Pak Minority Body Demands Action Against Extremists

Outlook, India

Pak Minority Body Demands Action Against Extremists

M Zulqernain/ Lahore | May 31, 2010

Pakistan’s minorities are feeling more vulnerable than ever before after the deadly attacks on Ahmedis and want the government to deal with Taliban and hardline religious elements with an “iron hand,” an organisation representing them has said.

“We urge the government to take effective measures to check the increasing influence of Taliban in Pakistan, especially the province of Punjab where they are targeting any sect at their will,” the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance said in a statement.

The APMA condemned in the strongest terms the “cowardly attack” by terrorists on two mosques of the minority Ahmedi sect in Lahore that left 95 dead and over 100 injured last week.

“Minorities today in Pakistan are more vulnerable than ever before,” it noted.

APMA office-bearers Naveed Amir Jeeva, George Paul, Akmal Bhatti and Shamoon Raheel demanded that an immediate operation should be launched to eliminate centres where Taliban are training terrorists.

“Taliban have become a threat for the solidarity of Pakistan. (We urge) followers of all faiths and religions in the country to join hands to resist Talibanisation and foil the nefarious designs of terrorists who are out to destabilise Pakistan,” APMA said.

Jeeva regretted that successive incidents at Bamniwala, Kasur, Gojra, Sambrial and Lahore in Punjab had proved that the government is not serious about discharging its constitutional obligation to provide security to the life and property of minorities in the province.

Paul said gruesome acts by terrorists have caused loss of precious human lives, promoted a sense of insecurity among minorities and provided an opportunity to the anti-state lobby in the West to ruin the image of Pakistan across the globe.

APMA said provincial government should ensure that all worship places of minorities have adequate security in order to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident in the future.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyyah Pakistan spokesman Saleemuddin said: “The brazen attacks were not just acts of terrorism but the deadly culmination of years of sectarian hatred, violence and odious campaigning aimed squarely against the Ahmadiya Jamaat”.

He said Ahmedis have been declared ‘Wajjibal Qatal’ (fit to be killed) and reviled in public and civil life.

“Popular sentiment has been so forcefully positioned against Ahmedis in Pakistan that it is considered an Islamic obligation and an act of great merit to kill and murder members of the Jamaat,” he said.

URL : http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?683794

Blasphemy Law haunts minorities even after 18th Amendment

The News International - Pakistan

Thursday, April 22, 2010 | National

Blasphemy Law haunts minorities even after 18th Amendment

Thursday, April 22, 2010
By our correspondent

Karachi

The legacy of Zia Ul Haq continues to haunt the minorities in Pakistan as the 18th Amendment failed to do away with the controversial Blasphemy Law.

Representatives of minority communities have expressed concern over the government’s silence towards the repealing of the law.

Patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar told The News that he had met with top government officials, including Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms, Senator Raza Rabbani regarding amendments to the blasphemy law but failed to get any response.

“The law has greatly been misused against all the minority communities living in the country. There is a dire need to amend the law. I also made some suggestions regarding the selection procedure of the parliamentarians representing the minorities. However, this request, like its former, was also ignored.” Kumar suggested that parliamentarians should be nominated by public votes and not by party nomination.

Representing the Christian community, the secretary general of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, Michael Javed, said that the government officials had promised on several occasions that amendments would be made but all these ended up in smoke. “It seems that the state has forgotten the outrageous Gojra incident in which seven people were burnt alive and more than 40 houses were torched. Due to the Blasphemy Law, hundreds of innocent people have been killed and several others are languishing in jails on the pretext of false cases.”

Moreover, the government’s decision to allocate four reserved seats in the Senate for the minorities is just a deceptive picture as the ones who would be sitting on the chairs would be representing their respective political parties and not the masses, he added.

A minority rights advocate, Elvis Steven, stated that the sentiment of the community has also been hurt over the exclusion of minorities in the constitutional committee for the 18th Amendment Bill. “Neither any amendment was not made to laws pertaining to minorities nor was any minority leader was taken into consultation for the reforms”.

“The Blasphemy Law has become a dead noose for us,” said Sardar Ramesh, of the Sikh community, a community which has no representation in the government or in the opposition. He said that no follower of any religion could even think of defaming or desecrating another religion and the death sentence punishment for the law should be abolished.

However, the most vulnerable minority community is the Ahmedis who continue to face discrimination and violence in the light of the law.

A report titled ‘State of Human Rights in 2009’ by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan displays a bleak picture of the minorities. Last year, a total of 41 complaints regarding Blasphemy Law were registered by the police, out of which some 37 Ahmedis were booked under the law. Around five Ahmedi citizens were murdered in target killings.

“The law is exploited and our people are the worst sufferers. Everyday we are issued death threats but remain silent for fear of our lives. Until and unless the government repeals the discriminatory law, the minority communities won’t be able to breathe freely,” said an Ahmedi leader.

URL: www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=235325