Pakistan Supreme Court Defends Free Exercise Rights of Ahmadis; Protests Follow

Earlier this month, a 2-judge panel of the Pakistani Supreme Court in Mubarak Ahmad Sani v. The State, (Pakistan Sup. Ct., Feb. 6, 2024) (full text in Urdu), ordered the release on personal bond of a member of the Ahmadi sect who had already been held for 13 months pending trial on charges of disseminating a banned religious text.

 As explained in the Feb. 25 issue of Dawn:

Petitioner Sami had sought deletion of certain charges in an FIR [First Information Report] registered against him on Dec 6, 2022 at the Chenab Nagar police station in Chiniot district.

The petitioner was accused of distributing/disseminating a proscribed book, Tafseer-i-Sagheer, which, according to the prosecution, was an offence under the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act enforced in 2021, whereas the FIR alleged that the petitioner had done this in 2019 when the distribution/dissemination of the proscribed book was not an offence....

The petitioner was arrested on Jan 7, 2023 and remained incarcerated for 13 months — more than double the permissible punishment under Section 5 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932....

The verdict observed that the principle of there being no compulsion in religion mentioned in the Holy Quran is enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right. Clause (a) of Article 20 of the Constitution stipulates that “every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion”, while clause (b) of Article 20 states that “every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions”.

Article 22 of the Constitution requires and prescribes that “no religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any educational institution maintained wholly by that community or denomination”.

“These fundamental rights cannot be derogated from, circumvented or diluted.... ” the judgement observed.

The court regretted that bail was declined to the petitioner by the additional sessions judge on June 10 last year, without considering that the petitioner had already served out the maximum prescribed imprisonment for these offence.

According to a Feb. 23 AFP report, the Supreme Court's decision led to demonstrations in Peshawar by some 3000 Pakistani Muslims who consider the Ahmadi text blasphemous. As reported by the Times of India, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued a statement defending the decision.

UPDATE: According to a Feb. 24 report in The News, the Punjab government has petitioned the Supreme Court seeking a revision of its decision, asking it to clarify that Article 20 of the Constitution qualifies its protection of the profession, propagation and practice of religion by making it subject to "public order and morality". At a hearing on accepting the petition, the Chief Justice's comments suggested that the Court would agree to that modification. The Court adjourned the hearing until Feb. 26.

Pakistan Court Quashes Blasphemy Charge-- Dreams Are Not Criminal

 In Khan v. Station House Officer, (Lahore High Ct., Nov.11, 2022), a Pakistani appellate court held that Pakistan Criminal Code Sec. 295A that prohibits deliberate and malicious insulting of religious beliefs was not violated by petitioner when he began telling the public that he could fly and that he saw Allah and various of his companions in his dreams. The court said in part:

[T]he offence under section 295-A PPC is not made out. There is no allegation that the Petitioner did anything to offend any group of people or insult their religion or religious beliefs. Furthermore, the Assistant Advocate General could not point out any circumstances that might indicate malice on his part.....

FIR No. 337/2021 accuses the Petitioner of entertaining and propagating blasphemous notions but does not provide any details. He is facing prosecution for claiming that he can fly and for having frequent dreams in which he sees Almighty Allah and some holy figures. As discussed above, scientists have many theories about why dreams happen and their purpose, but they all agree that one can only dream while sleeping. Sleep is a cyclical process. It happens in five stages, each of which contributes to the body’s goal of strengthening and rejuvenation....

Albeit one can have several dreams every night, one cannot control them. A person cannot be prosecuted for what he sees in his dreams or for sharing his thoughts, visions, or emotions during those times with others....

It frequently happens that those accused of blasphemy have a mental condition....

Article 10A of the Constitution and the principle of fair investigation discussed above require that when a police officer investigates an offence, particularly one under Chapter XV of the Penal Code, he should determine whether the accused is of sound mind. He must apply to the competent forum for his psychiatric evaluation if he suspects mental illness.

Dawn reports on the decision. 

Pakistan Agency Creates Unit To Handle Blasphemy Complaints

The News on Sunday reports that on Oct. 6 Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency announced that it has created a dedicated unit to deal with complaints of blasphemy on social media. The report says in part:

Sources in the FIA say the Agency has inadequate manpower and that many officials in its Cybercrime Wing are contractual employees. The number of complaints lodged with the Wing under various categories runs into tens of thousands, an official said. A majority of these complaints are pending because the staff is overburdened.

Lawyer Saiful Malook who has defended several people from marginalised segments of the society accused of blasphemy says the notification is discriminatory. “Neither a high court nor the FIA on its own can create a dedicated unit that is discriminatory and relates to religious freedom and persecution,” he says.

