Paul Keenan
Pakistan remains ill-served by its blasphemy law, writes Paul Keenan
Two very different ‘heroes’ were celebrated in Pakistan last week, their differing yet converging stories being instantly illustrative of the religious gulf that continues to pervade in that country.
On February 29, news filtered from Adiala prison in Rawalpindi that Mumtaz Qadri had been hanged for his 2011 murder of Punjabi governor Salmaan Taseer, whom he had been bodyguard to before opening fire against the politician’s outspoken criticisms of Pakistan’s Penal Code 295-C – the notorious Blasphemy Law.
Supporters of Qadri at once took to the streets in an all-too-routine display of Muslim rage, denouncing the killing of a man perceived to be an instrument of God against a vile blasphemer. Interviewed by foreign media, Qadri’s father expressed his unwavering backing for his son’s actions.
“I am proud of the martyrdom of my son”, the man stated, adding that he would gladly watch his remaining sons go the gallows in the same way “for the honour of the Prophet”.
Funeral
Such was the sense of unease in official circles as Qadri’s execution approached that the government ordered a news black-out on the subsequent funeral in an attempt to limit Qadri’s appeal as a martyr. It did not stem outbreaks of violence in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and several other smaller cities as word of mouth carried news of Qadri’s hanging. (Pakistani networks led with news of an Oscar win for the country, as the best documentary award went to A Girl in the River, a look at the issue of honour killings in Pakistan – another topic which routinely finds Pakistan condemned by the international community.)
Then, two days later, the events and another victim of 2011 were recalled as the March 2 anniversary of Shahbaz Bhatti was marked. A Catholic, and the only Christian serving in government at that time, Bhatti was the then Minister for Minorities when he was caught in a hail of fire by assassins in Islamabad. Similar to Taseer, who had been killed almost exactly two months earlier, Bhatti’s crime was an outspoken attack on the Blasphemy Law as one unfairly targeting his fellow Christians, and, almost as bad, his daring to offer solidarity to the imprisoned Asia Bibi, perhaps still the most high-profile victim of that law.
Bringing a note of joy to the otherwise sombre commemoration was the announcement that the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi has opened the Cause of Shahbaz Bhatti, signalling the commencement of a full investigation towards the first step of seeing him declared a martyr.
Underpinning this move on Bhatti’s cause are the man’s own words, communicated on a video recording which he had instructed only to be released in the event of his death. In it, Bhatti, fully cognisant of the dangers of his position as a champion of the Christian minority declared: “I want to share that I believe in Jesus Christ, who has given his own life for us. I know what is the meaning of ‘cross’, and I follow him to the cross.”
Added to this, the Vatican has, since 2012, held the testimony of the late Bishop Anthony Lobo of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, which asserts of Bhatti that he reluctantly became involved in politics once he perceived it was the best way to defend Christians in Pakistan.
Bishop Lobo pointed out: “A man of great commitment, he decided not to marry. He lived a life of celibacy. He had no possessions and saw his activity as a service. I believe that Shahbaz Bhatti was a dedicated lay Catholic martyred for his faith.”
The designation of ‘martyr’ was instantly backed by the All Pakistan Minority Alliance, the party founded by Bhatti to further the rights of minority faiths.
The stories of Mumtaz Qadri and Shahbaz Bhatti reveal just how far Pakistan has yet to go in allowing the safe accommodating of all its citizens, and just how difficult a task any well-meaning legislator has in daring to back such a national journey.
Bhatti’s heroic example to Christians is in the same moment a cautionary tale for any politician who might secretly wish to see the blasphemy law removed as a man-made impediment to religious freedom and a sense of inter-religious harmony.
It is to be noted that political voices in defence of Asia Bibi, still languishing on death row, are notoriously thin on the ground, while the courts continue to kick the can down the road in relation to her seemingly endless appeals. (Set this against her own declaration last Christmas of Christian forgiveness for her tormentors.)
This lack of political resolve endures, even though observers of Pakistan have pointed out that there is an altogether new mood in the country against militant conservatives since the December 2014 slaughter of 132 children and nine staff at a school in Peshawar (mainly the offspring of members of the military). Backing for religious parties is down, while military drives against extremists have found a new vigour.
Peshawar may have swayed Pakistan’s rulers to stronger action now that they themselves are in the cross-hairs of Islamic extremists, but it did little to water down the blasphemy law, an ever-potent weapon against the everyday Christian minority.
Indeed, lawyers at Qadri’s trial had sought to argue that by criticising the nation’s blasphemy law, his victim, Salmaan Taseer, was himself guilty of blasphemy and therefore the subject of a death penalty, which their client had duly – and legitimately – carried out.
The glimmer of hope here is that it is via Islamic jurisprudence that the greatest challenge to the blasphemy law is being staged. Where politicians fear to tread, legal experts armed with the requisite learning have begun the daring task of questioning the very legitimacy of what is, after all, a man-made construct over the teachings of faith.
Among them, and prompted specifically by the Asia Bibi case, is lawyer Yasser Latif Hamdani, who routinely challenges the dominance of religious ideologues through his column in Pakistan’s Daily Times.
Turning his attention to the blasphemy law, Hamdani has argued that the law itself stands in contravention to Islamic justice as, where sharia law demands a high level of evidence to uphold allegations of crimes against God (so severe are the punishments), Pakistan’s Penal Code 295-C undermines this principle of justice given the bizarre situation in which witnesses are unchallenged by lawyers for fear of the alleged blasphemy being repeated in a courtroom setting and bringing the law down on the agents of ‘justice’ themselves!
Process
Mr Hamdani’s daring commentaries say what others cannot and may begin the process – once and for all – of shifting Pakistan to a more tolerant society, though the 100,000-strong funeral procession for Mumtaz Qadri suggests the shift will be glacial at best.
In the meantime, minorities in Pakistan, such as the Christian community, cling to those who continue to highlight their situation and fight for their position in society. Those such as Shahbaz Bhatti, whose example surely bolsters those who endure without killing against those who feel compelled to kill so as to endure.
As Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi said in recalling Bhatti: “He spoke with faith and demonstrated courage. Thanks to him, the voice of Pakistan’s Christians was heard. He paved the way for us. He was a good Catholic and gave his life for his mission.”