Pakistan'S Blasphemy Law Presented By: Ghausia Rashid Salam BSS-5 Presented To: Sir Farhan Zaheer Media and Politics

PAKISTAN’S BLASPHEMY LAW
PRESENTED BY: GHAUSIA RASHID

SALAM
BSS-5
PRESENTED TO: SIR FARHAN ZAHEER
MEDIA AND POLITICS

TOPICS OF
DISCUSSION
 SECTION 295 AND 298 OF THE PAKISTAN
PENAL CODE
 MISUSE OF THE BLASPHEMY LAW.
 WRONGFUL MISUSE CASES HIGHLIGHTED

IN THE MEDIA
 RECENT ATTEMPTS TO REPEAL THE

BLASPHEMY LAW
 CONCLUSION
SECTION 285 OF THE PPC:
 295. 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.
 295-A. 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 the religion or the religious beliefs
of that class, shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a
term which may extend to ten years, or with
fine, or with both.
 295-B. Whoever wilfully defiles, damages or
desecrates a copy of the Holy Qur'an or of an
extract therefrom or uses it in any
derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose
shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.
 295-C. 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 Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall
be punished with death, or imprisonment for
life, and shall also be liable to fine.
 298. 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.
 298-A. 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-Rashideen)
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.
MISINTERPRETATION OF BLASPHEMY
LAW:
 Either due to lack of awareness/education or
simple bigotry, the law is often misused.
 Personal religious beliefs of people belonging

to other faiths are misconstrued as
blasphemy.
 Section 298 B and C limits religious freedom

and practically encourages misuse of
blasphemy law.
WRONGFUL MISUSE CASES
HIGHLIGHTED IN THE MEDIA
 May 6, 1998, Pakistani Catholic Bishop John
Joseph committed suicide to protest both
the use and abuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy
laws.
 February 1, 2009, 4 students and their

father accused of writing Muhammed’s
(PBUH) name on the walls of a mosque’s
toilet; investigations proved the allegations
were groundless, but all five victims have
been in lockup since February 4, 2009. They
were all Ahmadis.
 June 2009, Asia Bibi accused of blasphemy and
jailed for over a year; sentenced to death on 14th
November 2010.
 August 1st 2009, the infamous Gojra riots, later

proved to be a case of land rather than religion.
 August 5th, 2009, a factory owner was seen putting an

outdated calendar with Quranic verses on it on a
table; this apparently, was to the worker, blasphemy,
who then roused fellow co-workers and killed the
accused and the security guard that attempted to
protect the factory owner.
 19th July 2010, Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32,
and Sajid Emmanuel, 30 were gunned down
outside a courthouse while in police custody.
 15th November 2010, Imran Latif, accused of

burning the Quran but later released was
taken from his home and shot dead.
 4th December 2010, Dr. Naushad Vailani, a

prominent well-off Ahmadi doctor was
accused of blasphemy for throwing away the
business card of a man with the first name
Muhammed.
 801 of the 1,031 people imprisoned under these
laws are Muslim.
 58% women.
 130 people currently imprisoned in Punjab.
 122 Muslims, 8 Christians.
 Most cases proved to be vendettas-Dr Mehdi

Hasan
RECENT ATTEMPTS TO REPEAL THE
BLASPHEMY LAW
 Demands to revise Section 295.
 Asia Bibi’s death sentence and public

reaction.
 Salman Taseer’s attempts to get Asia Bibi

pardoned.
 Sherry Rehman’s bill proposing amendments.
 a)The death sentence in the PPC 295 be

reduced to a ten year imprisonment, and the
life imprisonment be changed to a five year
sentence.
 b) Additions should be made to the PPC

according to which anyone making false
statements under Section 295 A, B, and C
should be punished with similar punishments as
stated in Section 295.
 c) Another addition should be made punishing
instigators of religious violence to
imprisonment for seven years, or a fine, or
both.
 In addition, Rehman recommended that police

should not have the power to arrest anyone
accused under Section 295 without a warrant
and such cases will be tried in High Courts
only, and that anyone making false or frivolous
statements regarding Section 295 should be
arrested without a warrant.
 The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)’s
recommendations.
 The government should take measures to

ensure that the law isn’t misused.
 The police must investigate the complaint

systematically before registering the case.
 The complainants must provide concrete

evidence of blasphemy.
 The accused should be allowed legal advice and

cases must be tried by the High Courts only.
CONCLUSION:
 Repeal or amend?
 Proposed amendments; Sherry Rehman

or CII?
 A warning from the past- Pastor Martin

Niemöller.

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Pakistan'S Blasphemy Law Presented By: Ghausia Rashid Salam BSS-5 Presented To: Sir Farhan Zaheer Media and Politics

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PAKISTAN’S BLASPHEMY LAW

PRESENTED BY: GHAUSIA RASHID

PRESENTED TO: SIR FARHAN ZAHEER

MEDIA AND POLITICS

 MISUSE OF THE BLASPHEMY LAW.

 WRONGFUL MISUSE CASES HIGHLIGHTED

 RECENT ATTEMPTS TO REPEAL THE

 295-C. Whoever by words, either spoken or

 Personal religious beliefs of people belonging

 Section 298 B and C limits religious freedom

 February 1, 2009, 4 students and their

 August 1st 2009, the infamous Gojra riots, later

 August 5th, 2009, a factory owner was seen putting an

 15th November 2010, Imran Latif, accused of

 4th December 2010, Dr. Naushad Vailani, a

 130 people currently imprisoned in Punjab.

 122 Muslims, 8 Christians.

 Most cases proved to be vendettas-Dr Mehdi

 Asia Bibi’s death sentence and public

 Salman Taseer’s attempts to get Asia Bibi

 a)The death sentence in the PPC 295 be

 b) Additions should be made to the PPC

 In addition, Rehman recommended that police

 The government should take measures to

 The police must investigate the complaint

 The complainants must provide concrete

 The accused should be allowed legal advice and

 Proposed amendments; Sherry Rehman

 A warning from the past- Pastor Martin

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