mentioned in the penal code by name ! This is a unique example in the annuls of the penal codes.

One can argue that the primary focus of the blasphemy law may not have been Christians, a small and poor community, but this law has become an easy tool to target the Christians when needed. There have been no complaints against Christians prior to this law. All the cases registered against Christians in the courts could not be proved, but justice has been meted out by the individuals and mobs acting as the accuser, the prosecutor, the jury and judge and executor, by killing the accused people at the spot.

The difficulities faced by the Courts to give a hearing to the trial


There are about four levels of courts, civil judge at the district court, session judge also at the district, then high court and supreme court. It is a long and tedious process of filing a court case and getting a hearing. What matters in the blasphemy cases is that these kinds of cases do not remain a dispute between two individuals but this is almost a case of the accused vs. mob. The lower court awards the punishment, say the death penalty, and the local mob is satisfied. The accused than files a case in the higher court like a high court in the big city where the local mob is not present and is far enough for people to come and gather as mob. The high court may reverse the lower court’s decision and lets the accused go. It may take 4-5 years, enough time for people to forget the accused. There is a risk when the accused is freed. This proved true when a judge freed the accused and he was murdered by the accusers on the street. (Manzoor Masih was arrested along Salamat Masih in a blasphemy case. Salamat Masih resides now in a European country). No blasphemy case has gone up to the supreme court level. The accused should be lucky enough not to be hit by a bullet out side the court room as was Manzoor Masih who was shot dead as police brought him for hearing in the court. Some died in the jail during the hearings.

“ If Only there was a will…”
A hypothetical story about the Gojra Martyrs


The police officer in the town of Gojra was not aware what happened in the village Korian on July 21. Perhaps he was on leave or sick that day. Two days latter he heard that there was some problem. “It happens all the time” he might have said and forgot.

On July 25 he was on duty and started the day with the news paper as usual. He read that the Govt. is trying to start new power projects. He cursed the govt. as the fan stopped and he felt uncomfortable.

At around 10 am he hears from the subordinate that a mob is getting ready to attack Christians in the town. Of course he knows the place and knows that there was some tension in the town. But he has only fifteen men with rusting guns. His mobile phone is off because he could not charge the battery due to the electric blackout. The police van is out of order and he can not go to the District Toba Tek Singh. There is not much police in the District but he sends one man on taxi by paying Rs 400 to ask for help. It is only 35 kilometers away and the old taxi may make it in two hours. It is already 10:30 am. His staff is worried because what they hear is that there is rumor that some activists of a banned religious group are coming from the city of Jhang which is 20 kilometers away. He gets real worried now. In his view they were really dangerous people. They must have automatic weapons and some hand grenades or chemicals to ignite fire. He knows these groups well. What can he do? His regular police are not trained to tackle these groups. It is now 11am. He hears that people are gathering around a mosque in the town and speeches are being made and a rally against Christians is planned because Christians have made a protest rally against the burning of houses Kurian village. He is really worried now and begins even more sweating. There is no way he can stop these people. He is informed that the group is swelling up to 6000 people now. He asks for the mobile phone from a friend and calls the Superintendent of District police and requests him that he should call the Interior Minister in Islamabad to sent police from Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Rangers form Islamabad. He threatens to resign if the force is not sent . He has realized that the situation is grave. The time is now 12 and the mob has started moving on the main street and it is swelling.

The police superintendent in Toba Tek Singh is able to convince the Interior Minister and he promises that enough force will be sent to control up to a 10,000 mob. The forces are told to take lunch immediately and leave for Gojra. The buses leave from Rawalpindi and Islamabad at 1 pm on the motorway. It would take 4 hours to reach Faisalabad and than another hour to reach Gojra. He is worried because the mob is now up to 7000 thousand. Five hundred policemen from Faisalabad are on the way to Gojra and will be in the town any time. The mob is moving towards the Christian area. It is dangerous and he hears that Christians are throwing stones. Many Christians have come to him and pleaded for help. He said that help is on the way. The police from Faisalabad arrives at 3 pm and covers the sides of the railway line. The police from Rawalpindi arrive at 5 pm and takes position and starts heavy teargas shelling. The rangers break the mob and make their way into the Christian area at 6 pm. Many are injured but the situation is under control. People in the Christian area shout slogans in favor of the police officer. Through his efforts a 10,000 mob is dispersed and Christian houses and lives are saved.

