Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

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   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

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   The defence of a Christian view never seems to be settled by debate: exchange of facts, reference to historical events.…

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   Religion can survive only on the most unquestionable assumptions. The statements made on Sundays on the BBC as if they…

DESPITE opposition voiced by Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada, above, the Senate this month passed a bill to raise levels of punishment meted out to anyone found guilty of insulting anyone closely connected to the “prophet” Mohammed.

As things stand the punishment for those who make “derogatory” remarks about Mo’s family, wives and companions is three years behind bars. If signed into law by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, this will be raised to “imprisonment for life which shall not be less than 10 years”.

Back in February, Pirzada Sharif asked the PM to undo proposed amendments to Section 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The existing law states;

Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of any wife (ummul mumineen), or members of the family (ahl-i-bait) of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), or any of the righteous caliphs (khulafa-i-rashideen) or companions (sahaaba) of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Six months later, the bill was passed by the Senate after Senator Hafiz Abdul Karim presented it. The lawmaker who tabled the bill was Senator Mushtaq Ahmad, who maintained that acts of blasphemy were being witnessed on social media.

He claimed that the current law was somewhat “ineffective” and the bill aimed to fine-tune it to make it more effective.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Pakistan already punishes those who defile or insult the Koran with life imprisonment. Those who defile the name of Mohammed or other Muslim prophets are punished with death. The Muslim prophets include Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and other biblical figures.

Image via YouTube

Paul Marshall, above, head of the South and Southeast Asian Action Team at the Religious Freedom Institute, told CNA:

Pakistani governments usually turn to the blasphemy laws when there is a political crisis, and to deflect attention from the country’s continuing economic and social woes. The current push to strengthen the laws continues this trend.

He added:

While half the victims are Muslim, the blasphemy laws disproportionately victimize religious minorities, and repeated studies have shown that they are used as a means of intimidation or score-settling in private disputes. The proposed increase in such laws will increase the climate of religious fear that already grips minorities.

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