On April 27 this year, a case was registered in Karachi against 77-year old lawyer Syed Ali Ahmad Tariq. The lawyer was booked under section 298-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and he was arrested on the spot.
295-B. Defiling, etc., of Holy Qur'an:
Whoever wilfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Qur'an or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.
On May 23, 2023, over a month after spending time in detention behind bars, he finally obtained bail in the case from the Sindh High Court. Tariq felt at the very least the bail would mean respite from the punishing heat and suffocating humidity in police lockup.
But as luck would have it, as soon as he was released, he was arrested in another case. It turns out Tariq was wanted for nearly 30 years for committing the gross crime of saying "Assalam o Alaikum".
The case, dating back to October 20, 1992, had booked Tariq under sections 295-A and 298-C PPC. The complaint had been registered in the Shahdadpur police station located in district Sanghar, some 250 kilometers from Karachi.
295-A. Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting Its religion or religious beliefs:
Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the 'religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.
298-C. Person of Quadiani group, etc., calling himself a Muslim or preaching or propagating his faith:
Any person of the Quadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves 'Ahmadis' or by any other name), who directly or indirectly, poses himself as a Muslim, or calls, or refers to, his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.
As of now, Tariq -- who hails from the Ahmadiyya Community -- has been detained for two months despite having obtained bail in one case.
The next hearing in the 29 year-old has been set for July 6, 2023. It remains to be seen whether the senior citizen would be served sentences of up to 13 years in jail for wishing people "Peace be upon you".