Asma Jahangir: setting the record straight re: SCBA ‘resolution’

Posted on December 19, 2010 by beenasarwar

asma-lawAsma Jahangi has denied reports published in several papers today that the SCBA passed a ‘resolution’ condemning any efforts to discuss, debate or change the ‘blasphemy law’ (Lawyers to lawmakers: Supreme Court Bar wants no changes to blasphemy laws)

This is to deny that the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in its second executive committee meeting held on 18 December 2010 unanimously passed any resolution regarding either section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code itself or any case related to it. The facts are that a resolution to that effect was presented by a member of the executive committee but only apportion of it was passed unanimously, which paid reverence and commitment to honour and respect the name of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), while the rest of the resolution regarding 295 C, the case of Aasia Bibi and its consequences was deferred with consensus. The Supreme Court Bar Association regrets the attempt made by one of its executive members to mislead the press and the public. The SCBA is a responsible body and its resolutions will be fully debated before being passed especially unanimously.

From Asma Jahangir
Dated 19 December 2010

 

 

 

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Sherry Rehman’s Proposed Bill to amend Offences Relating to Religion

Posted on December 16, 2010 by beenasarwar

Please read advocate Asad Jamal’s article ‘Some called-for changes‘, published in The News on Sunday, Dec 12, 2010, commenting on Sherry Rehman’s bill seeking amendments to blasphemy laws Pakistan. Below, his summary of the proposed bill in tabular form making it easier to understand:

Proposed amendments to punishments under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)

Section Offence Existing punishment Proposed punishment
295-A Use of derogatory remarks, etc. in respect of holy personage— punishable with Imprisonment of either description up to ten years or with fine or with both Imprisonment of either description up to two years or with fine or with both
295-B Difiling of copy of Holy Quran Imprisonment for life Imprisonment of either description for 5 years or fine or both
295-C Use of derogatory remarks, etc. in respect of the Holy Prophet Death or life imprisonment[1] and fine Imprisonment of either description for 10 years, or with fine, or both

Proposed addition of words to blasphemy provisions in PPC. Continue reading →

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PPC provisions against those inciting violence, hatred, murder

Posted on December 13, 2010 by beenasarwar

The mindset promoted by the ‘blasphemy’ laws is again highlighted by the recent case of a doctor in Hyderabad arrested for ‘blasphemy’ because he threw the visiting card of a medical representative (Pfizer employee) named Mohammad Faizan into the dustbin.

I have been in correspondence with Asad Jamal, Advocate Lahore High Court, on possible action against those who make false accusations of blasphemy and incite to murder or violence — we were specifically discussing the Maulana who announced a reward of five lakh rupees for killing  Aasiya Noreen, the Christian woman sentenced by a lower court for blasphemy, whose case is going into appeal before the Lahore High Court. (Asad reminded me that in 1995, a similar ‘reward’ (it was then a million rupees, the value has obviously gone down for such murders, given that people are willing to commit them for free) had been offered for killing the minor Salamat Masih. The Lahore High Court acquitted Salamat and his two co-accused but Manzoor Masih, a co-accused in that case, was shot dead outside the court). He writes: Continue reading →

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ACT AGAINST WIKILEAKS CRACKDOWN – Avaaz.org

Posted on December 10, 2010 by beenasarwar

Courtesy: Avaaz.org

An appeal from Avaaz.org that I’m re-producing in full (followed by some links) because it’s not easy to find on their website, although the call to sign their campaign is on the front page:

Dear friends,

The massive campaign of intimidation against WikiLeaks is sending a chill through free press advocates everywhere.

Legal experts say WikiLeaks has likely broken no laws. Yet top US politicians have called it a terrorist group and commentators have urged assassination of its staff. The organization has come under massive government and corporate attack, but WikiLeaks is only publishing information provided by a whistleblower. And it has partnered with the world’s leading newspapers (NYT, Guardian, Spiegel etc) to carefully vet the information it publishes. >

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Brief update; my Secularism and ‘Blasphemy’ articles & others

Posted on December 9, 2010 by beenasarwar

Pix from Take Back the Tech at T2F. Courtesy: Newsline

I posted this to my yahoogroup today, along with a note from Avaaz on taking action against the Wikileaks crackdown (posting that separately)

Links to some of my recent articles, including about the ‘blasphemy law’ and secularism in Pakistan.

A brief update from me: I recently showed the film on DSF (Democratic Students Federation) that Sharjil and I made to a rapt audience in Islamabad at Kuch Khaas, the wonderful space set up by my old friend Poppy (Shayan Afzal Khan) – they hold film screenings, seminars, book launches; hold classes in dance, music etc (with a percentage of the admissions being reserved for underprivileged children who attend on scholarships).

My Mukhtiar Mai film was part of a couple of events held to commemorate 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. It was screened at the `No Honour in Killing‘ exhibition curated by Niilofur Farrukh now in Karachi at V.M. Art Gallery till Dec 20th (has been to other cities including Larkana and Jamshoro). It was also part of the Take Back the Tech event linked to 16 Days, at a discussion (Newsline report here) held at The Second Floor in Karachi.

