Accused of blasphemy
February 7th, 2013
The number of persons victimised under the blasphemy law continues to grow. Recently, four employees of a printing press in the Islampura area of Lahore were accused and arrested on blasphemy charges, while loading books and CDs onto a truck. The complainant, a resident of the same area, alleged the material was blasphemous and distorted portions of the Holy Quran. It can hardly be a coincidence that the men were Ahmadi. Their lawyer has stated that the men were also arrested illegally, before an FIR was filed, and on the basis of a call to the police ‘15’ emergency line.
A sessions judge is to hear arguments on their arrest and the legality of this. The question of the charges brought against them will also be raised, with the lawyer for the complainant alleging the men planned to distribute ‘blasphemous’ literature across city markets. Police are also searching for the owner of the concerned press.
We know from past experience just how often the blasphemy law is abused. Police often act way too hastily, as seems to have happened here. Just the accusation of blasphemy triggers a reaction so frenzied that even those in charge of maintaining law and order in society fall into the trap. Misuse of the law has become increasingly widespread, resulting in suffering for the hundreds in jail on blasphemy charges. Minority groups, including the Ahmadis, are especially vulnerable — but it is worth keeping in mind that most of those imprisoned are Muslim. The insane are not spared. What this latest case illustrates is the need for investigation before people are slammed behind jail bars and also for the following of proper procedure. The failure in this respect amounts to a grave miscarriage of justice. This has been repeated time and again and there will be no end to the victimisation until the blasphemy law is amended to guard against its abuse for the sake of vendetta or to settle petty disputes.
Fair play
February 7th, 2013
It is unfortunate that a group of party workers from the Pakistan Peoples Party recently took it upon themselves to ransack the offices of the Ministry of Water and Power in Islamabad because Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar did not show up to meet with them as they claimed he would. This enraged the workers who said they had been promised jobs by him and upon being told that they would not be offered jobs due to a ban on political appointments by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), they went on a rampage, destroying office property. It seems that violence and causing mayhem have now become a normal expression of protest. The workers have complained that the ministry has given 150 to 200 jobs to people outside the party in the last three years and none of the workers have been obliged. While this ‘grievance’ can be a cause of distress, nowhere should it have translated into destruction of property, least of all, the property of the organisation one wishes to be in the employment of.
Political appointments are the norm and nepotism is rampant in many government departments. It is an open secret that these appointments are often given to undeserving candidates. Many times they are illegal, as we saw when the Federal Public Service Commission declared as illegal the hiring process of hundreds of political appointees at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences earlier this month. The ECP’s decision to ban political appointments has been perceived to have been done to arrest any likelihood of pre-poll rigging, which could have resulted from the induction of thousands of people who have recently been posted in various positions by the ruling party. That is a wise move but not a solution to the problem that political appointments bring. They are more than just carrot and stick ploys or bribes; there needs to be a practical solution or a cap of sorts, otherwise, key positions will continue to be given on the basis of favouritism, nepotism and without merit.
Spiralling violence
February 7th, 2013
Bad news comes our way too often. We all know that violence has grown rapidly in the country, affecting the lives of thousands. But it is only when actual figures are placed before us that we realise just how bad things are — and how quickly they seem to be worsening.
According to a weekly monitoring report compiled by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) and covering the period between January 26 to February 1 this year, at least 73 people were killed across the country in 43 incidents of violence. For a single week, this is a huge number. The report shows that 77 per cent of the victims were civilians, and of course, aside from those who died, many others were injured. For the week covered in the latest Fafen report, target killings claimed the most lives, with 25 people gunned down in Karachi alone. Terrorist activities killed 16 people and injured 18 others. Thirty-eight people were killed in Sindh and 21 in Balochistan as a result of targeted killings, terrorism and tribal conflicts.
In addition, a counter-terrorism operation in the tribal belt killed 13 militants. Sectarian, ethnic and militant forces lay behind the terrorist killings. Attacks on schools were also reported, from the tribal areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
We also know violence has not fallen since that week. The pace at which it continues to increase, in so many different forms, is deeply disturbing. We have already lost too many lives to bullets and bombs. Those completely uninvolved in conflict are most often the victims. It is essential that we find a way to stop this bloodshed.
This senseless violence has continued far too long. Its acceleration across the country is something we need to think very deeply about, given the deep scars it has already left on society and the fresh wounds it continues to inflict. Only when we find a way to stop this mayhem will the injuries heal, the trauma begin to fade and some sense of normalcy return to the lives of people who today, live in a state of constant fear, with possible death lurking everywhere.