Pakistan: 23 unreported ‘blasphemy’ cases in 2 years

Pakistan: 23 unreported ‘blasphemy’ cases in 2 years
Since 2013, the All Pakistan Ulema Council (APUC) has intervened in 23 incidents involving Christians accused of blasphemy, preventing them from becoming major incidents, according to Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, the APUC Chairman. (The APUC, a representative group of senior Muslim clerics, is very influential in Pakistani public life.) It . . . Read More

Fixing Pakistan’s ‘broken’ blasphemy laws

Al-Jazeera at Pakistan’s volatile religious politics through the eyes of two Muslims trying to reform the country’s notorious anti-blasphemy laws. Attorney Saif-ul-Malook, for whom Aasiya Noreen (also known as Asia Bibi) is the latest of several clients he has defended against charges of offending Islam, lives in daily fear of an . . . Read More

A renewed debate over blasphemy laws

A renewed debate over blasphemy laws
Memorials for the victims of the bomb attacks at All Saints Church in Peshawar.Kamran Chaudhry for World Watch Monitor   The Sept. 22 suicide bombings of a church in Pakistan have re-ignited political debate on the country’s  controversial blasphemy laws. Only three days before the incident, the Council for Islamic . . . Read More

Pakistan’s Christian leaders demand security after bombings

Pakistan’s Christian leaders demand security after bombings
Protesters took to the streets in cities across Pakistan following the church bombings.World Watch Monitor   Anguish and anger has erupted across Pakistan since Sunday after two suicide bombers killed dozens of people as they were leaving church services. The bomb attacks took place at 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 22 . . . Read More

Case against Rimsha’s dramatic turn prompts Pakistan religious leaders to debate blasphemy law

Case against Rimsha’s dramatic turn prompts Pakistan religious leaders to debate blasphemy law
An unexpected twist in the Rimsha Masih blasphemy case appears to have paved the way for her freedom from apparently false charges of desecrating the Quran. The imam who supported her accuser was himself arrested and appeared in court on the same charge as the girl, that of desecrating the . . . Read More