South Asia Terrorism Portal
Blasphemy as Pretext Sanchita Bhattacharya Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On September 8, 2020, a Sessions Court in Lahore, Punjab, sentenced a Christian man, Asif Pervaiz, to death, after convicting him of sending text messages containing “blasphemous content”. The court order issued by Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi said Pervaiz would first serve a three-year prison term for “misusing” his phone to send the derogatory text message. Then “he shall be hanged by his neck till his death.” He was also fined PKR 50,000. Asif Pervaiz has been in custody since 2013, fighting blasphemy charges that were levelled against him by the supervisor of the garment factory he once worked at. The supervisor had accused him of sending derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad to him in a text message. Following the sentence, Asif’s lawyer, Siaf-ul-Malook, however, stated, "He [Asif] denied the allegations and said that this man was trying to get him to convert to Islam."
On August 23, 2020, several individuals lodged separate complaints for “blasphemy” against journalist and human rights activist, Marvi Sirmed in different parts of the country, including Lahore (in Police Stations of Ravi Road, Faisal Town and Garden Town) and Jhang (Kotwali Police Station) in Punjab Province; Karachi, in Sindh Province; and Islamabad with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). According to the information received, on August 22, 2020, Sirmed allegedly posted a satirical Tweet from her personal account, referring to the many enforced disappearances of human rights defenders and government critics in Balochistan Province, Pakistan.
On August 13, 2020, Police filed a case against actor Saba Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), pertaining to blasphemy, for shooting a music video inside Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore of Punjab Province. The case was registered at the Akbari Police Station of Lahore on the complaint of advocate Farhat Manzoor. Manzoor filed the complaint following the release of a clip of the video on August 8. Both Qamar and Saeed have published statements apologizing on their respective social media accounts.
On June 10, 2020, Sajjad Soomro, Assistant Professor of Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh, was arrested by Police under blasphemy charges from his house in Ali Murad Mohalla, Khairpur city. He was arrested on a complaint by Ghulam Nabi, a Police officer who accused him of having spoken against Islam and against religious seminaries in the country.
According to varying media reports, at present there are more than 4,000 cases pertaining to blasphemy registered across Pakistan, since 1986. As reported on September 2, 2020, at least 42 cases pertaining to blasphemy were registered across Pakistan in the month of August 2020 alone. Most of those facing blasphemy allegations are members of religious minorities.
Individuals who are prosecuted for blasphemy are routinely denied fair trial guarantees: blasphemy-related proceedings are excessively protracted; prior to trial accused persons are commonly denied bail and are held in custody for extended periods of time awaiting trial; and while detained, they are often held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods.
More worryingly, individuals accused of blasphemy continue to be vulnerable even after formally coming within the ambit of the criminal justice system, and are in constant danger of being attacked and killed by religious fanatics and terrorists. Unfortunately, as reported on December 24, 2019, there have been 75 such extrajudicial executions in Pakistan, since 1986.
Most recently, on July 29, 2020, Tahir Naseem, a US citizen and an Ahmadi, accused of blasphemy, was shot dead inside a District Court in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the presence of security and the presiding judge. A video of the attacker, identified as Faisal Khan, in handcuffs, shouting angrily that his victim as an "enemy of Islam" was available in various social media platforms. Faisal Khan was taken into custody on the spot. Regrettably, a rally was organised in his favour in Peshawar on July 31. Thousands of Pakistanis rallied to show their support for Faisal. Those who rallied, carried signs praising Khan for the killing, calling for his immediate release from jail and saying he killed Naseem because the government was too slow in sentencing blasphemers to death. Though Pakistan is one of 13 countries where blasphemy is punishable by death, no one has been hanged so far.
Mashal Khan, a student, was lynched and killed by his own hostel mates at Abdul Wali Khan University in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in broad daylight on April 13, 2017, after being accused of blasphemy.
