ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top religious clerics yesterday suggested amendments to the country’s controversial blasphemy law, proposing the death penalty for people convicted of making false accusations.
Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population is Muslim, and insulting the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) can be punished by death under the penal code. Even unproven allegations can provoke a violent public response, and critics say the law is often used to settle personal scores.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) suggested the government should bring in the death penalty for people convicted of making false accusations of blasphemy.
“All religious scholars agreed to end misuse of the blasphemy law,” scholar Allama Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said. “Keeping in view the suggestions of human rights activists and civil society members, the council has decided to fix the same penalty for the person who falsely accuses blasphemy as the accused.” He said the proposed amendment would ensure that “nobody dares to use religion to settle personal scores. The amendment will also silence critics of the blasphemy law.”
The council reversed an earlier decision about the use of DNA as evidence in rape cases, which it had refused to accept. “The council has left the matter of DNA evidence for the courts,” Ashrafi said.
AFP
