Now British Islamist Fatwa against Malala & Pak HC dismisses FIR against Rimsha

British Islamists to issue fatwa against shot Pakistani girl Malala

Pakistan, November 20, 2012: A new British-based Islamist group plans to meet in Islamabad to issue a religious decree against a Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban, accusing her of supporting “occupying” U.S. forces. The move against Malala Yousufzai, 15, is likely to provoke outrage. In the days following her shooting in October, she became an international icon and world leaders pledged to support her campaign for girls’ education.

“There will be a fatwa issued regarding Malala Yousufzai taking into account the full story of her injury including her public statements in support of the occupying U.S. army in the region and mocking of key symbols of Islam such as hijab and jihad,” said Abu Baraa, a senior member of Shariah4Pakistan.

The group, whose website features a blog below a photograph of Yousufzai in a hospital bed titled “Don’t Believe The Crocodile Tears for Malala Yousufzai”, is associated with some of Britain’s most hardline Islamists.

Anjem Choudary, a prominent radical cleric in Britain, said the fatwa could be issued on November 30 at Lal Masjid, one of Pakistan’s most notorious mosques, where a 2007 army raid crushed a Taliban-style movement controlling the compound.

The mosque’s deputy head, Maulana Amir Siddique, denied the group would hold such a conference but organisers insisted they did not need permission to gather in a public place of worship.

Yousufzai is recovering in a British hospital.

Neither Baraa nor Choudary would say what punishment Yousufzai might face if the group found her guilty of violating Islam.

“Nobody is saying we are going to get out our swords and go and look for Malala. The point is a wider issue: It is about the American and Pakistani involvement in maintaining the British and American interests.” Choudary told Reuters.

“Malala is one of the issues we are going to be addressing because she is being used as a propaganda tool by the enemies of Muslims to say: ‘Look, Muslims don’t believe in education’ which is absurd.”

Tens of thousands of Britons have called on the government to nominate Yousufzai for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting girls’ education.

Her shooting was the culmination of years of campaigning that had pitted the young girl against one of Pakistan’s most ruthless Taliban commanders, Maulana Fazlullah.

Fazlullah and his men had taken over Yusufzai’s native Swat Valley and have blown up girls’ schools and publicly executed those they deem immoral. An army offensive in Swat forced many Taliban fighters to flee.

– reuters

Pakistani Christians happy about Rimsha Masih verdict, Islamists talk about “manipulation”

For the bishop of Islamabad, the ruling is a “great development.” Now a law to end blasphemy abuses is needed. A Lahore priest sees the decision as a legal milestone. Islamists however are angered, blaming the government for putting pressures on the court.

Pakistan, November 20, 2012: Most Pakistanis have welcomed the court’s decision to drop charges against Rimsha Masih. Christian and Muslims have praised the court for its decision, a “great development” according to Islamabad Bishop Mgr Rufin Anthony. However, Islamist extremists cannot hide their anger at the ruling, and accuse the government of putting pressures on the court to get the sentence it wanted.

The Islamabad High Court today, citing a lack of evidence, threw out all charges against Rimsha Masih, the 14-year-old Catholic girl accused of breaking the ‘black law’. The case against Khalid Jadoon Chishti, the imam who falsely accused the girl in order to provoke the expulsion of Christians to seize their goods, homes and assets, was not however dismissed.

When it broke out, the case caused worldwide outcry, given the girl’s young age and the clear proof that it was based on manipulation and false testimony.

A “great development,” Mgr Rufin Anthony told AsiaNew. With this decision, “We saw the court take a clear stand” despite “huge pressures” from extremist groups.

For the bishop of Islamabad, new, clearer legislation is needed to put a stop to the abuses committed in the name of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. “Minorities have been targeted for far long enough,” he explained.

“This is indeed a bold decision,” said Fr John Mall, from the Diocese of Lahore (Punjab). In this case, “justice has prevailed.”

Now, the clergyman hopes the authorities will do something about the other cases still pending, “especially in central Punjab,” where minorities suffer under the joke of discrimination.

Fr James John, from the Diocese of Multan, also hopes to see some changes. “There is a long list of innocent people in jail for blasphemy. They too must be saved. Rimsha has become the symbol of change for Pakistan’s minorities.”

Not everyone in Pakistan has welcomed the court’s decision, especially among extremist groups. Unlike past cases, they are now the ones complaining about undue pressures on the courts.

