Blasphemy Laws Embarrass Pakistan

by Michael Rubin
Commentary - Contentions
August 29, 2012

https://www.legal-project.org/2959/blasphemy-laws-embarrass-pakistan

Excerpt:

Almost two weeks ago, Pakistani authorities imprisoned Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old Christian girl reportedly with Down's Syndrome, accusing her of burning a few pages from the Noorani Qaida, a beginner's guide to Koranic recitation. Her case is now the subject of debate in the Pakistani press. The Express Tribune Online featured a member of the provincial assembly criticizing the misuse of the blasphemy law. A commentary in The Daily Times, an English-language Lahore paper, declared, "Mentally ill are those who charge an 11-year-old, illiterate girl of blasphemy and then enjoy the sport of watching humans killed just as the Romans used to do in the times of gladiators. The police officials that arrested the little slum dweller and the judges that sent her to jail need to be examined for symptoms of mental derangement." The Urdu-language press—for example, Karachi's Ummat Online—however, are rallying to protect the blasphemy laws regardless of their abuse.

Read the complete original version of this item...

receive the latest by email: subscribe to the legal project's free mailing list