This is not the first time Imran Khan is accused of committing an act of blasphemy. In 2017, Pir Muhammad Afzal Qadri, former patron chief of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, had written an open letter to Imran Khan, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, over his alleged speech on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), warning him of ‘dire consequences’ if he didn’t render an apology.
Fearing the dangerous repercussions, Khan apologized for the ‘inappropriate’ words he allegedly used for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) back then. This time, the context is slightly different. Rather than a religious party leader, a common citizen, Mohammad Naseem from Faisalabad, has registered the FIR against Khan and other PTI members. According to him, the incident at Masjid-i-Nabwi was carried out under a ‘planned and thought out scheme and conspiracy’.
The political rivalry between the PTI and PML-N is the root cause of a despicable act committed by the PTI followers in Madina. For the first time, the PTI faced a situation where their narrative was not selling too well. The informed sections of the civil society rightly expressed extreme displeasure on the FIR. Former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari wrote a letter to the UN, seeking their intervention in dissuading Pakistani government for "misuse of the blasphemy law" against Imran Khan and senior PTI leaders.
Imran Khan is luckier than common people, who are arrested on supposedly false charges, and are left to suffer, till the court decides their case. And in rare cases, if common citizens get acquitted, they remain at risk of attacks by fanatics.
Why do principles become dear when influentials are found at risk? Many common people charged with blasphemy are either languishing in jails for years or have lost their lives in violent mob attacks. Former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer raised voice against the misuse of blasphemy laws in the country -- and got killed by his fanatic bodyguard.
Imran Khan is luckier than common people, who are arrested on supposedly false charges, and are left to suffer, till the court decides their case. And in rare cases, if common citizens get acquitted, they remain at risk of attacks by fanatics.
Advocate Parvez Aslam Chaudhry was allegedly charged with flinging a burning matchstick on an Islamic school in Sangla Hill stadium in Punjab which caught fire. His crime was: defending blasphemy cases. Advocate Rashid Ahmed was gunned down in Multan for being a defense lawyer of a blasphemy accused Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University, who is facing a death sentence. Judge Arif Iqbal Hussain Bhatti was killed in his Lahore office for acquitting two people who were accused of blasphemy. Samuel Masih was killed by a police constable for spitting on the wall of a mosque.
For more than three decades, the common people have been bearing the brunt of the misuse of blasphemy laws that were made harsher by a military dictator. Now that some legislators have come under the axe of these laws, a revelation has suddenly dawned on them and their well-wishers that this law is misused.
Late Junaid Jamshed, singer-turned-preacher, also went through similar ordeal but due to his religious background, his apology was accepted and legal proceedings were withdrawn.
We must demand a legal solution where justice is guaranteed to all, irrespective of their status in the society. A legal clause must be added in the blasphemy laws that provide an option for pardon to an offender. It’s high time the political and religious leaders find a legal solution to this problem.
The writer is a freelance journalist and senior research fellow, Center for Research and Security Studies.