If the article 62 and 63 of 1973 Constitution of Pakistan is implemented in letter and spirit then - Jinnah Ka Mazar, Iqbal Ka Mazar, Deobandiyat, Barelviyat, Shiyat, Ahmediyat and Qadianiat sub ka Sub Danday Par Charh Jaigi (means everybody would either be in jail or facing the death sentence for apostasy for the blasphemy and disbelief in their respective books) ISLAMABAD The Pakistan Muslim League-N has rejected criticism of its leader Nawaz Sharif`s remarks about Ahmadis` rights following the suicide bombings on two mosques in Lahore last month. Mr Sharif upset religious and political circles last week after he said that “Ahmadi brothers and sisters are an asset” of the country. The former prime minister said Ahmadis were citizens of Pakistan. Mr Sharif may have succeeded in pacifying leaders of the Ahmadi community and other minorities who have been criticising the Punjab government for its failure to provide them protection, but this provided an opportunity to his opponents to launch a campaign against him and his party. PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal told Dawn that the criticism was “just an act of exploitation”. “Nawaz Sharif said what the Quaid-i-Azam had already stated that all Pakistanis were brothers irrespective of their religion, language or caste,” he added. Mr Sharif`s comments drew criticism from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Jamaat-i-Islami, Wafaqul Madaris, Jamiat Ahl-i-Sunnat and Al-Hadith, Jamia Banuria and Khatm-i-Nabuwat Movement, Ulema and PML-Q. In a statement, leaders of Wafaqul Madaris, an umbrella organisation of over 20,000 Madressahs, urged Mr Sharif to retract his statement and advised him not to “defy religion for petty political gains”. JUI-F leaders termed the statement a “violation of the Constitution” as it had declared Ahmadis a minority community. “The PML-N chief should seek forgiveness from Muslims all over the world,” they said. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the PML-Q leader, said Nawaz Sharif had issued the statement to “protect his properties in the UK”. The participants of a recent Ulema seminar condemned Mr Sharif`s remarks and termed it an attempt to appease the US. Some religious leaders have even threatened to launch a campaign against the PML-N if Mr Sharif does not withdraw his statement. Ahsan Iqbal criticised all those who were giving `religious colour` to a statement which, according to him, had been issued in the `national perspective`. He said Mr Sharif had merely emphasised that every Pakistani citizen was entitled to equal respect and rights. Mr Iqbal was of the opinion that it was wrong to see the remarks in the religious context. He accused Pervaiz Elahi of exploiting the issue for political gains.
Asma Jahangir on Drone Attacks - After the first targeted assassination by drone killed six al-Qaeda suspects in November 2002 in Yemen, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, Asma Jahangir, demanded some answers and indicated this probably violated international law. Jahangir wrote: The Special Rapporteur is extremely concerned that should the information received be accurate, an alarming precedent might have been set for extrajudicial execution by consent of Government. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that Governments have a responsibility to protect their citizens against the excesses of non-State actors or other authorities, but these actions must be taken in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law. In the opinion of the Special Rapporteur, the attack in Yemen constitutes a clear case of extrajudicial killing.
NEW DELHI, Feb 4 A UN report has slammed the pervasive climate of fear and intolerance perpetuated by religious mobs in many parts of India, and asked the government to provide effective protection to the minorities of whom Christians and Muslims in particular were vulnerable, often helpless and increasingly ghettoised. “Even though a comprehensive legal framework to protect freedom of religion or belief does exist, many of (the) interlocutors, especially from religious minorities, remain dissatisfied with its implementation,” a report on India by Ms Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, said. A copy of the UN document was made available to Dawn on Wednesday. “Organised groups claiming roots in religious ideologies have unleashed an all-pervasive fear of mob violence in many parts of the country,” Ms Jahangir said. “Law enforcement machinery is often reluctant to take any action against individuals or groups that perpetrate violence in the name of religion or belief. This institutionalised impunity for those who exploit religion and impose their religious intolerance on others has made peaceful citizens, particularly the minorities, vulnerable and fearful.” She encouraged specific legislation to prevent communal violence but cautioned that it should take into account the concerns of religious minorities so as not to reinforce “impunity of communalised police forces at the state level”.
Religious conversion
The laws and bills on religious conversion in several Indian states should be reconsidered since they raise serious human rights concerns, the report said. It focussed on religious discrimination applied in the way affirmative action was offered to the lowest castes. “The eligibility for affirmative action benefits should be restored to those members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes who have converted to another religion,” the report recommended. Christian and Muslim Dalits are denied benefits of affirmative action given to Hindu Dalits. Ms Jahangir travelled in March last year to Amritsar, Delhi, Jammu, Srinagar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar and Lucknow where she met representatives of various religious or belief communities, including Baha`is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Humanists, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs and Zoroastrians. “The Special Rapporteur was impressed by the vigour with which many members of civil society organisations and artists, particularly by those affiliated with the film industry, are challenging discrimination based on religion or belief and are proposing concrete means how to overcome religious intolerance,” the report said. Ms Jahangir condemned the killing of Christians and the widespread destruction of their churches in Orissa. “By the end of September 2008, more than 40 people had allegedly been killed in Orissa, over 4,000 Christian homes destroyed and around 50 churches demolished. Around 20,000 people were living in relief camps and more than 40,000 people hiding in forests and others places. The Special Rapporteur was profoundly alarmed by the humanitarian situation in relief camps where access to food, safe drinking water, medical care, proper sanitary arrangements and adequate clothing were reportedly lacking. Many Muslims were disturbed that terrorism was associated with their religion despite various public statements from Muslim leadership denouncing terrorism. “There have been complaints about a continuing bias among security forces against Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir who also seem to face difficulties with regard to the issuance of passports and security clearances for employment purposes,” the report pointed out.
Cross-border terror
However, a large number of her interlocutors, including Muslims, expressed concerns about continued radicalisation and cross-border terrorism. They lamented that the radicalisation of certain Muslims had an adverse impact on the entire community because communal relations hardened after every act of terrorism carried out by a militant group of Muslims. She expressed serious concern at the extended timeframe of investigations in cases involving communal riots, violence and massacres such as those which occurred after “Operation Blue Star” in 1984, after the destruction of Babri Masjid in 1992 and after the Godhra train burning incident in 2002. “All of these incidents continue to haunt the people affected by them and the system of impunity emboldens forces of intolerance.” Of the Gujarat violence in 2002, she said, there were credible reports that inaction by the authorities was evident. Most of the Special Rapporteur`s interlocutors, including politicians, alleged complicity by the state government. While discussing the events with victims, the Special Rapporteur could see their continuing fear which was exacerbated by the distress that justice continues to evade most victims and survivors. A large number of criminal cases relating to the communal violence in 2002 remain un-investigated or have been closed by the Gujarat police and the plight of those internally displaced from their home continues. “In addition, there is increasing ghettoisation and isolation of Muslims in certain areas of Gujarat, for example in one part of Ahmedabad which is colloquially called `little Pakistan`. The assertion of the state government that development by itself will heal the wounds does not seem to be realistic.” According to the norm, the report was given to the Indian government, which has not commented on its findings
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