For example, Maulana Mehfooz Khan, from the Islamic Ideology Council, claims that the “judiciary was pressurised in this decision.” In his view, a heavy-handed “government machinery” has had “an effect on witnesses,” whose statements were manipulated.

“We have our reservations regarding the decision” he said. “Although we are against the misuse of the blasphemy law, it is unacceptable for the judiciary to be threatened when it has to decide.”

Khan’s statement is strange to say the least given the fact that until now protests by Muslim fundamentalists have led to arbitrary arrests, summary convictions and extrajudicial murders, all in the name of the ‘black law’.

One case to illustrate this involves Asia Bibi, a 46-year-old mother of five. Still on death row three years after her sentence, she is still waiting for the court to hear her appeal because of pressures from extremists who want her dead.

Then there is impunity against prosecution. Many people who took the law in their own hands, individually or in a group, are still at large despite having killed or destroyed property (like in Koriyan and Gojra, in 2009), or stolen assets and properties, all in the name of the blasphemy law, and this owing to the silence, if not the complicity of police and courts.

– asianews

Paul Bhatti: the acquittal of Rimsha Masih, an important “precedent” in blasphemy cases

The Catholic minister speaks of “double satisfaction”: the verdict states that the law cannot be used “for personal use” and whoever calumniates “will suffer a similar trial.” The congratulations and satisfaction of Christian leaders and Muslim personalities. The case will be used to revise not the law, but its interpretation. “I’m optimistic”, he says, “the society is changing.”

Pakistan, November 20, 2012: The verdict of acquittal for Rimsha Masih, the Catholic minor with mental problems, indicted for blasphemy, is cause for “double satisfaction”. First, the event constitutes “an important precedent” whereby the law “cannot be used for personal purposes.” In addition, those who “unjustly” accuse other people “themselves risk a trial and penalties” under the Pakistan Penal Code. This is what the Catholic Paul Bhatti told AsiaNews; Bhatti is the Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for National Harmony, and does not hide his satisfaction at the positive outcome of the event involving the girl. However, in this moment of joy for the religious minority, he does not spare criticism of those (including Christians) who exploit blasphemy cases for personal gain, to raise money and funding especially abroad.

Today the High Court in Islamabad – after several updates and suspensions of the sessions – finally acquitted the 14 year old Catholic Rimsha Masih (see AsiaNews 11/20/12 Islamabad: the charge of blasphemy dismissed for Rimsha Masih, a disabled Christian girl) of the charge of violating the “black law”, archiving the case because the crime never occurred. Instead, the proceedings against Imam Khalid Jadoon Chishti continue; Chishti slandered the minor in order to obtain the expulsion of the Christian community and to seize their goods and property. The story had prompted international concern due to the girl’s young age and the manipulation of blasphemy charges.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Paul Bhatti, brother of the Minister for Minorities Shahbaz, massacred by Islamic fundamentalists with 30 gunshots in March 2011 for having defended Asia Bibi, another Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, does not hide his “happiness and joy”. “It is not a victory”, the special adviser for National Harmony immediately explained, “it is just one element of justice that carries a great message: those who use the law for personal purposes have been defeated; and to this there is added the certainty that those who make false charges are likely to suffer the same fate and be tried.”

The Catholic politician and ranking minister explained that he had handled the affair “in order to control protests or demonstrations by Christians,” as opposed to what had occurred several times in the past; the street demonstrations “exacerbated the minds of Muslims, making things worse”. In this case, he underlined, “I asked for further investigations, avoiding public protests” and with the cooperation of government and police forces, “we got a satisfactory result.” At the same time, he wished to dedicate this first verdict to his brother Shahbaz Bhatti: “I followed his method”, said Paul, “and his experience”, which are proving to be fundamental in daily work.

He also tells of the messages of congratulation “from many Christian personalities,” along with phone calls and shows of appreciation and congratulations “from just as many Muslims.” “They, too”, the minister confirmed, “sought to express joy and closeness to the acquittal of Rimsha Masih” who is now in a safe place, along with the rest of her family. The story, Bhatti concluded, will not lead to a “revision” of the law, but constitutes a “precedent” to improve the “interpretation” of cases and events of blasphemy. A group of imams, ulema and Muslim religious leaders have confirmed that they have established a working group, called to introduce those adjustments that will prevent abuses. I am optimistic: Pakistani society is changing; peace and stability in Pakistan are fundamental also for the rest of the world.”(DS)

– asianews