Over a year has passed since 3000 people looted and torched Joseph Colony, a Christian community in Lahore, over suspicion of blasphemy allegedly committed by a single inhabitant, while the police stood by and watched. Sawan Masih, the man the mob was after, was sentenced to death in a Sessions Court on the basis of the blasphemy charge. The government condemned the incident, promised compensation of Rs. 500,000 per family, and moved on. 190 families lost everything but their lives in a single instant, and even after a year, 30 families have not been compensated.
The orchestration of blatant vandalism, and Sawan Masih’s “guilt” alongside it, were established on the basis of hearsay. Sawan Masih’s lawyer will appeal his case all the way to the Supreme Court, but it won’t make a difference. Even if the allegations are proved baseless, his life will be under constant threat from people like those in the mob who destroyed the lives of the inhabitants of Joseph Colony.
In a report released recently by the US government, Pakistan was found to use the blasphemy law more than any other country, with 14 people on death row for blasphemy charges. The government’s silence and inaction is perceived to be tacit approval, if not an active endorsement. And now, with so many victims of the Joseph Colony attack still left without compensation, there are questions that must be asked, and asked forcefully. Why has the then president’s word not been honoured as of yet? What conceivable delays could the government have run into? Officials have cited verification delays, but the verification of what exactly? How hard can it possibly be, how long can it possibly take, to verify the authenticity of victims’ claims; people who have lost all they had in barbaric acts of violence the state was helpless to stop? As the petition hearing filed by waiting victims is adjourned till mid- September, one is painfully aware that it is already far too late for a compensation that is fair.
No comments:
Post a Comment