European Court Says Switzerland Wrongly Denied Asylum To Pakistani Convert To Christianity

In M.A.M. v. Suisse, (ECHR, April 26, 2022) [decision in French], the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of a Pakistani asylee in Switzerland.  The Court's English language press release summarizes the case and its holding:

M.A.M. is a Pakistani national who had converted from Islam to Christianity while in Switzerland, where he had arrived in 2015 and where his asylum request had been rejected.

[T]he ... Court ... held, unanimously, that if the decision to expel the applicant to Pakistan were to be executed there would be a violation of Article 2 (right to life) and Article 3 (prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights, in the absence of an assessment of the risk to which the applicant was exposed on account of the overall situation of Christian converts in Pakistan and of his own personal situation. The Court ruled that the assessment by the Swiss authorities of the risk facing the applicant on account of his conversion to Christianity if he were expelled to Pakistan had been insufficient to uphold the rejection of his asylum request....

[Thanks to @sacrareleges for the lead.]

USCIRF Calls Attention To Persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recently issued a new Factsheet on Persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims, focusing particularly on issues in Pakistan, Algeria and Malaysia, saying part:

In these countries, authorities have targeted Ahmadis through hate speech and speech inciting violence against them, denied them citizenship, restricted their rights to worship, and prosecuted them for practicing their faith, including by charging them with, and in some cases convicting them of, blasphemy. Some states prohibit Ahmadis from declaring their faith publicly, criminalize them for identifying as Muslim, and prohibit them from calling their houses of worship mosques....

 USCIRF explains:

Because of the differences between Ahmadiyya beliefs and beliefs in Sunni and Shi’a Islam, many Muslims consider Ahmadiyya Muslims to be heretics.

In Pakistan, 8-Year Old Boy Is Charged With Blaspehmy

The Guardian  today reports that in the Punjab province of Pakistan, an 8-year old Hindu boy has become the youngest person ever charged in Pakistan with blasphemy. He is accused of intentionally urinating on a carpet in a madrassa library. Last week, after he was released from custody on bail, Muslims attacked a Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan. The boy is now being held in protective custody by police, and his family is in hiding.

Pakistani Agency Threatens U.S. Website Owners With Sanctions Because of Ahmadi Content

 AP reported yesterday that Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority earlier this month ordered two American men to shut down their U.S.-based website Trueislam.com. According to AP:

The legal notice accuses Zafar and Khan, a lawyer, of violating Pakistani laws for hosting and disseminating content on their website related to members the Ahmadi community who are “not allowed to preach or propagate their faith or invite others to accept their faith."

The notice also threatened a fine of $3.1 million as well as charges under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law. As explained by AP:

Pakistan’s parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. Since then, they have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists in the Muslim-majority nation. An Ahmadi can get 10 years in prison for claiming to be a Muslim.

American On Trial For Blasphemy In Pakistan Is Assassinated In Courtroom

A press statement from the State Department yesterday reports on the killing of an American citizen, Tahir Naseem, inside a court room in Pakistan where he was on trial for blasphemy:

Mr. Naseem had been lured to Pakistan from his home in Illinois by individuals who then used Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to entrap him.  The U.S. Government has been providing consular assistance to Mr. Naseem and his family since his detention in 2018 and has called the attention of senior Pakistani officials to his case to prevent the type of shameful tragedy that eventually occurred.

The State Department called for the reform of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.  Radio Free Europe adds details:

It was not clear how the suspect, identified as Khalid Khan, managed to gain access to the courtroom.

He told police the prophet Muhammad had ordered him to kill Nasim because he had belonged to the Ahmadi faith....

According to BBC News:

Mr Naseem was first accused of blasphemy by Awais Malik, a madrassa student from Peshawar. Mr Naseem had struck up an online conversation with him whilst living in the United States.

Mr Malik told the BBC he had then met Mr Naseem in a shopping mall in Peshawar to discuss his views on religion, after which he filed a case against him with the police....

Mr Naseem was born into the persecuted Ahmadi sect, according to a spokesman for the community. But he added that he had left the sect and claimed to be a prophet himself.

The community leader suggested Mr Naseem had been mentally ill - he had uploaded videos to YouTube claiming to be a messiah.

Pakistan Creates National Commission For Minorities

UCA News reports that on May 5, Pakistan's federal cabinet approved creation of a National Commission for Minorities. Pakistan's Supreme Court had called for the government to create such a body over six years ago.  The Commission will have representatives from the Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi and Kelash  communities. No Ahmadi Muslims are included.  Some minority groups have criticized the Commission as having no power.  The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, however, welcomed the action by the Pakistani government.

