Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan unequivocally declared that its investigators found “no evidence of blasphemy” in the young Christian couple. On the contrary, the Commission pointed out, “It appears that the murdered man, Shahzad, had a dispute over wages, or recovery of advance that the kiln owner had extended to two families of Muslim laborers who had escaped. The kiln owners had asked Shahzad to repay the amount extended to the escaped families because he had introduced them to the owners."
While the blasphemy laws provide for the death sentence even for unintentional acts of blasphemy, Father Channan pointed out that trials are often vitiated by the intimidating atmosphere in the court.
Though hundreds of blasphemy cases have been registered and dozens of the accused have been killed in mob violence, Father Channannoted that “not a single blasphemy conviction has been upheld by the Supreme Court."
In fact, the urgent need to amend the draconian provisions of the blasphemy laws, which mandate arbitrary arrest and detention of the accused even on trumped-up charges, was raised in unison by religious leaders of different communities at a seminar-cum-news conference in Lahore on Nov. 14.
Leaders of Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Christian communities that took part in the meeting urged the government “to revisit and improve the blasphemy law.”
“We are just voicing the demand to put in place a ‘safety valve’ to prevent misuse of relevant provisions of the procedural law,” Javaid William, secretary of the Catholic Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and Ecumenism, said at the concluding news conference.
He also suggested that blasphemy cases should only be tried in high courts, while the complainant must be penalized if his or her accusation proves to be false and malicious. The accused and the related family should be given adequate protection and security during the trial.
Along with the Catholic group, the program was attended by leaders of Pakistan Ulema and Mushaikh Council, Asia chapter of the United Religions Initiative, Hindu SudharSabha and Hindu-Sikh Youth Forum.
The Society for Secular Pakistan in its statement also highlighted that the Oct. 16 judgment upholding the death sentence of AasiyaBibi has “created an environment in which tolerance and civility are victims.”
“We appeal to all democratic forces to protest against these (blasphemy) killings and build public opinion against bigoted laws,” urged Syed Haroon Ahmed, a Muslim and president of the Society for Secular Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Peter Jacob, former executive secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church and presently a freelance journalist, in a hard-hitting article titled "Impunity for Hatred" in "The News" on Nov. 13 illustrated how the blasphemy law has been abused.
Quoting the data compiled by an action network, Awaz-e-HaqItehad, Jacob noted that 1,438 persons had been accused of blasphemy between 1987 and October 2014. Of this, he said, religious minorities who comprise less than “four percent of Pakistan’s (182 million) population, account for about 50 percent of those accused of blasphemy (Ahmadis 501, Christians 182, Hindus 26 – the religion of 10 victims could not be ascertained).”
“Among the 60 persons who were killed in connection with blasphemy allegations since 1990, 32 were religious minorities and 28 Muslims,” Jacob noted. Worse still, he said, "20 of them were either attacked in police custody or killed by policemen, while 19 were killed in mob attacks.”
“Democratic countries have expanded the scope of religious and other freedoms for citizens to create a level playing ground for minority religions and sects,” lamented Jacob, "whereas freedom in our case means impunity for perpetrators of hatred and violence."
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http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/article/pressure-mounts-on-pakistan-to-curb-muslim-hate-speech-5871403928649728?