14 yrs old Rimsha Masih of Pakistan blasphemy case

14 yrs old Rimsha Masih of Pakistan blasphemy case

Introduction

Pakistan's many blasphemy cases obviously represent an abuse of both religion and the law. Theblasphemy law under which Rimsha has been arrested dates back to colonial times, but it was given teeth in the 1980s by the dictator of the day, General Zia ul Haq, who promoted Islamism. Over 1,000 blasphemy cases have since been brought, many on the flimsiest of evidence. When they do not drag on for years, they lead to convictions on hearsay. Dozens of accused have been murdered, in or out of jail. Most blasphemy cases turn out to be about something else, often settling personal scores or grabbing property(Boone, 2012).

TO JUDGE solely by its high number of blasphemy cases, Pakistan seems to be a nation of wanton profanity where the Koran is routinely desecrated and the prophet Muhammad insulted. Yet given that the crime ofblasphemy is punishable by death, that 97% of Pakistanis are Muslim, and that the remainder are an intimidated and largely impoverished sliver, then the country's many blasphemy cases more obviously represent an abuse of both religion and the law.

The case of Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl, underlines that interpretation. On August 16th she was arrested in her slum on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, and charged with blasphemy after a neighbour and a local cleric claimed that she had burned pages of the Koran. A 500-strong mob swiftly gathered outside her family's one-room home, causing the whole Christian community of the area to flee in terror of reprisals.

Rimsha's parents, now in protective custody, say that she is just 11 and has Down's syndrome. A medical report submitted to an Islamabad court says that she is about 14, seems uneducated, and has a mental age "below her chronological age". Whether 11 or 14, she is a juvenile under the law, yet she has been held in solitary confinement at an adult maximum-security jail--an experience that her lawyer says has traumatised her. The court has repeatedly refused to give her bail after frivolous objections raised by the lawyer for the accusing neighbour(Chowdhr, 2012).

The blasphemy law under which Rimsha has been arrested dates back to colonial times, but it was given teeth in the 1980s by the dictator of the day, General Zia ul Haq, who promoted Islamism. Over 1,000blasphemy cases have since been brought, many on the flimsiest of evidence. When they do not drag on for years, they lead to convictions on hearsay. Dozens of accused have been murdered, in or out of jail. In July a mentally disturbed Muslim man, arrested for blasphemy in the Punjab city of Bahawalpur, was dragged out of the police station by a crowd of 2,000 and set on fire. In 2009 accusations of blasphemy led a mob to attack Christians in Gojra in Punjab province. At least eight were burned to death. Most blasphemy cases turn out to be about something else, often settling personal scores or grabbing property. In Rimsha's case, the aim seems to have been to drive several hundred Christian families from the area for good.

Yet her case offers a chink of light. This time neighbours neither killed the girl nor burned ...