Renowned qawwal (Sufi singer) Amjad Sabri (45) was killed in a targeted killing incident in the Liaquatabad Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, on June 22, 2016. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-Hakimullah Mehsud faction ‘spokesperson’ Qari Saifullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the attack. In 2014, the Islamabad High Court had issued a notice in a blasphemy case against Amjad Sabri along with two TV channels for the playing of a qawwali during a morning show. The traditional qawwali sung by Amjad Sabri had mentioned religious figures, which was deemed offensive.
Salman Taseer (the then Governor of Punjab Province) and Shahbaz Bhatti (the then Federal Minister of Minority Affairs) were brutally murdered in 2011 for questioning violence linked to allegations of blasphemy. Taseer was killed on January 4, 2011, by one of his own body guards, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who had reportedly been incensed by the Governor’s efforts to secure marginal amendments to the Blasphemy Law, as also his advocacy of Asia Bibi. Bhatti was killed on March 2, 2011, by unidentified militants, who fired 30 bullets at him and managed to escape. Pamphlets from two self-styled TTP factions, Fidayeen-e-Muhammad and al Qaeda Punjab Chapter, were found at the incident site, which declared, "anyone who criticises the blasphemy law has no right to live". Asia Bibi, a Christian was the most prominent ‘blasphemy’ prisoner in recent times, was accused of blasphemy by neighbours, who objected to her drinking water from a particular well. The charge in 2009 lead initially to a death sentence in 2010, followed by years in indefinite detention. Subsequently after years of suffering, on January 29, 2019, Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld her acquittal on blasphemy charges and subsequently she left Pakistan due to the risk to her life, and on May 8, 2019, reached Canada.
Regrettably, not only the accused, but judges and lawyers associated with blasphemy cases also face danger. According to a February 27, 2020, report, a former judge who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that magistrates in Pakistan’s lower courts remain very vulnerable to intimidation in blasphemy cases, given that they often live among the communities they serve. Due to the risk of being labeled blasphemers themselves if they acquit, they tend to “always convict”. It is common for lawyers to be threatened to stop defending those accused of blasphemy. Saif-ul-Malook, Asia Bibi’s lawyer and renowned Human Rights lawyer of Pakistan has faced several death threats, and was offered asylum in the Netherlands. As reported on June 12, 2019, he and his family are under Pakistani Police protection. Earlier, on May 7, 2014, Rashid Rehman, a Human Rights lawyer, was killed in his office, in Multan, Punjab, after he had been repeatedly threatened to stop defending Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University, accused of blasphemy.
In the early phase after the birth of Pakistan, there were no legal provisions for religious discrimination. Nevertheless, deviations occurred during the military rule of Zia-ul-Haq (1978-1988) and the most debatable laws, Section 295-B of PPC, (blasphemy against the Holy Quran) was introduced in 1982, and Section 295-C, PPC (desecration against Prophet Muhammad) in 1986. In 1992, the government of Nawaz Sharif, went a step ahead and introduced the death penalty for a person held guilty of blasphemy under Clause 295-C of the PPC. The clause thus reads,
The Freedom of Thought Report, 2019, explaining the situation of victims of blasphemy law noted:
The strange combination of a weak democratic government and Islamised blasphemy laws in Pakistan has given the perpetrators of violence impunity to openly threaten, mobilise, attack and kill others in the name of blasphemy. The violence in the name of Blasphemy Law is increasingly consuming Pakistani society from within, giving validity to terrible crime and human rights violations in a country that is ranked 152nd out of 164 countries in the 2020 Global Peace Index. Unfortunately, the climate of hate and revenge has worsened violence in all possible forms.
Chhattisrgrah: Bijapur: Maoist Outbursts Indrajit Sharma Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On September 4, 2020, four civilians were hacked to death by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres in the Gangaloor area of Bijapur District in Chhattisgarh. The Maoists called a group of 20 villagers, who were supporting the construction work inside a forest, to a jan adalat (Maoist people’s/Kangaroo court) held in the village. The jan adalat branded four of the 20 villagers called for the ‘adalat’ as ‘police informers’ and ‘sentenced them to death’, while the remaining 16 villagers were assaulted and released later.