Some one would have wished that all of this was true. But it was not.

If only there was a will…!

The Christians in Gojra waited and waited till the time that the mob reached their area at 11 am. Christian in self defense pelted stones and few started firing guns to keep the mob away. The mob would not go. They planed to evacuate the area, about 400 houses. They locked the doors and ran to the near by alleys. The battle went on till 6 pm and the Christians could hold no longer. No police force came to their help. Some people were caught up and beaten. One by one houses were first broken in, then looted and then put on fire. In one house ladies and children could not make it out and were burnt to death, seven of them. More than 100 houses were put on fire. The police was sent when the mob finished their job. There were police every where to protect the burnt houses. This was the first time that a Christian minority put up a six hour battle and used guns. None of the Muslims was killed by Christians. Christians put the 7 coffins on the railway track which links Lahore and Karachi and blocked the trains. They said that they will not take these coffins away and bury them till the registration of the FIR ( First Investigation Report ) by the police. With great effort the police lodged a report against 800 unknown persons! No court can prosecute unknown person and thus no one will be punished. A weak or flawed FIR does not stand to the strict standard procedures of the courts and the case is dismissed after months on the basis of weak evidence or some technical flaw in the FIR.

The absence of social structure to stop the mob mentality.


The opinion makers in society are not the intellectuals or modern educationists. The media is controlled by the govt. and is fearful of the religious parties. It is first the family, than the local mosque leader and thirdly the schools which share the mind of a person till he is adult. All of these three areas ( family, mosque and school) have been indoctrinated with intolerance and enough hate material imbibed for the last 30 years. The unhealthy political life disrupted with dictators only unsettles the society and people behave like a frenzy mob on the basis of a mere rumor. The interaction between the different religions is small on the social or political level. There is no working together of different religious groups. Games or recreations are a luxury and people have to vent their emotion on something, some enemy or scapegoat. Hatred is just the right kind of fuel to catch the fire ignited even on a flimsy rumor. The hate fuel has been pumped in the right quantity and stored in people’s psyche from childhood , to be ignited any time, any where, against any one.

The inability of police to file charges, investigate and carry out successful prosecution:


The blasphemy is a case which is criminal and state, through police has to conduct the investigation and punish the offender. On the other hand if an accused is killed even before the registration of the case with police, then the case becomes a religious matter, an issue to be hushed up or compromised and forgotten.

Police contingent are few and far too stretched in their duties to provide security to the ordinary citizens. Most of their time is used up to provide security to the political leaders, state ministers and other high profile officials. They lack training, funds and equipment to combat modern criminals and armed religious extremists groups. More than any thing it seems, there is no will. The police have failed even to appear at the crime scene in when the accused are killed or their houses burnt.

The most intriguing thing which appeared as the main headline in the news was that the chief of the extremist religious outfit was killed along with his bodyguard when his convoy was attacked by gunmen on August 17 about 1000 kilometer away from Gojra. His group has been blamed by the govt. as suspect which was involved in the Gojra mayhem. His killing happened after 28 days of Gojra tragedy. He along with his colleagues and guards was attacked by 20 armed men. One of the attackers was also killed as his guards retaliated the fire. According to the police he was killed because of personal animosity. If he was really one behind the Gojra killings than he met justice. Only true repentance and a changed life through Jesus Christ is the hope for all even for those who killed Christians in Gojra..

