New case of Christian falsely accused of blasphemy

ASIA/PAKISTAN - 

Faisalabad (Agenzia Fides) – A Christian by the name of Arif Masih, 40 years old, from the village of Chak Jhumra, in Faisalabad, was arrested on 5 April by local police accused of blasphemy. This was communicated to Fides by the Diocese of Faisalabad's Justice and Peace Commission. Arif is accused of ripping the pages of the Holy Quran and writing a threatening letter to Muslims for embracing Christianity. A blasphemy case (FIR # 133/2011) was registered under section 295-C against unknown person with local Police Station Sahiyanwala on the formal complaint of Shahid Yousaf. Now Arif Masih has been detained by police at an unknown place. 
The brother of Arif, Ejaz Masih, told the Justice and Peace Commission that his brother is the victim of a trap designed by Shahid Yousaf, his neighbour. Yousaf also has two brothers in the police force and who helped him carry this out.
Christians, but also Muslims who know Arif, tell Fides that “Arif Masih would not dare to commit this kind of outrageous act. He was wrongly implicated in this land dispute.”
The relatives of the victim approached Fr Nisar Barkat (Diocesan Director, National Commission for Justice and Peace) for help. Fr Barkat had a meeting with Naseem Sadiq (District Coordination Officer, Faisalabad) and other police officials requesting the release of Arif Masih. Mr Naseem Sadiq said, “Arif Masih is in safe custody and police officials are investigating the matter and we know that Arif Masih was falsely accused in this case and we will apprehend the real culprits. 
The Masihi Foundation, who are defending Asia Bibi, are closely following developments and are ready to help Arif and his family. “This is the latest, blatant episode of abuse of the blasphemy law used for personal vendettas,” says the Director of the Foundation, Haroon Barkat Masih. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 9/4/2011)

ASIA/PAKISTAN - Blasphemy: a moratorium urgently needed

Faisalabad (Agenzia Fides) – The new case of Christian Arif Masih, falsely accused victim of blasphemy, relaunches the proposal for a moratorium on the application of the blasphemy law in Pakistan. Paul Bhatti, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for religious minority affairs, welcomes the proposal circulating in civil society in Pakistan, and that is finding the support from intellectuals, journalists, scholars and human rights activists.
“We urgently need to find a solution to prevent this abuse of the law. We can start with a moratorium or consider amendments. But we must also work to change the mentality and culture in Pakistan where there are individuals and organisations who use this law to create disharmony and social tension,” says Bhatti.
Mehdi Hasan, President of the “Human Rights Commission of Pakistan”, says to Fides: “We are fundamentally in favour of a moratorium on blasphemy, even if our official position is to demand its abolition. Do you remember that before 1986 there were no complaints of blasphemy in Pakistan, and after that, in 20 years, there have been about 1,000 cases, while 70 of these people accused of blasphemy were victims of extrajudicial killings.”
Fr Mario Rodrigues, Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Pakistan tells Fides: “The blasphemy law is called the 'black law'. Today those who oppose it are known as blasphemers and their lives are threateed. The idea of applying a moratorium seems good to me: it would at least prevent new cases built on false accusations.”
Haroon Barkat Masih, head of the Masihi Foundation, which provides legal assistance to Asia Bibi, a woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, tells Fides: “The moratorium would be a first step to preventing further harm by the law. On one hand, the Government could say to the radical Islamic groups that the law remains in force, but in the meantime be able to stop the abuse and exploitation.”
Two concrete proposals to prevent abuses of the law are these: to give the task of registering the complaints of blasphemy to senior police officers; to directly entrust the High Court with the processes, thereby bypassing the courts of first instance which are too exposed to pressure. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 9/4/2011)

 

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