LAHORE: Christian youth have a huge potential and also the courage needed to lead their community, however they need opportunities to explore and develop their talents and become capable and competent professionals.
This was said by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Christian leader Rufus Solomon at a youth conference held at a local church on Saturday.
“Religious extremism, the caste system and marginalisation are but some of the many obstacles to the social and economic development of Pakistan’s Christian community,” said Solomon in his keynote address.
The PTI leader, who is also a distinguished businessman and one of the pioneers of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) industry in Pakistan, said that all through his professional years, he had felt deep sadness over the gradual loss of dignity of the Christian community of Pakistan in the eyes of the majority community.
“Innumerable factors can be attributed for this great loss, however I personally believe that the Christian community itself is to be partially blamed for this present day despondency,” he said, adding that neither the religious nor the political leadership of the community has had the courage to stand up for the rights of Christians resulting in rapid deterioration of the minority community.
Solomon said that only through education the Christian community could produce bureaucrats, technocrats, judges, high ranking personnel in the armed forces, scientists and other distinguished professionals in Pakistan.
“I urge the Christian youth to focus their energies on attaining higher education. Only then they can help remove the stigma that has been forced onto our marginalized community,” he said.
The PTI leader said that the challenges posed by growing extremism in Pakistani society can only be addressed through the proliferation of education.
“Education holds the key to de-radicalising people who are susceptible to being brainwashed,” he said, adding that successive governments in Pakistan had deliberately ignored education so that they could use the emotionally charged masses for their personal gains.
BLASPHEMY LAWS:
Speaking on the blasphemy laws, Solomon said it was a known fact that people were misusing the blasphemy laws to settle personal scores and to victimize religious minorities yet the government lacks the will and determination to repeal the laws or do something to stop its blatant misuse.
“In practice, the blasphemy laws have become an instrument of personal vendettas and malicious motivations. A majority of cases have very little to do with criticism of Islam or any other religion. The rise in the number of blasphemy cases, and the violent extremism now being justified in the name of fighting blasphemy, suggest that the ‘blasphemy issue’ has nothing to do with the sanctity of religion but rather is rather a product of people who use religious sensitivities to arouse popular passions for a political purpose,” he said.
“Moreover, there are no fair trials in blasphemy cases. Blasphemy allegations often become religiously and politically charged, with real dangers to the life and liberty for the accused and his or her family on the one hand, and judges and lawyers associated with the case on the other,” he said, adding that another key issue is that various actors in the criminal justice system, including the police, lawyers and most significantly, judges, frequently demonstrate religious bias against those accused of blasphemy.
“The blasphemy law requires that only officers of the rank of superintendent of police shall investigate Section 295-C complaints but this is rarely practiced. Prosecutors too fail to carry out their role in an impartial and objective manner. They initiate or continue prosecution even where charges are obviously unfounded. Finally, even where there are glaring weaknesses in the case of the prosecution, some – many – trial courts go on to convict defendants, mostly due to fear of reprisals, and at times, bias of judges against individuals accused of blasphemy and the presumption of guilt.”
Solomon said that the conviction of Christian blasphemy accused woman Asia Bibi was a classic example of miscarriage of justice.
“My heart weeps for Asia Bibi who was handed the death sentence even though the case against her reeks of mala fide. I just hope and pray that God rescues her from this ordeal and she is able to be with her family again,” he said.
