Congratulations Pakistan. Congratulations.
I have walked this path before; several times, really. In some earlier writeup, I traced the roots of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws in the English Common Law the very same roots that Ireland had with its Blasphemy Laws, those that their parliament just removed from the nation’s legislation. I have iterated, several times, that Pakistan is a part of very small sub-group that insists on finding a rationale in murdering someone for blasphemy. As of a recent report by BBC, a total of 4 countries (Pakistan included) have handed down death sentences to those accused of blasphemy. Other countries, however, have come to accept the terms of the human rights conventions that bind states to be more responsible towards their monopoly of violence.
Pakistan is not at a standstill for now and I think the failure of the protests to create the desired havoc lies solely on the protestors themselves. They obviously over-played their cards and this profligacy could very well be a suicide. They thought that, like old times, they could (literally) get away with murder. Unfortunately, what they forgot was that in Pakistan murder is forgivable, attacking the army isn’t.
Let’s go back to the fiery speeches the mullah brigade and their acolytes made when Qadri was hanged. Then too, the same monkeys insisted that they would crush the Supreme Court. No one batted an eyelid at such vulgar comments. The same would have happened this time too had they not sought a mutiny within the army. That was a fatal move.
Anyone who tries to influence how things work in Pakistan must do themselves a favour and pick up a history book taught in any public school. You won’t even have to read in between the lines to see where the boundaries lie and how easy it is to manipulate the populace. That said, this time, I hope this bias turns good for us.
Now let’s go back to Aasia Bibi’s case. A big part of my research career revolved around studying her case in particular and analysing how the emotions and discourse around the Laws evolved during her case and subsequently, Mashal’s case. That is to say that her acquittal has been a very happy moment for me; indeed one of the happiest ones of the year. Once again, congratulations Pakistan.
As for the case, I discovered the broken, incohesive chain of events long ago. You didn’t really need to work hard on discovering that. Of course, my understanding was nowhere near to the scrutiny that the Supreme Court employed while breaking down the case and, in the process, discovering that every foundation of the claim stood on miserably feeble grounds. That, the witnesses were lying and there were discrepancies in claims, dates and locations. The judges meticulously threaded every claim and hence decided on Aasia’s innocence on credible terms. They deserve all the acclaim and glad tidings possible.
That said, it does make me wonder why the same was not done by the session and the high courts? Had this vehicle been stopped at the start of the journey, its crash would not have made this much noise. If, as the judgement reads, the claims were fictitious and witnesses prone to lies, why did the lower branches of the courts still uphold her death sentence? More importantly, the ruling also finds issues with the investigation done by the local police authorities. Once again, shouldn’t those who were careless at their jobs be inquired against too?
Aasia will have to leave the country soon and the moment she lands her feet elsewhere, the propaganda machine will harp onto the international conspiracy mantras they have since trained and perfected themselves on with the case of Malala. One thing that breaks this momentum is the loudness of the Chief Justice in what he does and stands for. This gives the case a special local touch. It is time we, as a country, start taking responsibility for ourselves.
Finally, anyone who gets a chance to have a listen to what Khadim Rizvi spews will, for sure, find themselves engulfed in an apocalyptical whirlwind. Is Islam really in danger? Are we all at the brink of losing our identity to a sadistic propaganda directed to lead us to hell? Was the more peaceful, pacifist and forgiving Islam taught to us by our parents a sham after all? It is unfortunate that there are many goons who worship Rizvi more than worshipping the God they claim to be soldiers to. They’re blinded by their leader who is, well, blind. As I write this, Rizvi’s twitter urges his followers to remain steadfast in their dharnas and prepare to die in the cause. Of course.
Unfortunately, there will be an ugly end to this. There is no cleaner way to deal with filth. You cannot walk across mud and not get your hands dirty. It is a pity that the pool of mud was allowed, throughout our history, to become an ocean of filth. Cleaning will take a long time and much effort but, and I cannot emphasise this enough, the cleaning has to take place. Let’s start.
Congratulations Pakistan. Congratulations.
