The atmosphere in Pakistan is heated after the murders one after another for the crime of blasphemy. Recently, two blasphemy accused were killed by the police in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. This incident has generated anger across the country. After these incidents, Amnesty International issued a statement on Friday demanding a judicial inquiry into this matter. The organization has demanded that the people responsible should be punished through fair and transparent trials so that the police do not take such action against the blasphemy accused. Police in Pakistan have also been accused that there is a nexus between the police and religious extremists, due to which such incidents have come to the fore.
The first incident took place on September 12 at the Cantt Police Station in Quetta, where constable Saad Khan Sarhadi shot Abdul Ali, a blasphemy accused in custody. Just a week later, Shahnawaz Qambar, a doctor from Umarkot, was killed by the police in an alleged encounter in Mirpurkhas. When Dr Qambar’s body was handed over to his family, religious fanatics snatched the body from the family and burnt it.
Amnesty International said in its statement that these killings on charges of blasphemy in Pakistan have exposed the government’s failure to protect human rights. The organization has demanded the Pakistan government to immediately repeal the blasphemy laws, as these laws have been promoting violence and discrimination for a long time.
police officer suspended
After the murder of Dr. Kambhar in Mirpurkhas, the Sindh government has suspended Mirpurkhas Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Javed Sunhare Jaskani and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Captain Muhammad Asad Ali with immediate effect. Along with this, eight other officers of Sindhari Police Station and Mirpurkhas Crime Investigation Agency have also been suspended. Dr. Kambhar’s mother has called her son’s murder a police conspiracy and has demanded a judicial inquiry. She alleges that the police beat her son and then instigated the mob to burn his body.
Civil society and human rights organizations have also expressed deep resentment over the killing of Dr. Kambhar. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) have demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. These organizations condemned the police’s move to hand over the body of the accused to the family at night, due to which the frenzied mob burned the body. The JAC alleged that there is a nexus between the police and religious extremists, which is promoting such incidents.
What is the law regarding blasphemy in Pakistan?
Pakistan has very strict laws against blasphemy. Insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be punishable by death if found guilty. However, the punishment decided for the accused is done through judicial proceedings and not through police justice.