To the gallows

By
Hussain
-
12
139

The Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday awarded the death penalty to Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer.
Taseer was an outspoken critic of the blasphemy law and Qadri was viewed as a hero by many who thought Taseer himself was a blasphemer by calling for the law’s reform. Qadri had said he was enforcing divine law by murdering a “blasphemer”. ATC Judge Syed Pervez Ali Shah sentenced Qadri to death on two counts – Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Court (PPC) and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) – during the in-camera trial at Adiyala Jail.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 200,000 on Qadri under the two offences of murder and terrorism. Qadri had earlier confessed in court that he had killed the former Punjab governor for “his blasphemous statements”. Raja Shujaur Rehman, one of the lawyers for Qadri, said the ATC judge’s verdict was unprecedented. He said during Saturday’s proceedings, the court had to listen to the arguments of the prosecution and close the case, instead of delivering its verdict. He said the court did not inform the defence lawyer about the judge’s departure schedule for Adiyala Jail to take up the case. He said that the defence would to file a plea with the court under Section 23 of ATA. Whether Qadri will hang will remain open even after the appeals process is exhausted. According to Amnesty International, Pakistan has had an informal moratorium on executions in place since late 2008, before which it had hanged at least 36 people that year.
Pakistan has been increasingly criticised in the West for its tough anti-blasphemy laws and over the persecution of the tiny non-Muslim minority. But the government says it has no intention of reforming the 1986 law, underscoring the power of the hardline religious right. Taseer’s killing was the most high-profile political assassination in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was murdered in a gun and suicide attack on a Rawalpindi election rally in December 2007. Two months after Taseer’s murder, Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, was murdered by the Taliban on March 2 for demanding changes to the blasphemy law. After the Bhatti assassination, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said Pakistan was “poisoned by extremism”.

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12 COMMENTS

  3. 1) Blasphemy laws are against Islam. The greatness of our beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH needs no law to protect his honour.

    2) Nobody in Pakistan can dare to talk against Prophet PBUH. Blasphemy laws are being widely misused in Pakistan. Therefore, repealing them is the need of the hour.

    3) The accusations levelled under these laws are meant to settle personal scores and sometimes in an attempt to grab land.

    4) Actually, people accused are not blasphemers. Real blasphemers are those who level such charges to fulfil their nefarious designs.

    5) Mullahs who feed on fleecing ordinary muslims in the name of Islam are the source of problem. They create all the hype in favour of these black laws. If they had an iota of decency, they would not be the termites eating chandas. Their character can be judged from the fact that they do not even pray for Allah, they get remuneration for praying. They are supposed to earn a living and come to mosque to pray like any other muslim. But rest assured, they will not pray without a remuneration.

    6) Allam Iqbal aptly said : Din-i-Mullah Fasaad Fi Sabillillah.

    7) Death is too small a punishment for Qadri. He deserves much more. People like Qadri and those who glorify him are the scum of our society.

  4. I agree with SHAHID MALIK. these laws have been used as an instrument to curb and disturb poor minority in Pakistan. law of evidence is in insufficient to know the fact. police is miss using it widely. no one dare to say any thing wrong in west or India let alone saying any thing in Pakistan.

  7. With Mumtaz Qadri,
    Salman was not a Non-Muslim to exhibit such carelessness.
    He deserved it, and Qadri delivered it.

    I condemn all those who are confused about modernism, and are against anything portrayed as an injunction, may it be worship, pardah or shariaah!

    Long Live Qadri!

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