I have walked this path before; several times, really. In some earlier writeup, I traced the roots of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws in the English Common Law the very same roots that Ireland had with its Blasphemy Laws, those that their parliament just removed from the nation’s legislation. I have iterated, several times, that Pakistan is a part of very small sub-group that insists on finding a rationale in murdering someone for blasphemy. As of a recent report by BBC, a total of 4 countries (Pakistan included) have handed down death sentences to those accused of blasphemy. Other countries, however, have come to accept the terms of the human rights conventions that bind states to be more responsible towards their monopoly of violence.
Pakistan is not at a standstill for now and I think the failure of the protests to create the desired havoc lies solely on the protestors themselves. They obviously over-played their cards and this profligacy could very well be a suicide. They thought that, like old times, they could (literally) get away with murder. Unfortunately, what they forgot was that in Pakistan murder is forgivable, attacking the army isn’t.
Let’s go back to the fiery speeches the mullah brigade and their acolytes made when Qadri was hanged. Then too, the same monkeys insisted that they would crush the Supreme Court. No one batted an eyelid at such vulgar comments. The same would have happened this time too had they not sought a mutiny within the army. That was a fatal move.
Anyone who tries to influence how things work in Pakistan must do themselves a favour and pick up a history book taught in any public school. You won’t even have to read in between the lines to see where the boundaries lie and how easy it is to manipulate the populace. That said, this time, I hope this bias turns good for us.
Now let’s go back to Aasia Bibi’s case. A big part of my research career revolved around studying her case in particular and analysing how the emotions and discourse around the Laws evolved during her case and subsequently, Mashal’s case. That is to say that her acquittal has been a very happy moment for me; indeed one of the happiest ones of the year. Once again, congratulations Pakistan.
As for the case, I discovered the broken, incohesive chain of events long ago. You didn’t really need to work hard on discovering that. Of course, my understanding was nowhere near to the scrutiny that the Supreme Court employed while breaking down the case and, in the process, discovering that every foundation of the claim stood on miserably feeble grounds. That, the witnesses were lying and there were discrepancies in claims, dates and locations. The judges meticulously threaded every claim and hence decided on Aasia’s innocence on credible terms. They deserve all the acclaim and glad tidings possible.
That said, it does make me wonder why the same was not done by the session and the high courts? Had this vehicle been stopped at the start of the journey, its crash would not have made this much noise. If, as the judgement reads, the claims were fictitious and witnesses prone to lies, why did the lower branches of the courts still uphold her death sentence? More importantly, the ruling also finds issues with the investigation done by the local police authorities. Once again, shouldn’t those who were careless at their jobs be inquired against too?
Aasia will have to leave the country soon and the moment she lands her feet elsewhere, the propaganda machine will harp onto the international conspiracy mantras they have since trained and perfected themselves on with the case of Malala. One thing that breaks this momentum is the loudness of the Chief Justice in what he does and stands for. This gives the case a special local touch. It is time we, as a country, start taking responsibility for ourselves.
Finally, anyone who gets a chance to have a listen to what Khadim Rizvi spews will, for sure, find themselves engulfed in an apocalyptical whirlwind. Is Islam really in danger? Are we all at the brink of losing our identity to a sadistic propaganda directed to lead us to hell? Was the more peaceful, pacifist and forgiving Islam taught to us by our parents a sham after all? It is unfortunate that there are many goons who worship Rizvi more than worshipping the God they claim to be soldiers to. They’re blinded by their leader who is, well, blind. As I write this, Rizvi’s twitter urges his followers to remain steadfast in their dharnas and prepare to die in the cause. Of course.
Unfortunately, there will be an ugly end to this. There is no cleaner way to deal with filth. You cannot walk across mud and not get your hands dirty. It is a pity that the pool of mud was allowed, throughout our history, to become an ocean of filth. Cleaning will take a long time and much effort but, and I cannot emphasise this enough, the cleaning has to take place. Let’s start
The writer is a Dissertation Researcher based in Finland. He conducts research on political, regional and societal changes with special focus on religious minorities in Europe.