LAHORE: The head of Pakistan’s leading body of Muslim clerics Tuesday came to the defence of a young Christian girl accused of blasphemy, demanding her case be handled fairly and impartially.**
Allama Tahir Ashrafi, chairman of the All Pakistan Ulema Council, said if Rimsha, accused of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, were found to be innocent, her accusers should face justice. The cleric said protesters who demonstrated to demand punishment for Rimsha, who reportedly suffers from Down’s Syndrome, were following the “law of the jungle”.
Rimsha has been held since August 16 under the strict blasphemy laws, prompting concern from Western governments, the Vatican and rights groups.
On Monday Rimsha was taken from prison to hospital for tests to determine how old she was, a senior doctor told AFP, after conflicting reports about her age.
Around 120 uniformed police officers guarded the hospital, the doctor said. Ashrafi urged the government to take action to protect Christians in the poor Islamabad suburb of Mehrabad, where Rimsha lives, and encourage Christian families who fled in fear after the incident to return.
“This is inhuman that those who have nothing to do with the case or are not a party to it are also being harassed,” Ashrafi told AFP.
“It is just like the law of jungle that 500 people approached a police station and got a report forcibly lodged with the police.”
Ashrafi said Rimsha’s case should be a watershed for Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
“We demand an impartial and thorough investigation into the case. Strict action should be taken against all those accusing the girl if she is found innocent,” he said.
“The government should make this case an example so that nobody will dare misuse the blasphemy law in future.” Rimsha’s mental age below true age, says medical report
According to a medical report seen Tuesday by AFP, the young Pakistani Christian girl appears to have a mental age below her true age and to be “uneducated”.
A panel of doctors examined Rimsha on Monday to determine her age, which had been the subject of some dispute.
The medics’ report said that based on factors including her height, build and teeth, Rimsha appeared to be “approximately 14 years”, and gave details of her apparent mental abilities.
“She appears uneducated and her mental age appears below her chronological age,” the single-page report said.
Rimsha’s lawyer Tahir Naveed Chaudhry said they had applied to have her case proceed under juvenile law.
At a brief hearing in the case on Tuesday, Judge Raja Jawad Hassan adjourned proceedings until Thursday after defence lawyers submitted a bail application.
Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive subject in the nation of 180 million people, 97 per cent of whom are Muslims, and those convicted of defaming Islam or desecrating the Quran can face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Human rights activists claim the laws are often used to settle personal vendettas and last year two prominent politicians were assassinated apparently for speaking out against the legislation.
She should have been released the very next day, the country where killers roam free and a child (most probably illiterate as well) on a supposed blasphemy is rotting in jail for the past many days.
Not really. :hypo: It’s calculated munafiqat. I have a strong feeling that deep down Tahir Ashrafi is quite happy at this show of power, this show of chaos. Because like I said, most religious people thrive on chaos - that’s when they can bark the loudest and people listen.
First drop of rain? Or the only drop of rain. This is something only time will be able to answer, I feel. Still.
LAHORE - In a revelation that is likely to end the ordeal of a 14-year-old Christian girl charged under the blasphemy law and facilitate her release from jail on bail, a witness has claimed that the cleric who played a major role in framing charges of burning pages of the Holy Quran on the minor girl had in fact fabricated the evidence by placing Quranic pages in the ash brought to him by the complainant.
Recording his statement before a magistrate in Islamabad on Saturday, Hafiz Zubair said he and two other people were present in the mosque for Aitekaf when Malik Ammad, the complainant in the case, came to the mosque’s imam Khalid Jadoon with a plastic bag that he claimed contained the ashes of a Noorani Qaida allegedly burnt by Rimsha.
Zubair said Jadoon brought some pages of the Holy Quran from inside the mosque and mixed them with the ash. “I asked Jadoon why he was fabricating the evidence. He said that this would ensure a strong case against the girl and would ultimately help them in evicting the Christians from the locality,” said Azhar, adding that the other two people present in the mosque at that time had also asked the imam not to place false evidence against the girl.
Commenting on the development, Rimsha’s lawyer Tahir Naveed Chaudhry told Pakistan Today that Azhar’s statement proved that the case against the minor girl was fabricated. “Jadoon and Ammad concocted the evidence and they should be booked on the same charge that they had leveled against the girl,” he said.
Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi also condemned the imam for implicating a minor girl in a fake case. “The revelation proves our stance that the case against the girl was fabricated. The government should take immediate notice of this revelation and should give exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the crime to ensure that the law is not misused against any person,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Judge Muhammad Azam Khan adjourned the hearing of the case until Monday and asked police to investigate a bail application made on Rimsha’s behalf after prosecutors claimed paperwork had not been signed by the girl or her mother.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Rimsha’s lawyer Tahir Naveed Chaudhry accused prosecutors and lawyers of using delaying tactics.
IMAM ARRESTED: In a late night development, Islamabad police arrested Imam Khalid Jadoon for fabricating evidence against Rimsha Masih.
As much as I’m glad to see this guy in prison, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy who accused him wasn’t also lying. Knowing pakistan, anyone could be out to settle a score with anyone. You just don’t know.
The guilty ones however are certainly those who assaulted the girl (the local women), and those who tried to incite the mob. Can the “imam” be held accountable? It remains to be proven.
So, does the desecration of Quran and blasphemy law now apply to the imam who put pieces of Quran pages in the ashes to frame the poor girl? I guess I can pause opposing this law until after this psycho is sent for a dirt nap.
A very interesting incident in Islamic hostory... bet ya mullas foaming at mouth never heard of any such thing, but ofcouse then the fundoos have never read history either so how could they have.
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possess a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
The Promise to St. Catherine:
"This is a message from Muhammad ibn
Abdullah, as a covenant to those who
adopt Christianity, near and far, we are
with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my
followers defend them, because Christians
are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out
against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither
are their judges to be removed from their
jobs nor their monks from their
monasteries. No one is to destroy a house
of their religion, to damage it, or to carry
anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would
spoil God's covenant and disobey His
Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have
my secure charter against all that they
hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to
oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to
fight for them. If a female Christian is
married to a Muslim, it is not to take place
without her approval. She is not to be
prevented from visiting her church to pray.
Their churches are to be respected. They
are neither to be prevented from repairing
them nor the sacredness of their
covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey
the covenant till the Last Day (end of the
world)."
how conveniently you ignored AP's post and start blaming others.
How do you know I ignored anything?
My response was based on the amount of hatred shown towards 'most religious people' and only using 'feelings' of self as the reason to bash 'most' religious people.
Do you think anyone who has irrational, idiotic/lunatic 'feelings' of hatred for 'most religious people', has a right to say something against them and not be pointed to?
One should not and never generalize one's 'feelings' unless deliberately trying to be inflammatory.
Superman thinks mostreligious people are cunning or deceptive by calculated munafiqat, thrive on chaos, and 'bark'.
Rationality comes from being able to look at both sides. As to this issue I have already agreed to the post where it said this girl needs to be released in another thread. There is no concrete evidence as of yet against her as far as we know.
Now, this one sided repeated hateful gesture of many posters who are:
a)Anti-blasphemy law to completely abolish it,
b)against religious people to show somehow irreligious people/or Muslim-Islam Haters are better than religious people/molvies/scholars etc.
and
(c) singling out Pakistan only for having blasphemy law in the world
are the ones who are irrational and regardless you agree or not, this is very obvious here on this forum.
P.S. There, I am responding to you as I have before several times despite you have shown your irrationality and going out of bound of rationality time and time again.
