Beyond the Law: Living Blasphemy in Pakistan PDF Download

Author: Muhammad Bilal
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031710290
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Author: International Commission of Jurists (1952- )
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789290372141
Category : Blasphemy
Languages : en
Pages : 61

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"People accused of violating Pakistan's draconian 'blasphemy laws' face proceedings that are glaringly flawed, said the ICJ in a new report published today. 'Pakistan's blasphemy laws fly in the face of Pakistan's international legal obligations, including the duties to respect the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief,' said Sam Zarifi, ICJ's Asia Director. 'But even worse, those facing accusations of blasphemy suffer through trials that are often fundamentally unfair.' In the 60-page report On Trial: the Implementation of Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws, the ICJ has documented in detail systematic and widespread fair trial violations in proceedings related to blasphemy offences in Pakistan, particularly in trial courts. Some of the problems documented in the report include: Intimidation and harassment of judges and lawyers that impede on the independence of the judiciary and the right to a defense; Demonstrable bias and prejudice against defendants by judges during the course of blasphemy proceedings and in judgments; Violations of the right to effective assistance of counsel; Rejection of bail and prolonged pre-trial detention; Incompetent investigation and prosecution that do not meet due diligence requirements under the law; The prosecution and detention of people living with mental disabilities; Inhumane conditions of detention and imprisonment, including prolonged solitary confinement. Pakistan's laws on 'offences related to religion'--sections 295-298-C of the Penal Code that are commonly known as 'blasphemy laws'--include a variety of crimes including misusing religious epithets, 'defiling' the Holy Quran, deliberately outraging religious sentiment, and using derogatory remarks in respect of the Prophet Muhammad. Sentences for these offences range from fines to long terms of imprisonment, and in the case of defamation of the Prophet Muhammad (section 295-C), a mandatory death sentence. 'Section 295 is a relic of the British colonial system that lends itself to human rights violations, including in Pakistan, India, Myanmar, and elsewhere,' Zarifi said. 'In Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq made additions to the laws that made them truly draconian.' Based on the analysis of over 100 judgments of the high courts and courts of first instance from 1986-2015 as well as interviews with defendants in blasphemy cases, their families, and defense counsel; judges, lawyers and police officials; and human rights activists, the report found: In 19 out of 25 cases under section 295-C (defamation of the Prophet Muhammad) studied by the ICJ, high courts have acquitted individuals convicted for blasphemy by trial courts. Glaring procedural irregularities and mala fide complaints are the grounds for acquittal on appeal in over 80 per cent of cases; Even in cases that ultimately result in acquittal, blasphemy proceedings suffer from undue delay--proceedings in trial courts can take on average three years, and appeals can take even longer, more than five years on average; Individuals accused of blasphemy under section 295-C are frequently denied bail even though they meet requirements under the law; Individuals detained pending trial or convicted for blasphemy are often kept in prolonged solitary confinement, at times, over a number of years. The report also confirms concerns recently raised by the Supreme Court of Pakistan that individuals accused of blasphemy 'suffer beyond proportion or repair', in the absence of adequate safeguards against misapplication or misuse of such blasphemy laws, the Geneva-based organization says. The ICJ has also made a number of recommendations to the Pakistani executive, legislative and judicial branches to address the defects in the framing of the blasphemy laws as well as of the shortcomings at the investigative, prosecutorial, procedural, administrative and judicial levels highlighted in the report to minimize the misuse of the blasphemy laws and ensure that those accused of blasphemy have a fair chance at defending themselves. 'It's time Pakistan and other countries got rid of these noxious laws, which continue to stifle freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief, and instead promote extremism and intolerance,' Zarifi added."--

Author: Adeel Hussain
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1787388794
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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This fascinating book uncovers the hidden stories behind Pakistan’s fixation with blasphemy–tales of revenge, political scheming and sovereign betrayal. Hussain’s account opens in nineteenth-century colonial Punjab and traces blasphemy killings to the present, linking their emergence to polemic encounters between Hindu and Muslim revivalist sects, namely the Arya Samaj and the Ahmadiyya. It offers, for the first time, the arresting backstories to the assassinations of Pandit Lekh Ram, a leading Hindu nationalist; Swami Shraddhanand, an early progenitor of Hindu nationalism and the principal advocate for converting Muslims; and Rajpal, the Hindu publisher of a sensationalist book on the Prophet Muhammad. Revenge, Politics and Blasphemy in Pakistan then maps the curious afterlives of these killings, illuminating the most critical moments in Pakistan’s history: 1953, when outraged protestors smashed stores owned by religious minorities, triggering the country’s first state of emergency; 1974, when Islamist parties pressured Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to put blasphemy on the constitutional agenda; 1984, when Zia-ul-Haq transformed Pakistan according to his Islamist vision, which included more severe punishments for blasphemy; and the twenty-first century, when digital media has dramatically increased the visibility of blasphemy killings, prompting political parties to demonstrate their commitment to the cause.

