Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – For some time, the Catholic Church in Pakistan has been calling attention to the abuse and exploitation of the blasphemy law. Another case, which occurred in recent days in the District of Gujranwala (in Punjab), confirmed this practice. A Christian woman, Gulzar Kanwal, age 34, who owns a cosmetics shop in the village of Wandu, was accused of blasphemy by a group of Muslims have insulted, threatened, and attempted to strike her.
The Muslims, themselves shop owners in the area, were jealous for the commercial success of the shop the woman, whom they had asked several times in the past to sell the premises and dispose of the business. Upon her refusal, and to eliminate an uncomfortable competitor, they mounted a false accusation of blasphemy and staged a dramatic protest in front of her shop March 1.
The police, alerted by other Christians, arrived on the spot and prevented the situation from degenerating. Kanwal, however, was detained for several hours by officers, who verified her innocence and saw she had been the victim of unfounded accusations. They then released her. The woman is now uncertain whether to reopen her shop after the threats.
"This is not the first case of this kind. The law is constantly abused in order to attack Christians in ordinary disputes. Now the Christian communities in the district have to be very careful, because there may be reactions from radical Muslims, who often look for excuses to provoke violence," warned a Catholic source in Pakistan.
The incident is a reminder of the status and discrimination suffered by non-Muslim religious minorities in Pakistan, and that is often ignored among political and civil authorities. Recently, Farooq Hamid Naek, Chairman of the Federal Senate and former Minister of Justice, said that "Minorities in Pakistan enjoy full civil rights and equal opportunity."
As local sources of Fides say, the Christian community in the country has challenged this assertion, pointing out that "20 million non-Muslim Pakistanis feel they are second-rate citizens." Then there are the articles of the Constitution and the Penal Code (the "blasphemy law") that are distinctly Islamic in their formulation, the overt discrimination in government or in the electoral roll, cases of violence such as that of the young Shazia, or unpunished attacks against Christians (incidents in Gojra in 2009) or against Sikhs and Hindus...all of which "indisputably confirm the difficult condition and the apparent exclusion of religious minorities in Pakistan." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 5/3/2010)