The inability of legislative body to revisit the law and make any amendments or repeal


The legislative is mainly composed of landlords, tribal heads and hereditary politicians. There are very few technocrats, middle class, or social and civil rights activities in the parliament. Minority members are few and their role insignificant as far as legislation is concerned. In the past 60 years the hardliner Islamic parties have been successful to give the country constitution a picture which is Islamic. Any change in the constitution or laws has to be in line with the Islamic injunctions. The blasphemy laws touch the very core of Islam and any parliament will not dare to touch these issues. Moreover the make up of the members of the parliament is such that they may not be interested to risk so much political clout to address the small minority grievances. On the other hand the religious parties may be wanting just that kind of move to seize the opportunity to stage wide spread movement against the govt. and pull it down. No govt. will want that.

Ground realities which contribute to the misuse of the law


The collective conscience of the society have been trained to be emotional and religious. The context is ignorance, poverty, illiteracy, division on the basis of ethnicity, religion and sect. The social structure is tribal-feudal. The political make up has been dictatorships for the most of the years. And for some periods a controlled democracy.

The religion of Islam is the main identity of the nation. If this identity is lost than there is no more nation. Islam is more than religion. It is a system of life. Islam has to govern a person’s mind, soul and body, family, business, job, social life, recreational life, banking, politics, media, education, relation with other faiths, and culture. There is nothing out side Islam.

In this kind of situation the Islamic symbols make an integral part of art and forms in literature, architects and decorative material, print media, and school books. Verses of the Holy Quran are found every where; in homes, epithets, amulets, charms necklace, car, office, hospital, railway station, busses, taxi, highways, shops, police station, news papers, books, calendars, graves, shrines, mausoleums, magazines, trees, electric poles, and all other conceivable items on which some thing can be printed. How easy it is to make a willful or innocent mistake to defile a verse or word from Holy Quran! There is a big movement whose sole purpose is to educate people and help them to place papers in a proper container mounted with the electricity poles along the streets. This helps a little as wind can blow the paper out of the safety container and such containers can not be mounted all over the country.

The real purpose of the law


The real intent of the law is to safe guard the honor of the Holy Quran and the prophet (pbuh). As it is stated that need did not arise due to any wide spread insults being manifested among the masses. In fact few even knew what was 295 penal code before the introduction of 295 B and C. Today even children know 295 C and other penal codes. Did the stricter codes stop the desecration of the Holy Quran and the prophet (pbuh)? What was the real purpose then?

The status of Christians


Christians lived in Pakistan before the country was founded. Their ancestors lived in this land before Islam. They are neither conquered nor subjugated or immigrants. They are not invaders. They are real and bona fide citizens of this country by every right. The founder of Pakistan, Qaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in his first policy speech for the legislative assembly held on August 11, 1947 said that all citizens were equal in this country and there was no difference on the basis of caste or creed. He also said that state has nothing to do with the religion of a person and every one is free to worship according to his beliefs. It was only after the death of the father of nation, Jinnah that a resolution was passed in the legislative to make the country an Islamic state. Later on this preamble was made a part of the constitution during Zia’s Islamization period. The Christians were marginalized and made second class citizens. Christians never accepted this and continued their struggle. They also continued their role in the nation building and other fields like education and health. They consider themselves as sons of the soil unlike many others who migrated from other countries and areas and settled here. The crucial and critical contribution of Christians members of legislative, who voted for the division of Punjab in the provisional assembly prior to the creation of Pakistan is not recognized at all. Almost half of the assembly members (many of them Muslim political leaders belonging to the Unionist Party, which was against the creation of Pakistan) along with Islamic parties voted against the division of Punjab. After the creation of Pakistan, the Unionist feudal lords than became the rulers again and saved their fiefdoms by not allowing the land reforms till today. The Islamic leaders who were against Pakistan and called this country to be as Palidistan ( the dirtiest place) and called Qaid Azam ( the great leader) as Kafir e Azam, ( the greatest infidel) then became the proponents of the Islamic State. The role of Christians were forgotten and text books in schools and colleges assumed if there were no Christians and there no role played by them in the creation of Pakistan. Usually Christians are referred to in the media and quoted by political leaders as “ a sacred trust ”. Which refers to them as a group of people who have the privilege to live in this country and need special treatment. It does not convey that it is their right to live in this country and they are equal citizens and are to be treated the same as other citizens. The word “ minority is used in unison which portrays the idea of small and week instead of using the word non-Muslim citizens or Christian citizens. With the relentless efforts of Islamic parties and acts of vested interests of dictators, the national identity has been translated into an Islamic identity and has gone so deep and wide that now it seems that it is to stay for ever. By definition a Christian then becomes “less” Pakistani. This is against the spirit of the policy speech of the founding father on August 11, 1947. This speech has been ignored in the state policies and in it’s place prominence was given to the objective resolution passed after the death of the founding father and later made part of the constitution. This resolution thus gave a permanent second class status to the Christians of Pakistan.