Below, links to my recent articles & others on the ‘blasphemy laws’ and on secularism

BLASPHEMY in Pakistan: time to repeal a flawed law – my OpEd in Common Ground News Service

Also see the other articles on the blasphemy law in Pakistan that I compiled at this link

SECULARISM PAKISTAN: My article “Secularism – Not a dirty word‘ for The News on Sunday’s series on the issue. Shorter version for Hard News, India – my monthly column Personal Political ‘Deep down in our hearts…‘

Also see the other articles in that series, compiled at this link.

Thanks.

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Proposed amendments to the Blasphemy Laws

Posted on November 28, 2010 by beenasarwar

PPP Parliamentarian Sherry Rehman’s proposed AMENDMENTS TO THE BLASPHEMY LAWS ACT 2010 – posted by Marvi Sirmed at her blog

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Communist Party member Latifullah Khan murdered

Posted on November 28, 2010 by beenasarwar

PRESS RELEASE

Communist Party of Pakistan strongly condemns the audacious targeted killing of Comrade Latifullah Khan, member CPP in village Gandigar, District Dir, Pukhtoonkhwa province.

Since the start of Taliban and fanatics insurgency in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa (ex. NWFP) province, a planned holocaust of the enlightened and educated people is underway. The sheer oblivion of the state intentionally keeps this area backward in education and development of infrastructure, which has contributed to the rise in Islamic fanaticism and jingoism (once sponsored by the state of Pakistan through its international donors from Saudi Arabia and USA and allied countries).

The insurgency of Taliban in the region since last year has destroyed over 1,100 schools and educational institutions in the area; school teachers and school going children are mercilessly targeted and killed in a large number on a daily basis. Continue reading →

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Aasiya blasphemy case: Field notes, petitions and a press release

Posted on November 17, 2010 by beenasarwar

The death sentence that a district court handed down to Aasiya Bibi, a poor Christian woman in Punjab, is not the first of its kind except that this is the first time a woman has been so sentenced (but not the first time one has been so accused). Since the ‘blasphemy law’ was promulgated, there have been many such convictions – that the higher courts have always over-turned. District courts have also shown sense: I remember a woman district judge in Karachi acquitting Chand Barkat, a bangle seller who had been accused by a rival). However, vigilante violence (cold-bloodedly orchestrated by extremist organisations) has claimed the lives of some 20 charged under this law or publicly accused of this ‘crime’. Continue reading →

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Father, Son and the Holy War by Anand Patwardhan wins Sheffield Doc/Fest Audience award

Posted on November 16, 2010 by beenasarwar

SHEFFIELD DOC/FEST AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED

The results of the Sheffield Doc/Fest Audience Award were announced on Monday 8 November and we have two winners, following a tie! The Sheffield Doc/Fest Audience Award is a highly respected award, the winners of which are chosen by the delegates and public who attend the film screenings at Doc/Fest.

The winning films of the 2010 award are Father, Son and the Holy War by Anand Patwardhan and Scenes from a Teenage Killing by Morgan Matthews.

Doc/Fest’s Film Programmer Hussain Currimbhoy comments of the winning films: “Both films are about violence in society and their ties to masculinity so I can’t think of a more relevant set of films to be giving our prize to at this particular moment in time.”

When the directors were informed and were delighted. Anand Patwardhan (Father, Son and Holy War) said of result: “Just heard this fantastic news! Never imagined that people would even bother to vote for an old film from the retro section, let alone vote the way they have. A big thank you to the good people of Sheffield and all the new and old friends of the festival. onwards and into the summer…!” Continue reading →

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Zekiye Eglar’s Punjabi Village in Pakistan (with my intro, epilogue & bio)

Posted on November 12, 2010 by beenasarwar

Thrilled to receive my copy of  A Punjabi Village in Pakistan – Perspectives on Community, Land, and Economy by Zekiye Eglar, for which I wrote the Introduction, Conclusion, and Bio-note about Eglar, a Russian-Turkish anthropologist, protegee of Margaret Mead at Columbia University. Eglar provides a fascinating account of village life in Punjab, Pakistan, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when she lived in Mohla, a village not far from Gujranwala.

The OUP publication has compiled her out-of-print award-winning book (A Punjabi Village in Pakistan, Columbia University Press 1960) and its until-now unpublished sequel, (The Economic Life of a Punjabi Village), from a manuscript that Eglar’s friend and protege Fazal Chowdhry brought to the attention of Mary Catherine Bateson (prominent anthropologist, Mead’s daughter).

(I worked on the project for two years under Mary Catherine Bateson’s supervision, recommended to her by our mutual friend, the Iranian anthropologist Shahla Haeri).

From the OUP website: “This volume contains relevant insights into Pakistani society, particularly women, which are still pertinent today, as well as a more holistic and humanistic view of village life in South Asia. Eglar’s study is useful for precisely what she focused on—the patterns of ritual service and gift exchange which underlay every facet of life in a village.”

Hardback 473 pages ISBN: 9780195477238 Price: PKRs.1,295.00

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