Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – The Christian community in Pakistan has responded with indignation and bitterness to the sentence of life imprisonment for two young Christians accused of blasphemy. "The accusations are unjust, manipulated and unproven," Fides has been told by a source from the Catholic Church in Pakistan. "The Christian community is very sad. This law does not help dialogue and harmony in society in any way. The Church calls for its cancellation," Fides was told by Archbishop Rufin Anthony, the new Archbishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi.
Yesterday Qamar David, a Christian from Lahore, in prison since 2006, received the verdict of the Court which sentenced him to life imprisonment for blasphemy. For three years, his family and his lawyer have been subject to threats and intimidation. "The conviction was based only on statements and testimonies that were made up as a result of hatred and prejudice," notes Parvez Choudry, lawyer of Qamar David.
Local sources reported a second incident to Fides: that of Imran Masih, 26, of Faisalabad, sentenced to life in prison for blasphemy on January 11. A neighbor accused him of burning a copy of the Koran. It seems the young man was framed. In cleaning his shop, he wanted to get rid of some books written in Arabic (a language he does not understand) and asked a neighbor to examine to see whether the books were not on religion or Islamic prayer. The neighbor has assured him that they were not, so Imran Masih went and burned them. But then he faced a complaint of blasphemy made by the same neighbor, on charges of desecrating and incinerating a Koran.
"We are fighting for the withdrawal of this unjust law, along with many other activists of Pakistani society," Fides learned from Francis Mehboob Sada, Director of the Christian Study Center in Rawalpindi, an ecumenical center for studying and monitoring human rights. "This law has been abused for far too long and Christians are victims. It should be noted that until 1986, there were no cases in Pakistan of blasphemy. From 1986 onwards - when General Zia-ul-Haq promulgated the law - the cases of blasphemy have appeared everywhere."
"The nation does not need this law. The National Commission for Human Rights and other civil society groups, including Muslims, openly say so. There are certainly fundamentalist Islamic groups that support it and the government is under their influence and pressure. But we will continue our struggle, hoping for good news." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 27/2/2010)