11th Circuit: Board of Immigration Appeals Failed to Consider Evidence of Ahmadi Persecution In Pakistan

In Ali v. U.S. Attorney General, (11th Cir., Aug. 5, 2019), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded for further consideration a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying asylum, withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture claims by a Pakistani immigrant who practices Ahmadiyya Islam. The Appeals court concluded that the BIA ignored numerous de jure and de facto elements of harassment and abuse of Ahmadis that might lead to a conclusion of religious persecution.  The court said in part:

[T]he Board wields wide discretion on how to proceed on remand, and we today express no opinion on the merits. We simply hold that the Board’s decision, read alongside the record, considered alongside our religious persecution cases, is so puzzling that we cannot be sure the Board afforded Ali the consideration of his claims that the law requires. 

Pakistan Supreme Court Reaffirms Acquittal of Christian Charged With Blasphemy

On Tuesday a 3-judge panel of Pakistan's Supreme Court reaffirmed the Court's acquittal of Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who had been accused of blasphemy.  Bibi had been acquitted by the Supreme Court in October, but a reported by AP:

Following her October acquittal, radical religious parties took to the streets to protest, calling for the killing of judges who acquitted Bibi and for the overthrow of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government. They also filed the last-minute appeal for a review of the Supreme Court acquittal.

The protests were spearheaded by the radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, whose single point agenda is protection of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Bibi’s case goes to the core of one of Pakistan’s most controversial issues — the blasphemy law, often used to settle scores or intimidate followers of minority religions, including minority Shiite Muslims. A charge of insulting Islam can bring the death penalty.

[Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]

Pakistan's Supreme Court Orders Government Compensation To Victims of Protesters

As previously reported, after Pakistan's Supreme Court last October reversed the blasphemy conviction of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, protests and demonstrations broke out in several Pakistani cities.  Now, according to Geo News, Pakistan's Supreme Court today ordered federal and provincial governments to pay compensation to those who suffered losses and property damage during the three day countrywide protest that followed the October decision.

Pakistan Blasphemy Case Is Not Over As Government Agrees To Seek Another Review

As previously reported, last week Pakistan's Supreme Court reversed the blasphemy conviction of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who had been sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly uttering derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. However hard-line Islamist opposition to the Court's decision has developed. CBS News reports:

Pakistan's top court acquitted Bibi on Wednesday of the charges carrying the death penalty, infuriating hard-line Islamists who held three days of nationwide protests demanding her execution. The enraged protesters torched scores of vehicles, blocked highways and attacked government and public property; a radical cleric also threatened to kill the three judges who acquitted Bibi. According to the Reuters news agency, Cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who leads the Islamist Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) party, had his Twitter account suspended on Monday for inciting violence.

The protests ended after the government agreed to impose a travel ban on Bibi and allow her case to be reviewed. A review petition was filed in the Supreme Court....

Earlier in the day, police said over 150 people were arrested on charges of arson, vandalism and violence during the protests.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that Bibi's lawyer has fled to the Netherlands after threats on his life.

Pakistan's Supreme Court Reverses Blasphemy Conviction of Asia Bibi

In a widely followed case, the Pakistan Supreme Court yesterday reversed the blasphemy conviction of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who had been sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly uttering derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. The statements were allegedly made after Bibi got into an argument with two Muslim women while picking berries in a field.  The Muslim women refused to accept water from Bibi because she was Christian. In Bibi v. The State, (Pak. Sup. Ct., Oct 31, 2018), a 3-judge panel concluded (in a 34-page opinion) that the charges against Bibi had not been adequately proven, since the lower courts relied on contradictory testimony and the trial court relied on a confession that was given under pressure.  Justice Nisar's majority opinion alluded to the misuse of blasphemy prosecutions in Pakistan:

[N]o one could be allowed to defy the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) and be left unpunished, but there is another aspect of the matter; sometimes, to fulfill nefarious designs the law is misused by individuals leveling false allegations of blasphemy. Stately, since 1990, 62 people have been murdered as a result of blasphemy allegations, even before their trial could be conducted in accordance with law.

Judge Khosa filed a 21-page concurring opinion, in which he observed:

It is ironical that in the Arabic language the appellant’s name Asia means ‘sinful’ but in the circumstances of the present case she appears to be a person, in the words of Shakespeare’s King Leare, “more sinned against than sinning”.