On September 3, 2020, the Maoists strangulated two civilians to death in the Dudi Tumnar village of Bijapur District. In a pamphlet recovered from the incident site, the Maoists claimed that a ‘jan adalat’ held in the village found them to be ‘police informers’ and ‘sentenced them to death’. Three women and two girls, who were accompanying the deceased, were also assaulted by the rebels before being released.
On February 6, 2020, a civilian was hacked to death in the Badli village of Bijapur District. The report stated that the Maoists had earlier warned Dhaniram to end any contact with the Police. Suspecting that he had not paid heed to the warnings, the Maoists killed him.
According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), Bijapur has recorded eight civilian fatalities in 2020 (data till September 13). During the corresponding period of 2019, the District had accounted for five civilian fatalities. In the remaining period of 2019, there another three civilians were killed in the District.
Worryingly, fatalities in the civilian category in the District have been increasing since 2018, when there were seven fatalities, as against three recorded in 2017 – the lowest since 2007, when Bijapur was carved out as a separate District from Dantewada. Civilian fatalities, which witnessed cyclical trends till 2012, had registered a constant decline between 2013 and 2017.
Significantly, Bijapur accounted for a total of 182 civilian fatalities since May 11, 2007, when it was formed (data till September 13, 2020). During this period, only West Medinipur (West Bengal) saw a larger number of civilian fatalities, 427, than Bijapur. During this entire period, a total of 111 Districts across 11 States recorded civilian fatalities in Maoist violence.
Also, though the overall Security Force (SF): Maoist kill ratio stands at 1:1.40 in favour of the SFs, it favours the Maoists in the current year, at 1.6:1. In 2019, the ratio was also in favour of the Maoists at 1.4:1. Prior to that it was way back in 2011 that the ratio favoured the Maoists at 1.28:1.
During the period May 11, 2007, to September 13, 2020, Bijapur has accounted for a total of 236 fatalities among Security Force (SF) personnel, second only to Dantewada, which registered the killing of 311 SF personnel. During this entire period, a total of 67 Districts across 11 States saw fatalities in the SF category in Maoist violence.
The Maoists have been perturbed by their losses due to the effectiveness of specific intelligence-based operations by SFs between 2016 and 2018, during which period they lost 110 cadres, while there were 27 fatalities in the SF category, resulting in SF: Maoist kill ratio of 1:4.07. The Maoists have lost a total of 331 cadres since the creation of the district.
According to a June 26, 2020, report the Maoists organized a three-day program (June 18-20) in the remote villages at the border of Dantewada, Sukma and Bijapur Districts in the State. Around 10,000 people reportedly attended the gathering, which was addressed by top Maoist leaders, including Nambala Keshav Rao aka Basavaraj, CPI-Maoist 'general secretary'; Mandavi Hidma, head of the CPI-Maoist 'battalion number 1'; 'Central Committee (CC)' members, Kosa aka Kadari Satyanarayan Reddy and P. Tirupathi aka Devji; and senior woman Maoist leader, Sujata aka Moyna. An unnamed Police officer said,
Reportedly, the Maoist leadership is yet to find Ramanna's replacement as two 'CC' members of the organization - Ramakrishna, currently 'secretary of Andhra Orissa Border (AOB) committee', and Ganesh Uike aka Saka Hanumanthu, a 'DKSZC member' - have declined the offer to head the DKSZC citing advancing age. Following this, to fill the void, the Maoists, as reported on January 10, 2020, made Madkam Hidma, a leader hailing from Sukma District in south Bastar, state in-charge of the CPI-Maoist's militia actions.
