JUI-F fiercely opposes blasphemy law amendment

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ISLAMABAD: The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Friday said it would fiercely resist any move to amend the blasphemy laws of the country.

During a meeting of Senate’s Functional Committee on Human Rights, JUI-F’s Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar said that the penalty of blasphemy against Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the capital punishment which could not be changed. He said that JUI-F would not allow anyone to alter the blasphemy law because it could lead to further crises, referring to the events that followed amendment to the parliamentary oath that ended in the resignation of federal law minister Zahid Hamid.

Responding to Senator Sehar Kamran’s question, Mufti Sattar said that if two testimonies were recorded against an accused, he would be hanged.

The discussion on the amendment was then deferred.

The committee strongly condemned the enforced disappearances of people and recommended the formation of a new commission with a new chairperson to deal with the issue.

The committee’s agenda on the attempted abduction of journalist Taha Siddiqui on January 10 was dropped because of his absence.

The committee also approved the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) according to which transgender persons could be identified according to their self-determined gender. CII had also said that if any complication in inheritance issue arose then the matter would be referred to the court and a medical examination would be conducted if required.