Having said this the constitution of the county has provisions for the citizens to profess and propagate his religion. So far courts have accepted that the interpretation of these provisions as freedom to change one’s religion. There is no death penalty in the law for a person who converts to Christianity or any other religion. Christians are vocal and churches, small and big are spread all over the country. Some people openly sell Bibles and Christian literature on the streets and on several occasions complaints against them were not entertained by police on the grounds of constitutional freedom. A good coverage is made on Christmas on TV cannels and print media. Our country is perhaps one of the few of the Islamic countries where foreigners are given official missionary residential visa.

Examples of Cases


There have been as many as 892 blasphemy cases, both against Muslims and Christians and each one has different story. Some are as follows:

1. A Muslim women saw her Muslim neighbor burning the pages of a Quran in the kitchen. The man was killed by the mob.

2. Some Muslim people saw a Christian boy (illiterate) writing something on the wall, derogatory about the prophet. The boy and his uncle were accused. The uncle was shot dead outside the court. The boy was given asylum in another county.

3. A Muslim factory (leather) owner pulls an old calendar from the wall and tears it to be wasted. He plans to put a new calendar on the wall. His manager and another staff accuse him and shoot him in his office. The calendar had some verse from the Holy Quran. This happened in August 2009, right after the Gojra tragedy. It should be noted that the penalty of desecration of Holy Quran is not death but life imprisonment. But people decided to give the death penalty anyway.

4. A Christian nurse in charge in a govt. hospital is accused that she drew a line on the calendar in her office. The line touched a Holy Quran verse on the calendar. The Muslim nurses and trainee nurses went on strike and a mob gathered and students from the madrassahs gathered. It took weeks for the authorities to control the situation.

5. Some one found a piece of paper with some verses from Holy Quran lying in the drain out side the house of a Christian family. There was a big commotion in the area and speeches were made from the mosques. The family had to go into hiding for weeks. The local political leaders and police had to work hard to settle the matter.

6. Some Muslim people saw some papers lying on the ground at the time during a Christian marriage program in the village Korian. The young girls were singing wedding songs passing through the street. They were accused that they threw the papers of a school book with verses from Holy Quran and trampled on them. A Christian scarp collector was accused for this desecration. He had the business to buy and sell used books and school note books. Any explanation/discussion did not satisfied the accusers and speeches were made from the mosque and people gathered from 16 villages and burnt 60 houses. Just prior to the burning of the houses , Christians in the village fled to the fields and bush area about 5 kilometers away and stayed away in the night. One sick old Christian man could not make the escape when the mob attacked the houses. They beat him and asked to recite the Kalima ( the Islamic creed ). As the newspaper reported, the man refused and was beaten more. He died the next day. This village was located near the main highway. There were about 90 Christian houses and about 6 Muslim houses. Muslim neighbors tried to help their Christian neighbors. Houses were broken in by the mob then looted and burnt. The police post was four kilometer away but did not come for help. The people of this village are poor and do labor work. The incident happened on 25 July 2009 in Korian Village near Gojra, District Toba Tek Singh, Punjab.

7. Christians living in the town of Gojra heard this incident and came on the streets to protest against the burning of the houses and killing of the old man. There was no incident of desecration of Quran by Christians in Gojra and no allegation had been made. On July 31 they were attacked by a mob. There are 400 houses. They kept the mob away from 11 am until the afternoon by throwing stones and firing gun shots. At last they locked the houses and ran away for their lives. About 120 houses were burnt and seven people burnt alive including women and children. The district head quarter was 15 kilometers away and the metropolitan city Faisalabad was 60 kilometers away. No police came for help ( see pictures of burnt houses).