The Guardian reports on the decision and reactions to it:

By the afternoon, thousands of club-wielding demonstrators had blocked highways, burned tyres and pelted police with stones in major cities including Islamabad and Karachi.

Pakistani Judges Receive Threats Over Upcoming Blasphemy Decision

According to DAWN, last week, a 3-judge panel of Pakistan's Supreme Court heard the appeal in Aasia Bibi's blasphemy case.  Bibi, a Christian, had been sentenced to death by lower courts. (See prior posting). After the hearing, the Supreme Court enjoined electronic and print media from discussing or commenting on the case until the Court's decision is handed down. Christian Post reported yesterday, however, that Supreme Court justices are receiving threats of death if they grant clemency to Bibi. The threats are coming from "hardline Muslim extremists affiliated with political parties like Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan."  TLPis threatening paralyzing nationwide sit-in protests if Bibi is freed. Leaders of Pakistan's Red Mosque movement have petitioned the court to place Bibi on a no-fly sit to prevent her from taking advantage of asylum in another country if she is freed.

Pakistan Court Orders Public Release of Report On Temporary Election Law Amendments That Favored Ahmadis

In Pakistan last year, a change in the election law that apparently would have permitted members of the Ahmadi sect to run for political office created major controversy until the legislature restored the oath that precludes anyone who does not believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad from being a candidate. (See prior posting.)  A 3-person committee headed by headed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chairman Raja Zafarul Haq was appointed to determine who was responsible for the pro-Ahmadi legislative change. The report was submitted by the government to the Islamabad High Court, but was not released publicly. As reported by Geo News, yesterday the Islamabad High Court, in a 172-page opinion, ordered the report made public. Pakistan Today reports more extensively on the High Court's opinion which concluded that every citizen has the right to know the religion of persons holding key governmental posts. The Court expressed concern that Ahmadis can disguise their beliefs to gain access to political posts reserved for Muslims.

Pakistan's Chief Justice Sets Up Offices To Receive Minority Group and Human Rights Complaints

UCA News yesterday reported that Pakistan's Chief Justice has set up two separate units in the Court's Lahore office, one to receive and deal with complaints by minorities (including religious minorities), and the other to similarly receive and deal with human rights complaints. Chief Justice Nisar ordered his staff to set up the new offices after his own security forces prevented him from talking with the mother of the victim of a police shoot out. Christian political groups in Pakistan praised the Chief Justice's action.

Pakistani Court Says Citizens Must Declare Religion For Identity Documents

Christian Times reports on a decision last week from the Islamabad High Court in Pakistan.  The court ruled that all citizens must declare their religion when they apply for identity documents.  Human rights advocates say this will increase pressure on the Ahmadis who under Pakistani law are not allowed to refer to themselves as Muslims.  A spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, however, said the requirement will help religious minorities secure the 5% quota in government jobs to which they are entitled.

Valentine's Day Remains Controversial In Some Conservative Muslim and Hindu Areas

Again this year, Valentine's Day is countering opposition from conservative religious leaders in some nations.  Voice of America reports that Pakistan's  Electronic Media Regulatory Authority sent instructions to radio and television stations based on a ruling last year by the Islamabad High Court that Valentine's Day is un-Islamic, spreading immorality, nudity and indecency.  PEMRA told its licensees:

Respondents are directed to ensure that nothing about the celebrations of Valentine's Day and its promotion is spread on the Electronic and Print media," PEMRA's directive stated. "No event shall be held on an official level and at any public place. PEMRA is directed to ensure that all the TV channels shall stop the promotion of Valentine's Day forthwith."

Meanwhile, the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi has also continued its ban of the celebration of Valentine's Day. (Jakarta Post). And in the Indian state of  Karnataka, Shri Ram Sena pro-Hindu activists have been burning Valentines in effigy, claiming Valentine's Day as anti-Hindu. (MeriNews). Arab News reports however that Valentine's Day has become one of the most celebrated events in Egypt.

Pakistani Court Sentences 31 In Lynching of Student Falsely Accused of Blashpemy

Agence France-Presse today reports that a court in Pakistan has sentenced one person to death, five others to life in prison and 25 to three years in prison in the lynching of a student who was falsely accused of blasphemy.  26 others were acquitted. According to the report:

Mashal Khan, 23, was stripped, beaten and shot by a gang made up mostly of students last April before being thrown from the second floor of his dormitory at Abdul Wali Khan University in the northwestern city of Mardan....

Around two thousand people gathered at the main entrance of Mardan city, Khan's hometown, showering the acquitted students with flowers, chanting slogans against the provincial government and demanding the release of those convicted.