Archbishop of Canterbury Urges Reform of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has urged the reform of Pakistan’s Blasphemy laws during an eight-day tour primarily of earthquake-stricken regions this week.

|PIC1|The Archbishop expressed his fear that the country’s blasphemy law, which makes desecration of the Koran punishable by death, was being used to “settle private scores”, with many Christians arguing that the law is being used as an excuse to attack them.

The Christian community of Sangla Hill suffered an attack just last week in which around 2,000 Muslims destroyed churches and Christian properties, following allegations that a young Christian man had burned a copy of the Koran.

Dr Williams told reporters the Sangla Hill incident had focussed attention on the problems caused by the blasphemy laws.

“I think it is widely recognised that the abuse of the blasphemy laws is a major problem which this country has to tackle; the problem is not so much the idea of a law against blasphemy as about a law whose penalty is so severe and whose practice gives so much scope for allowing people to settle private scores," said Dr Williams.

It is true that in many areas the concern has been expressed that local authorities have been slow to respond. On the other hand, the National authorities have condemned these activities and I think that’s where the leverage lies.”

|QUOTE|He added: “I was able to speak to the President directly about this and the problem is certainly widely recognised.”

Dr Williams appealed to President Pervez Musharraf to take a closer look at the way the law was being applied.

AFP quoted one Christian community leader, Peter Jacob, as saying: “Blasphemy law has always acted as a lethal sword against the minority communities. Its repeal is our longstanding demand.”

Williams has been in Pakistan since Tuesday, and has since visited a camp on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad for refugees left homeless by last month’s earthquake.

“I was very moved to see how efficiently the displaced victims of the earthquake disaster are being cared for. Equally impressive were the plans for the reconstruction of communities and for moving people away from dependency with practical help to rebuild their lives,” he said.

Dr Williams also delivered a lecture to an audience of students and academics at the International Islamic University in Islamabad entitled What is Christianity?, which explained some of the core beliefs of the faith as well as highlighting some of the popular misconceptions.