Meanwhile, the Maoists are becoming more brutal, as evident from the recent killings, as they are facing opposition from locals. Indeed, an unnamed Police officer asserted on September 5, 2020,
Corroborating the fact, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sundarraj Patilingam, on September 6, 2020, observed,
Further, on September 10, the IGP Sundarraj, stated,
Meanwhile, the security agencies have taken certain measures. Apart from killing five Maoists, including a 'section commander', in 2020, the SFs have arrested 20 Maoists in the current year (data till September 13) in addition to 29 in 2019. Five Maoists were killed in 2019.
On September 4, 2020, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police (DGP), DM Awasthi, asserted,
More recently on September 4, 2020, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a letter to the Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah urged the construction of roads, bridges, and culverts with pre-fabricated materials and advanced technology in the Bastar Division to speed up infrastructure projects in the region.
The Maoists, after having faced continuous setbacks in the District, are struggling to regain their hold. In this pursuit, they have become more brutal towards the locals, in an effort to instill terror. It is imperative that the SFs intensify their aggressive operations to ensure that the Maoists fail in this renewed attempt at revival.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia September 7-13, 2020
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
NS
Total
AFGHANISTAN
INDIA
Jammu and Kashmir
INDIA (Left-Wing Extremism)
Chhattisgarh
Jharkhand
Odisha
Telengana
INDIA (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
KP
PAKISTAN (Total)
Intra-Afghan talks begin in Doha: The opening ceremony of the direct talks between the Afghanistan Government and Taliban leaders took place on September 12. Abdullah Abdullah, chairperson of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation; Taliban deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar; and US Secretary of State; Mike Pompeo; were the main speakers during the ceremony. Later, in the day, both sides (Afghanistan Government and the Taliban) formed their respective Contact Groups. On September 13, the contact groups from the Afghan Government and Taliban negotiating teams held their first meeting where they discussed the agenda, guidelines, scheduling and other issues related to the direct peace negotiations. Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, Nader Nadery, Zarar Ahmad Muqbil, Fawzia Koofi, Enayatullah Baligh, Mohammad Natiqi and Khalid Noor are the seven members of the contact group of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Taliban's contact group members are Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, Abbas Stanekzai, Noorullah Noori, Shaikh Delawar and Shaikh Qasim. "There was a positive spirit. There wasn't any effort to drive the negotiations towards controversial discussions," the chief negotiator of Afghanistan Masoom Stanekzai said. Aljazeera ;Tolo News, September 13-14, 2020.
49 civilians killed and 49 others wounded in Taliban attacks in past week, according to Ministry of Interior: At least 49 civilians lost their lives and 49 more were injured following terrorist attacks carried out by Taliban group within the last week. Tariq Arian, Spokesperson for Ministry of Interior tweeted, "Taliban fighters have launched 368 terrorist attacks in various parts of 22 provinces of the country during the last week, as a result 49 civilians lost their lives and 49 others were wounded. Most of the attacks have conducted by Taliban fighters in Kandahar and Zabul Provinces." Bakhtar News, September 11, 2020.
US troops level in Afghanistan will be 4,500 by November 2020, says CENTCOM Commander: Marine General Frank McKenzie, the Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said troop levels in Afghanistan would drop to 4,500 by November, 2020. He stated, "We're on a glide slope to be at 4,500 by the November time frame - October, late October, November time frame". The US had reduced its presence in Afghanistan to 8,600 in June, 2020 and was known to plan further reductions, although McKenzie had not previously cited a projected number. Tolo News, September 10, 2020.
Khalistan is a geopolitical project of Pakistan, says a Canada based think tank: Khalistan is a geopolitical project nurtured by Pakistan, concludes a Canadian think tank - Macdonald-Laurier Institute in its report titled 'Khalistan: A Project of Pakistan', which has adverse implications for the national security of both Canada and India. The report highlights how the Khalistan movement - 'Referendum 2020' spearheaded by the banned secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), owes its energy to Pakistan". The Times of India, September 11, 2020.
