Bishop Samuel Azariah on why Pakistan's blasphemy laws must go

|PIC1|There have been reports recently of 2,000 Christians living on the streets of Islamabad. Is that a situation you are aware of?

Well, if by street you mean a literal street then I am not very sure of it but there are an awful lot of Christians in Islamabad living on the fringes of Islamabad with only basic facilities and amenities. Water, electricity and drainage are not available and it is like living on the streets because they are living in subhuman conditions.

In this particular case it was reported that the government had demolished their houses leaving them homeless.

Some of these people are removed from certain areas because they have come under the capital development authority which wants to develop an extension of Islamabad and so they have been pushed into areas where there are no facilities.

Do you feel this type of removal occurs because they are Christians?

The Christians believe that is the case but the government will always have its own interpretation in the name of development. Always the argument comes up that they never owned the land because these were government lands that they were on and the government required these lands for different purposes.

Were you part of the Black Day protests?

No, because I wasn’t in the country at the time but I heard about them. This is the first time in the history of the country that the religious minorities and especially the Christians have come up with such strong action. It suggests how much they are disappointed, frustrated and dissatisfied with some of the things that are happening, particularly on the misuse of the blasphemy law which has led to religious conflict, the fight between the majority and the minority, and unconstitutional violence against minorities, especially the Christians. What happened recently in Faisalabad against the Christian families was also as a result of the blasphemy law.

I strongly believe as a Pakistani and as a Christian church leader that the time has come for the government to seriously reflect that they have not been able until now to control the misuse of the blasphemy law and it keeps increasing and increasing. Faisalabad is not the first case.

I do recognise the pressure on the government but it is also the responsibility of the government to see that if a law is being constantly abused and gives a bad reputation to the country and a particular faith – in this case the Muslims – then some alternatives have to be found.




|PIC1|Do you feel that inaction on the part of the government is deliberate? Do they acquiesce to what is going on?

I think the action on the part of the government has been dependent on various factors and one of them is that the influence of the various Islamic leaders has been so strong that the government shies away in recognising alternatives. The alternatives are there but those alternatives are not put into practice effectively.

There is real frustration, disappointment and sadness in the minority community. Why aren’t we being treated as responsible and faithful and committed citizens of the country?

Christians in India also protested against the violence against Pakistani Christians. Do you welcome that support?

We live in a situation where we cannot live only on political differences. We are a religious community. It is the same wherever there is violence against a religious community. In this particular case it is in Pakistan vis a vis Muslims. That means that Muslims all over the world should speak out against this irrespective of what the political disagreements and agreements are. We are one family of Christians, one body. The Muslims call it ‘ummah’, one family, one brotherhood. As the Christian ummah, Christians anywhere in the world have a right to express their concerns about how Christians in any part of the world are treated.

How has the Pakistani government responded to protests from church leaders about the treatment of the Christian community?

After the damage is done there are always political doctors who keep coming in with their balms and medicines to pacify the situation, which was again done in the recent situation of the violence in Punjab. The government has promised help and support and has given some money, which is of course a concern, but nevertheless still does not meet the needs of the people who have lost homes, animals and property and is, of course, no comparison to those who have died and been killed. Money does not replace that. And it doesn’t give us a sense of security. Will it happen again or will it not happen again? The government is not reassuring us meaningfully and effectively on the security of the religious minorities.

What happens when a First Instance Report is registered against the perpetrators with the police? Does anyone ever get brought to justice?

It depends on the nature of the FIR. There are certain FIRs in Pakistan about very small accusations and the police will just go and pick that person up. But then there are examples of serious allegations in an FIR where the perpetrators are scot free.

In the case of the misuse of the blasphemy law, the police shy away from arresting people who may be misusing the blasphemy law even if there is an FIR. But if there is an FIR that says Mr Samuel so and so or John so and so said something against Islam or the Prophet he would be immediately arrested.

|PIC1|The law also says that the one misusing the law is equally to be taken to task but there is hardly anything the government will dare do. And these are the ones creating the conflict. It is these people who go and put an FIR falsely against others and create the conflict and they go scot free.

So what would you like to see the government do?

The general argument that people give against repealing the blasphemy law in Pakistan is that repealing the law is not the solution. They argue that in the penal code of Pakistan there is the law against murder and sometimes there are false accusations of murder and the real murderer goes scot free so do we now remove the law? The law should be there and it is an abuse of that law.

But these are two different things. We are talking about the sacredness, the holiness, the sanctity of the founder of a religion. We are talking about the sanctity of the Prophet and I believe the Prophet is much above the rules of the Parliament or the decisions of the Parliament. So I think that by misusing the law some of these people damage the sanctity of the Prophet. If the law is used rightly that is different but in most of the cases the law is being abused. So we should do away with it.

So you want to see a shift in mindset among Muslims?

Yes and to tell them that this law is being abused. This law when it was created included everybody but Section 295-C specifically protected the Muslim community.

Do you think international pressure is enough to make the Pakistani government repeal the law?

International pressure would force them to effectively introduce alternatives in the misuse of the law or force them to repeal it. It depends on how the international pressure is built.

The Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti has faced criticism from some who feel he should go. Do you agree?

Who has not been criticised in that office? Practically everyone in this office was criticised and one person even removed under criticism. We must remember that Bhatti represents a political group interest. He is a supporter and an ally of the Pakistan People’s Party.

What is the greatest need facing the Pakistani church right now?

I think more unity and political awareness. The coming together of Christians in Pakistan to identify those individuals who are damaging the church through the misuse of the church and there are a lot of people within the Christian community misusing the property of the church. They are not Muslims and they are not clergymen. They are just Christians with false documents, who make false accusations and by the support of some breakaway groups in Europe and America make problems here.