A Christian man has been arrested on charges of "blasphemy" after his business rival, a Muslim, claimed in a police complaint that he defiled the name of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The complaint was lodged after the Christian man got a contract for building material that complainant had also applied for.
Police arrested the Christian man, Pervaiz Masih, from his home in Punjab province's District Kasur this week, acting on a complain filed by a Muslim businessman, Haji Jamshed, according to a report by a local group, Some members of The Voice Society, who visited the area to prepare the investigative report, were also arrested, and later released.
Allegations of blasphemy often "stem from the Muslim accuser's desire to take revenge" and to "settle petty, personal disputes," according to the U.K.-based group Pakistan's Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement, or CLAAS.
Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which are embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, carry death penalty, and yet there is no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy.
Katrina Lantos Swett, chairperson of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and her fellow commissioner, Mary Ann Glendon, visited Pakistan earlier this month and came up with a report.
"There is a rising tide of religious persecution by the state and by militants," the report said, adding that the South Asian country's blasphemy law grossly abuses human rights. "The commission is aware of almost 40 people on death row or serving life sentences for blasphemy, a statistic unmatched in the world. The law fosters violence against religious minorities, such as Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis."
Last October, the Lahore High Court upheld the death penalty of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother who was convicted of blasphemy.
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-man-arrested-for-blasphemy-in-pakistan-after-muslim-business-rival-lodges-complaint-144583/#c8jXBxUAzufD2izs.99
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