SFJ offers to pay INR 3,500 to each farmer in Punjab ahead of 'Referendum 2020' campaign: The key leaders of the US-based banned secessionist organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and Hardeep Singh Nijjar offered to pay INR 3,500 each as grant to woo Punjab farmers ahead of its anti-India campaign 'Referendum-2020'. SFJ has announced to provide the money on a monthly basis to each of the Punjab farmers who have defaulted on agricultural loans, as part of its strategy to get their support for 'Referendum 2020' campaign now planned to be held in November. IANS, September 10, 2020.
US and India to take action against pan-Islamist and Pakistan backed terror groups:On September 10, the US and India have resolved to take concerted action against pan-Islamist terror groups Al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) and also the Kashmir-centric Pakistan-sponsored outfits, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HuM). In a joint statement on September 10, the US-India counter-terrorism joint working group and designations dialogue, both sides denounced use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms". The Sentinel, September 12, 2020.
Maldives and U.S. Sign Defense Agreement: On September 10, Maldives Minister of Defense Mariya Didi and United States (US) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Reed Werner signed the "Framework for U.S. Department of Defense-Maldives Ministry of Defence Defense and Security Relationship" in Philadelphia. The press release from US Department of Defence informed, "The Framework sets forth both countries' intent to deepen engagement and cooperation in support of maintaining peace and security in the Indian Ocean, and marks an important step forward in the defense partnership". Defense, September 11, 2020.
NCP Standing Committee decides to give Pushpa Kamal Dahal executive powers to run party: The Standing Committee of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on September 11 passed the agenda prepared jointly by the two co-chairpersons of the party - KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal - and decided to give Dahal executive powers to run the party. The meeting also decided that the party would not interfere in Oli's day to day work as PM, but on key governance policies and issues of national importance, Oli would have to follow the party's guidelines. The Himalayan Times, September 12, 2020.
'Disappearances' unacceptable to Government, says Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari: The Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari on September 9, said Prime Minister Imran Khan has made it clear that enforced disappearances is unacceptable to the Government. The Minister, through a tweet, said that strict orders were given to the Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Interior Ministry regarding the case of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) official Sajid Gondal who returned September 8, five days after he apparently went missing Islamabad. Daily Times, September 10, 2020.
International Commission of Jurists regrets about COIED's performance on enforced disappearances: The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on September 8, regretted that Pakistan's Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) had failed to deliver justice to the victims and to address the issue of entrenched impunity, leaving the victims and their family members without redress. In a briefing paper released on September 9, ICJ, a Geneva-based non-governmental human rights organisation, titled "Entrenching Impunity, Denying Redress: The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan" regretted that the government body had documented a number of enforced disappearances, but failed to take a pragmatic approach to end the heinous crime and deliver justice to the families of the victims. The Balochistan Post, September 10, 2020.
Military occupied lands in North and East which have tactical importance will not be given back to people, says State Minister Sarath Weerasekara: State Minister Sarath Weerasekara on September 10 said that military occupied lands in the North and East, which have tactical importance will not be given back to the people in view of national security as it is directly related to national economy. He told Parliament that 90 per cent of the military occupied lands have already been handed over to the people and that grounds of tactical importance would never be given back to the people as long as people with separatist agendas like C.V. Wigneswaran were there. Daily Mirror, September 11, 2020.
20th Amendment would be presented to Parliament in October, 2020, says Education Minister G.L. Peiris: Dismissing criticism of the proposed 20th Amendment that it would pave the way for a dictatorship, Education Minister G.L. Peiris on September 7, told that it would be presented to Parliament in October ahead of the presentation of Budget 2021. Peiris said that the Government wasn't worried about the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) moving the Supreme Court against the 20th Amendment as it was gazetted having secured the Attorney General's approval. The Island, September 9, 2020.
The South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on related economic, political, and social issues, in the South Asian region.
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