KARACHI – The blasphemy laws are brutal and inhumane, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) Arisar group chairperson Abdul Wahid Arisar told Pakistan Today on Saturday. Unlike the JSQM-Bashir Qureshi group, which plans to protest after January 17, Arisar’s faction does not intend to confront clerics on the issue.
“A Christian would believe in Prophet Isa (AS); and if anyone says anything against their prophet or their beliefs, that should constitute ‘Tauheen-e-Risalet’ too, but it doesn’t in Pakistan,” said Arisar, also a scholar of religion and a former cleric. “These mullahs are going around screaming for no reason about things that they know little or nothing about.”
Despite their public stance against blasphemy laws, however, Arisar’s party has no plans to protest against them or call for either reform or repeal. “We don’t intend to take to the streets regarding matters of religion,” he said. “Our leader [GM Syed] was ba-khuda but not ba-mazheb [he believed in God, but not dogma]. We therefore respect all religions and all prophets. GM Syed believed that no mortal was above criticism, and even prophets made mistakes. As such, no one has the right to murder a person on the basis of religion or for perceived slights to religious sentiments. Such barbarity exists only in the sub-continent,” he said.
