Now a blasphemy case in Multan...

by Salman Hameed

Bomb blasts against Shias in Quetta and Karachi. Targeted killing of the social worker and the director of the amazing Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi. Burning of a Christian neighborhood in Lahore. Targeted killing of a shia doctor (and his son). These are some of the highlights just from the past few weeks. But there is no sign of the abating of this tide. Now we have a blasphemy case in Multan against a visiting lecturer in English at Bahauddin Zakariya University (tip from Anila Athar Hasan). It seems that this time it is again a turn of Ahmadis (my guess - since there is a reference to them in the news item below) to face the wrath of the "pious" and the "pure" and their form of justice: "He made a blasphemous remark on Facebook! Execute him! Actually - this is exactly what they are saying:

The anger boiled further against a visiting lecturer of English Department of Bahauddin Zakariya University, who committed blasphemy, as the students brought out a rally against him while Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (TTNR) held protest meeting here on Thursday. 

The participants of the rally and protest meeting demanded immediate arrest and execution of the culprit, hurling a warning to the government that they would be forced to take to roads if the action was not taken forthwith. The visiting lecturer and MPhil student in English Department Junaid Hafeez made blasphemous comments on a social networking website which sparked strong reaction in BZU. The BZU administration announced that the admission and hostel allotment of the culprit were cancelled and a ban was imposed on his entry. He fled. 

Meanwhile, addressing a joint meeting of all religious parties under the umbrella of TTNR, the leaders Qari Ahmad Mian, Dr Ashraf Ali Ateeq, Asif Mahmood Akhwani, Rao Zafar Iqbal, Syed Khalid Mahmood Nadeem, Inayat Ullah Rehmani, Syed Kafeel Shah Bokhari and others strongly condemned the incident and said that qadianis were being given shelter by some elements in BZU. They added that frequent incidents of blasphemy and preaching of qadianiat took place in BZU but no action was taken against the culprits. They asked the government to take notice of concurrent blasphemy incidents at BZU and launch an immediate action otherwise the workers of TTNR would be forced to encircle the varsity and punish the culprits themselves.

What kind of reporting is this? This so called newspaper article already says that "he committed blasphemy" and then goes on to refer the Ahmadis by their pejorative name of Qadiani. But the news item said that Junaid Hafeez fled. Since the police never catch anyone after terrorism acts, I'm sure that their incompetency will this time be beneficial. Oh - no wait. They caught him and have sent him back to Multan to face blasphemy charges.

There is no end in sight. The last couple of years seem to be the beginning of a much darker night.

And yes, these things are not limited to minorities. Just see the case of our own friend and astronomer, Umair Asim, in the burning of his school for supposed blasphemy charges (see here and here)

Also read this from last August: Let's paint our flag green, we don't deserve white (those who are unfamiliar, the white was supposed be the symbol of religious (non-Muslm) minorities as part of the nation of Pakistan).