Pakistan: Killed for alleged blasphemy

Taking the law into one’s own hands has taken on a double meaning here in Pakistan. The latest example of vigilante brutality in the land of the ‘pure’ is that of a police officer shooting, multiple times, a Christian pastor named Zafar Bhatti and an elderly man named Asghar Ali who were both being kept at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi because of blasphemy verdicts. Asghar Ali is a British national with a history of mental illness. He was given the death sentence earlier this year for claiming to be a prophet. Human rights groups and civil society were shocked that the courts had handed down such a harsh punishment for a man with chronic schizophrenia, a condition that could have very easily caused his outbursts. Bhatti was on trial for blasphemy after being accused by a mullah of sending derogatory text messages. On Wednesday morning, on their way out of the cell they both shared, the prisoners were machine gunned down by one of the guards on duty. The pastor was killed on the spot and Mr Ali has sustained grave injuries; his condition is still critical. As a society we have reached the height of barbarity. This horrendous incident has given us flashbacks of the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer who was killed by one of his own bodyguards in 2011 for standing up for Aasia Bibi, a blasphemy accused. In that tragedy as well, it was a member of law enforcement or security services who took matters into their own hands and committed ghastly murder. The policeman in Adiala jail was responsible for the lives of these prisoners no matter what the allegations against them. Instead, he aimed his hatred at them and riddled them with bullets. Is this our ‘love’ for Islam: cold-blooded murder to defend some sort of warped honour of the Almighty? To be accused of blasphemy in Pakistan is as good as being handed out a death warrant, as this latest episode once again shows. Our minorities are routinely targeted and accused of blasphemy, mostly to settle personal vendettas or to diminish their numbers. Pastor Bhatti was a Christian, one of the most downtrodden minorities in Pakistan. He is now dead. Even being kept in a holding cell is not enough to guarantee safety from lynch mobs and vigilantes. Truly, God save us from ourselves.