The motives for the accusations have been found mixed. The basic pattern observed is some business rivalry, petty quarrels, or land disputes. The story is made up and in minutes hell is brought upon innocent people.

Protests


Protests are the right of the citizens in a democratic country. There have been few incidents in the past when Christians protested. One happened in Rawalpindi 35 years ago when Christian men and women protested about the govt. decision to nationalize the mission schools and colleges. Police opened fire and two men were killed. Govt. did not change its decision.

About 15 years ago the govt. decided to add a column in the national identity card showing the religion of the person. The Christians protested violently in Lahore and started a campaign to stop this. Govt. took back the decision.

Strong protests were made by Christians all over the country on streets and in protest rallies when a Pakistan Catholic bishop shot himself in Faisalabad in protest against the unwillingness of police to act and the slow process of courts to get justice for the blasphemy victim. He tried for months to get the proper hearing in the courts on the behalf of an accused, but to no avail.

There was a strong and violent protest in Yuhana Abad in Lahore this month against the burning of Christians in Gojra. The protestors blocked the main Feroze Pur road for several hours and burnt buses and motor bikes and beat bearded people who passed by.

This time when tragedy struck Gojra and Korian, Christians all over Pakistan protested and participated in public rallies.

My family and my sister’s family took part in one of the rallies in Rawalpindi on the main street in the city on August 8, 2009. There were hundreds of people and heavy contingent of police was deployed on the Murree road and on high rise buildings in the vicinity. There were prayers and songs sung on the road and speeches made by leaders and few pastors ( see pictures in the attachment). The city police officer was hesitant to allow a big procession on the main road in the city because of the possible terrorist attacks from the Talibans as their chief was reported to be killed in a missile attack just three days ago. This was the man behind all mayhem unleashed in Swat and Malakand area. His followers were the ones who attacked using suicide bombing all over the country. The Christian leaders insisted that they would take the protest rally as planned. All went peaceful. There was news coverage in print media and private TV channels. The state TV did not cover the news.

There were many other protest rallies in all cities including the capital Islamabad on August 11. The main demand is to abolish the penal code no 295 B and 295 C. The placards carried by my daughter reads this as well.

Mass attacks


It is a new phenomenon to see Muslims attacking Christians in big groups and burning the houses after looting. About five incidents like these have happened. These kinds of incidents happened about sixty years ago when Hindu and Muslims neighbors attacked each other and looted at the time of partition of British India into Pakistan and India in 1947. Half a million died on both sides. Christians helped the wounded and opened their homes to provide care. It is strange that the British govt. could not detect the simmering hatred in two communities and did nothing before hand to stop this massacre. In such mass attacks no one is accused and no one is punished. It is a mob. One can not put the mob on trial. An apology from a leader and visit from a minister and money from the govt. treasury is considered enough to condone this collective punishment till the next gory incident.

Media


The media by tradition is conservative and is careful not to oppose the govt. or religious leaders. The English newspapers published some critical articles. The readers for the English newspapers are few as the number of the people who can read and buy English news paper is few. This does not help change public opinion. The English newspaper readers are not the ones attacking the Christians.

Urdu papers are for the rest of the masses who can read. Still 70% people will miss what is written as they even can not read Urdu.

State TV will only tell what the govt. wants to tell the public. In recent times private TV channels are allowed which are making a big impact on the public. They are more vocal and critical. This time they were the ones covering the Gojra and Korian incidents. Again this media is accessed by those who can have a cable or satellite dish, not available in the villages. About 70% of the population live in villages. This is the first time the print media highlighted such an incident and even placed the news as a leading head line. There is so Christian newspaper, radio or TV.

Politicians


They are usually from the feudal families and are not very interested in these kinds of issues. They do not condemn openly and only use vague language to not offend any party. They are happy to distribute govt. money to the affected people.

