Lahore: (web desk) Former Provincial Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs and current Member of the Provincial Assembly Ijaz Alam Augustine has called on the state to amend the death penalty law and to have impartial individuals investigate the false blasphemy cases, releasing all innocent individuals involved immediately.
Speaking at an event held in observance of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Augustine stated that the death penalty law is gradually being abolished worldwide, but in Pakistan, anyone can be falsely accused and entrapped. He noted that investigations into the blasphemy cases that have emerged so far have revealed different facts, yet no false accusers have been punished. Meanwhile, entire communities have been burned down. He argued that if the guilty were punished, incidents like those in Jaranwala would not occur.
The event was attended by scholars, pastors, lawyers, representatives of civil society, and journalists. Addressing the participants, Augustine lamented that in Pakistan, unfortunately, the law is not the same for everyone, which is why crime persists.
Organizer of the event and head of the social organization Redemption, Arne Arthur, also spoke, noting that when Mumtaz Qadri was being executed, they raised their voice against it but were suppressed. Today, over three thousand people are imprisoned in false blasphemy cases, and the judiciary is not even willing to hear their cases. This unseen pressure is suffocating the law, and if it continues, the suffocation in Pakistan will increase.
Discussing the challenges faced by media representatives in reporting such issues, Secretary of the Punjab Union of Journalists, Hasnain Tirmizi, stated that it is unfortunate that those in power have turned Pakistan into a country known for extremism. In the past, Pakistan’s name was not taken positively worldwide, and there is still no sign of change. If the real facts of incidents in places like Kot Radha Kishan, Sheikhupura, Nishtar Colony, Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh, Jaranwala, and now Umerkot are brought to light, it will be clear who is guilty and who is innocent. As journalists, he acknowledged that there is no freedom to write about certain issues.
The program also featured speeches by Maulana Asim Makhdoom, Maulana Mahmood Ghaznavi, Mufti Shabbir Anjum, Maulana Haider Shirazi, Qari Khalid, Sher Ali Khalti, Fida Hasnain, Advocate Rai Akhtar (Additional Prosecutor General), Advocate Rafiq Shaikh, Advocate Riaz Anjum, Pastor Ubaid Khokhar, Father James Channan, Pastor Amjad Niamat, Pastor Aslam Gull, Arthur Wilson, Samson Salamat, and Murtaza Bajwa.
