The debate to amend, revise or repeal the blasphemy laws of Pakistan ended on 4^th of January this year when Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, and the strongest voice ever raised against this injustice of the state was silenced in sheer brutality by an extremist fanatic belonging to the mullah cult. This cult of ignorant mullahs and religious fascists has always harassed, discriminated and persecuted the religious minorities that happen to share their citizenship.

The oppression of the weak has been the order of the land since very long now. The Mullah cult has perpetrated atrocious human rights violations upon Christians, Hindus, Shia Muslims, Sikhs and Ahmadi Muslims too numerous to recount in whole. The Mullah Cult believes that these minority religious groups undermine their belief system and thus their existence in the Islamic State of Pakistan is a threat to both Islam and Pakistan.  The country’s history is replete with examples of severe religious persecution but the instruments of the state, nowadays being referred as the “Deep State”; never let them come under the microscope and thus it often escapes international scrutiny.

Having said that, there lives a religious minority in the land of ‘pure’ that is the most oppressed of the oppressed. Perhaps the most talked about by the Mullah cult, the foremost and the favourite target of bully and aggression, the most peaceful of all communities yet the most troubled and distressed one. You guessed it right; I am referring to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Pakistan.

Very recently in Faisalabad, the third largest city of Pakistan which is also sometimes referred to as the ‘Manchester’ of the country a hate campaign wrought against Ahmadi Muslims that was initiated by the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz Khatme Nubuwwat which is a terrorist outfit of the Mullah cult and a sub species of the Phylum Talibania . An innocent Ahmadi Muslim was shot dead and hundreds of others live under shadows of fear in that city.

This madness of religious fanaticism  is not limited to the members of the clergy and extremist cults only. The state of Pakistan equally discriminates, harasses, persecutes and maltreats the innocent Ahmadi Muslims. This state-sanctioned oppression encourage the extremists to target Ahmadi Muslims and vice versa. Yes vice versa!  The more these fanatics persecute Ahmadis, the more they are protected by the State and its institutions.

Of many other instruments that the state employs to persecute Ahmadi Muslims, the best and the most lethal are  the machine guns of Section 295 & 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Second Amendment Constitution Act of 1974.

The Section 298 along with the Section 295 and some other clauses are also referred to as the Blasphemy Laws.

In today’s Abstract Analysis I intend to cover a very interesting angle of these Blasphemy Laws. Let us see what does the Section 295 actually state?

295. Injuring or defiling place of worship, with Intent to insult the religion of any class:
Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction damage or defilement as an insult to their religion. shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

 295-A. Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting Its religion or religious beliefs: 

Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the ‘religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.

295-B. Defiling, etc., of Holy Qur’an:

Whoever wilfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Qur’an or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.

 295-C. Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet:

Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.

The State and the Mullah cult are quick in accusing the minorities and persecute them by dragging them in courts under the sub sections B and C of this clause. Almost all cases against the minorities are filed under 295B or C, Ahmadis being anexception who are additionally often charged with Section 298 also. The Section 295 A, however clearly does not differentiate between the majority and the minority. It protects the sanctity and honour of all religions, sects and faiths.

The saddest part of the story is that the Pakistani State, its institutions, its machinery and instruments clearly violate this law when it comes to the Ahmadi Muslims. The Government passed an act amending the Pakistani passport to include a declaration of a person’s religion. This declaration is now also being used in the application forms of the National Identity Cards.  In order to declare oneself Muslim, every applicant must attest to the following:

a. I am a Muslim and believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last of the prophets.

 b. I do not recognize any person who claims to be prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever after Muhammad (peace be upon him) or recognize such a claimant as prophet or a religious reformer as a Muslim.

c. I consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Quadiani to be an impostor nabi and also consider his followers whether belonging to the Lahori or Quadiani group, to be NON-MUSLIM.

The clause ( c ) of this affidavit that every adult Pakistani ‘Muslim’ signs is a clear violation of the spirit & purpose of the Section 295A of the Penal Code which declares that any  deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults the religion or the religious beliefs of that class as a crime which may be punished by a ten year imprisonment.

While this law quietly sits in the thick books of law, the religious-fascism in both state and non-state actors has reached its max. Despite the Section 295A the judiciary, the media, the civil society, the fake liberals have been silent and the religious sentiments of Ahmadi Muslims are continuously being wounded; every time a Mullah spews hate on a TV channel or a passport application form comes in sight !

May the soul of shaheed Salman Taseer rest in peace !

View other posts by Naeem Shamim