Civil society


This group of society is very small and not vocal. They are careful not to speak on religious issues so that they do not incur the religious leaders’ backlash. So far no significant leader has come to a protest rally or spoken against the blasphemy law. The rare example is a Lawyer named Asma Jahangir. She fought the court case of two Christians accused and was attacked by the mob.

International bodies


The UN commission on human right has shown concern over the misuse of the blasphemy law and has suggested amendments. WEA has shown concern also.

Islamic world


For the Islamic world this is a non- issue and an internal matter of Pakistan.

International media


These incidents which relate to religion also do not attract the international media. A few seconds of news and a few pictures will suffice.

Reformation


Can Islam reform itself? Or if there is even a need felt by its adherents to devise ways to integrate more into the society which is becoming more pluralistic? It is a million dollar question for many. But it is simply a settled issue for the people of this faith. I asked this question to one my of Muslim friends who teaches religion in the university. He said that Islam is not a papacy to whom the demand for reformation can be made. More over, all controversial issues have been settled a long time ago and there is no room for any more discussion. The door of Ijtehad is closed.

Present Possibilities and the Future


The situation in Pakistan is unique. It is a Muslim republic. In a way it is the most democratic country among the 50 or more Muslims countries. The country is big in size and population. It has lot of potential. It has inherited much from the British system; education, army, police, bureaucracy and courts. The society is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious. The Christians are small in percentage but their number is significant as a group in itself. They are not significant in politics because their number is still less than 2% (officially). To expect that the govt. will bring a bill in the parliament to repeal the blasphemy law is not realistic. On the other hand to expect the public to not attack the accused Christians is again asking something others can not offer. It seems that Christians are in a fix and the only and perhaps primary thing they must do is to pray. And that is what many are doing. It will be long struggle to make Pakistan a pluralistic society where people live with harmony and are tolerant. This is the time to join in and pray for our beloved homeland Pakistan.

Notes:

1. The Urdu word used is kufer and the Arabic word is jadaf. NIV and ESV use blasphemy. In NT the Greek word is Blasphemia meaning slander and insult, used in Mat. 26:65.

2. The Urdu word used is toheen in Numbers 14:11. The Arabic word used is ahanat.

3. Legions in Greek is Roman army term for a group of soldiers numbering 6000, the Arabic word used is Jaish meaning army contingent and Urdu word use is tumen meaning a army contingent . This Urdu word comes from Turkish word meaning an army contingent. The word is derived from Turkish meaning toman, 10,000.

4. Allama Ali Sher Haideri, 48, The chief of banned ultra Sunni religious outfit Sipa-e-Sahaba ( meaning ; the army of the companions of the prophet (PBUH)) was killed on August 18, 2009, (24 days after the Gojra burning) in Khairpur Sind.

5. Baitullah Mehsud, 30+, The chief of the dreaded ultra Sunni -Wahabi armed outfit, was killed August 5, 2009 ( 11 days after the Gojra burning), along with his second wife, body guards and others inmates, in a drone attack in South Waziristan, the rugged tribal belt between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was sick and dehydrated and was being provided medical aide in father in law’s house. He had more than one wife. His dreaded commander, Qari Hussain (Qari is the person who is specially trained to recite the Quran. Qari means, “reader” The word has Arabic root ), the master trainer of suicide bombers is still around. It was feared that he could unleash a new wave of terror through suicide bombing to take revenge of Baitullah’s death. Hakimullah Mahsud has been appointed as his successor.

6. Omar Quraishi, editor of daily The News, writes, “ … there is considerable anecdotal evidence to suggest that -much like in the rest of the country- rising conservatism and increasing dominance and assertion by the clerical orthodoxy has lead to the situation where a substantial proportion of the local population may be deemed as being sympathetic to the ways of Taliban, if not directly to the Taliban. ( The News, August 23, 2009).

7. Other related works about the Islamization process are: Islamization of Pakistan by Afzal Khan (Vanguard, Lahore, 1986) and The PAKISTAN EXPERINCE-State and Religion, Mohammad Asghar Khan, ed. Vanguard, Lahore, 1985.