Author: Qaiser Julius
Publisher: Langham Publishing
ISBN: 1783683295
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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The roots of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws can be traced back to the British colonial rule in India, but their harsher clauses were added to the Pakistan Penal Code during a wave of intense Islamization in the 1980s. Everyone in Pakistan is threatened by the misuse of these laws, even Muslims; however a disproportionate number of victims targeted by these laws have come from two minority groups, the Ahmadis and Christians. Dr Qaiser Julius focuses on how these two groups have been affected by Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, their different reactions to these laws, and more specifically, why they are responding differently despite living under the same circumstances. In this well-structured and understandable study, Julius provides a valuable tool for Christians to understand what it means to be a minority in a hostile culture. This thorough analysis presents a way forward for the Christian church in Pakistan, providing hope amidst the discrimination and persecution.

Author: Declan Walsh
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393249921
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Winner of the 2021 Overseas Press Club of America Cornelius Ryan Award The former New York Times Pakistan bureau chief paints an arresting, up-close portrait of a fractured country. Declan Walsh is one of the New York Times’s most distinguished international correspondents. His electrifying portrait of Pakistan over a tumultuous decade captures the sweep of this strange, wondrous, and benighted country through the dramatic lives of nine fascinating individuals. On assignment as the country careened between crises, Walsh traveled from the raucous port of Karachi to the salons of Lahore, and from Baluchistan to the mountains of Waziristan. He met a diverse cast of extraordinary Pakistanis—a chieftain readying for war at his desert fort, a retired spy skulking through the borderlands, and a crusading lawyer risking death for her beliefs, among others. Through these “nine lives” he describes a country on the brink—a place of creeping extremism and political chaos, but also personal bravery and dogged idealism that defy easy stereotypes. Unbeknownst to Walsh, however, an intelligence agent was tracking him. Written in the aftermath of Walsh’s abrupt deportation, The Nine Lives of Pakistan concludes with an astonishing encounter with that agent, and his revelations about Pakistan’s powerful security state. Intimate and complex, attuned to the centrifugal forces of history, identity, and faith, The Nine Lives of Pakistan offers an unflinching account of life in a precarious, vital country.

Author: Nadirsyah Hosen
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1781003068
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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The Research Handbook on Islamic Law and Society provides an examination of the role of Islamic law as it applies in Muslim and non-Muslim societies through legislation, fatwa, court cases, sermons, media, or scholarly debate. It illuminates the intersection of social, political, economic and cultural factors that inform Islamic Law across a number of jurisdictions. Chapters evaluate when and how actors and institutions have turned to Islamic law to address problems faced by societies in Muslim and, in some cases, Western states.

Author: Ali Usman Qasmi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108621236
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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The popularity of the Muslim League and its idea of Pakistan has been measured in terms of its success in achieving the goal of a sovereign state in the Muslim majority regions of North West and North East India. It led to an oversight of Muslim leaders and organizations which were opposed to this demand, predicating their opposition to the League on its understanding of the history and ideological content of the Muslim nation. This volume takes stock of multiple narratives about Muslim identity formation in the context of debates about partition, historicizes those narratives, and reads them in the light of the larger political milieu of the period. Focusing on the critiques of the Muslim League, its concept of the Muslim nation, and the political settlement demanded on its behalf, it studies how the movement for Pakistan inspired a contentious, influential conversation on the definition of the Muslim nation.

Author: U S Commission on International Religious Freedom
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160942938
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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This report examines and compares the content of laws prohibiting blasphemy ("blasphemy laws") worldwide through the lens of international and human rights law principles. The laws examined in this study prohibit or criminalize the expression of opinions deemed "blasphemous," or counter to majority views or religious belief systems, and many impose serious, often criminal, penalties. Blasphemy laws are actively enforced in many states throughout the world. Many governments deem repeal not feasible or desirable and justify the prohibition and criminalization of blasphemy as necessary to promote religious harmony. This study seeks to evaluate the language and content of blasphemy laws to understand what aspects of these laws adhere to--or deviate from--international and human rights law principles. A better understanding of the laws' compliance with these principles may assist in the public policy community in developing clear, specifically-tailored recommendations for areas for reform. Related products: Explore ourFaith-Based Education resources collection Discover ourHuman Rights collection

Author: Charles Jaco
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780028643243
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Discusses the causes, military tactics, battles, and effects of the Persian Gulf War.

Author: Isabel Buchanan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473520339
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Winner of the Saltire Society First Book Award 2016 An Economist Book of the Year 2016 A Spectator Book of the Year 2016 In 2011, Isabel Buchanan, a twenty-three-year-old Scottish lawyer, moved to Pakistan to work in a new legal chambers in Lahore. The chambers was run by a determined thirty-three-year-old Pakistani lawyer, Sarah Belal, who had finally found her calling in defending inmates on Pakistan’s death row. Belal and Buchanan struck up an unlikely friendship, forged through working in a system that was instinctively hostile to newcomers – and doubly so if they were female. At Sarah’s side, and with the help of Nasar, the firm’s legendary clerk, Buchanan plunged into the strange and complex world of Pakistan’s justice system. The work was arduous, underfunded, and dangerous. But for a young Scottish lawyer like Buchanan it was an unparalleled education, offering a window onto a much-misunderstood country and culture. Filled with beautifully drawn characters, she creates a narrative brimming with ideas and bursting with humanity. It is a story of Pakistan, but it is also a universal story of the pursuit of justice in an uncertain world.