Lawyer in Pakistan: Christians cannot speak freely of their faith

Incidents like this are becoming more frequent in Pakistan. Mobs like the ones attacking this unjustly accused Christian nurse can be seen under the infamous blasphemy laws in this country.

And here, this man, Muhammad Waqas, publicly admits his intention to kill Marriam Lal, a Christian nurse, by attacking her with a knife. This is a crime for which he has never been arrested.

AKMAL BHATTI
Pakistan Minority Alliance
“Christians or other religious minorities are afraid that they cannot speak freely of their faith. They cannot express their faith ”.

Akmal Bhatti is a Christian lawyer who works on cases like these two nurses. He is the nephew of Shahbaz Bhatti, a minister assassinated by extremists in 2011 for defending Pakistani Christians. He, too, has experienced the deceptive tactics used to frame non-Muslims as blasphemers, including during court proceedings.

AKMAL BHATTI
Pakistan Minority Alliance
“I joined a court proceeding. And I asked him to write my name in the file and they put: Muhammad Akmal Bhatti. But I am a Christian, I am not a Muslim. My first thought was that I should get a pen and remove Muhammad’s name. But it immediately occurred to me that if I did, I would be declared blasphemous. So I adopted a different policy and said, ‘I’m not Muslim, I’m Christian, so kindly mention my name as a Christian.’

Although incidents like this are becoming more frequent, there are exceptions. For example, in Khushpur, his hometown, where Catholics are a majority and Muslims a minority.

AKMAL BHATTI
Pakistan Minority Alliance
“We work together. We help them with donations to build their mosque. We respect their religion and there are no incidents ”.

In an effort to promote coexistence, human rights defenders, such as Akmal Bhatti, are pushing for the repeal of these laws or, at least, for effective mechanisms to protect the rights of the accused.

He proposes the creation of an independent and swift investigative body and court to deal specifically with blasphemy cases, which, according to him, can take more than 10 years. It also urges the government to ensure that people imprisoned for blasphemy are treated humanely.

Romereports.com