“We know your concerns. We respect every religion and the desecration of minorities’ places of worship is a crime.”
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Hasnaat Malik | May 14, 2014
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani said on Tuesday that according to Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code, offence against any religion comes under the blasphemy laws.
While heading a three-judge bench in the suo motu case of Peshawar church bombing and the rights of minority communities, the chief justice affirmed that the top court will ensure protection of minorities’ rights as it would set guidelines to enforce them and also ask the government to set up a ‘special force’ for the security of minorities.
For the preparation of guidelines on the enforcement of minorities’ rights, Justice Jillani appointed a three-judge bench, headed by himself and comprising Justice Azmat Saeed Shaikh and Justice Mushir Alam. He also appointed Munir A Malik, Khawaja Haris and Hassan Aurangzeb as amicus curiae to assist in the case.
He asked the representatives of minorities to submit a report on abusive material that has been used and identify areas where law-enforcement agencies failed to secure their life and property. “We know your concerns. We respect every religion and the desecration of minorities’ places of worship is a crime,” he said.
Apart from the Objectives Resolution of 1949, Articles 20 and 22 of the Constitution also guarantee the protection of minorities’ rights but unfortunately, these constitutional provisions have not been enforced in the country, he remarked. “We’ve collected a lot of material, wherein it is highlighted how these constitutional provisions have been violated and what are the issues the apex court needs to address,” Justice Jillani added.
He described the Liaquat–Nehru Pact – signed in 1950 that allowed the safe return of refugees and protected minorities – as a good agreement that later on increased animosity between Pakistan and India. He regretted that minorities’ rights have not been protected in either country.
The bench sought a report from the Sindh police chief regarding the six recent incidents related to the desecration of Hindu temples and their holy books. It also directed the Punjab advocate general to submit a reply on a Christian community complaint about the non-registration of their marriages.
During the hearing, MNA Ramesh Kumar, a representative of the Hindu community in Sindh, told the bench that six incidents have taken place wherein their places of worship or religious material were desecrated. The police did not take any action against the accused, he added.
The Sindh additional advocate general, however, claimed that FIRs were registered in all such incidents. Upon this, the bench asked whether FIRs were registered specifically against the desecration of minorities’ places of worship. “There is no specific law for such issues,” he said.
The bench asked him to read Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code, wherein it is mentioned that the desecration of minorities’ places of worship is a criminal offence.
Meanwhile, the court asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa advocate general to file reply about the incident wherein a Hindu temple was set ablaze in Karak district.
The hearing was adjourned until the first week of June.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2014.
Read original post here: Offence against any religion is blasphemy, says Justice Jillani
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
Finally someone spoke for minorities, three chairs for Justice Jailani! Does this mean, that all those who brought baseless accusations to bring the minorities down will be finally punished. I hope so. I also pray that Justice Jailani is protected by Almighty Allah
ReplyDeletefrom those who bring down anyone who tries to be fair and tries to secure the lives of the minorities. I might add that , no where in the Quran is mentioned a punishment for blasphamy, but any one who commits atrocities against anyone for believing in his or her faith is wrong , and in a Muslim government should be punished.