Zealots take Pakistan's blasphemy law into own hands

By Naila Inayat

This month, thousands of Muslims armed with hatchets, axes, sticks and clubs beat a Christian couple, tied them to a tractor, dragged them over a road covered in crushed stones, soaked their bodies in gasoline and burned them in a kiln.

The torture and deaths of Shahzad Masih, 32, and his pregnant wife, Shama, 28, in the small village of Chak 59 were sparked by accusations they desecrated the Quran. The brutal killings highlight how Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws are a formidable tool in the hands of religious zealots.

"We'd heard announcements from the local mosque, and the message was loud and clear: to punish those who had committed blasphemy," said Mohammad Latif, 71, from Chak 59, referring to how the allegations against the couple spread.

The gruesome murders sparked international condemnation and cries for change in a country in which more prisoners face execution or life sentences for blasphemy than in any other nation this year, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Nearly 1,300 people have been charged with blasphemy since 1987. Fourteen people are on death row, and 19 are serving life sentences for allegedly insulting Islam.

"Once someone is even accused of blasphemy, they are doomed," said Farzana Bari, Pakistani human rights activist and director of the Gender Studies department at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. "Violence against minorities is on the rise, and people are now encouraged to commit such acts with impunity."

Pakistan's blasphemy laws cover a wide range of infringements, including desecration of the Quran, defaming the prophet Mohammed and defiling a place of worship or a sacred object.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which sent a team to Chak 59, found no evidence a Quran was burned. Instead, the group discovered the incident was rooted in a dispute over wages and outstanding payments. The case is an example of how angry mobs use blasphemy laws to settle disputes and personal vendettas.

"The problem is not with the blasphemy laws, rather with the mindset of the people who accused the couple of blasphemy in the first place, then executed them without even listening to their pleas," said Farman Ali, 65, resident of Prem Nagar, a village near where the Christian couple were slain.

Though many of the most publicized cases included attacks against Christians, Muslims have been targeted as well.

The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) says 633 Muslims, 494 Ahmadis (a religious sect), 187 Christians and 21 Hindus have been brought up on charges under the blasphemy law since 1987.

No one has been executed for blasphemy, but that could change after a court in September upheld the 2010 death sentence of a Pakistani Christian woman. Asia Bibi was convicted of blaspheming Mohammed during an argument with fellow berry pickers in 2009.

In Pakistan's highly charged political and religious climate, supporting Bibi has become dangerous — a state governor was gunned down in 2011 after intervening on her behalf, and a Pakistani minister who called for changing the blasphemy laws was killed that same year by gunmen.

The violence explains why many lawmakers and critics have remained silent despite an international outcry that includes calls from Pope Francis for Bibi's release.

Bibi's case is an example of how Pakistan uses its laws to push for a stricter Islamic society and to punish Christians, said Alexandar John Malik, former bishop of Lahore.

"These laws are being used by the Muslims to harass the Christians," Malik said. "The powerful majority has been threatening the minority, and the police have never tried to (stop it)."

The Pakistani government says it's concerned about the situation in rural areas, where extra-judicial killings have created a cycle of violence, said Kamran Michael, who was appointed by the prime minister to oversee the investigation into the murder of the Christian couple in Chak 59.

That's why the government is taking the unusual step of getting involved in the prosecution of those accused of killing alleged blasphemers — to send a message against taking the law into one's own hands.

Malik says the numerous incidents in which residents attacked those accused of blasphemy in the past few decades and escaped punishment may encourage more attacks.

In March 2013, an enraged mob attacked homes in Lahore after allegations of blasphemy against a Christian man. At least 160 houses, 18 shops and two small churches were set on fire by protesters.

"The government took no action against those who burnt down the localities, and not a single person was punished in these incidents," Malik said, "almost providing justification for the mob violence."