Pakistani Court Tries Doctor for Insulting Prophet Mohammad
ISLAMABAD, May 20 (Islamonline & News Agencies) - The trial has opened here of a Muslim homeopathic doctor accused of blaspheming the Prophet Mohammad, an offence which is punishable by death in Pakistan, reports said Sunday.
Younis Shaikh, who teaches at a local homeopathic college, Saturday, pleaded not guilty to charges that he used insulting language against the prophet. He was arrested last month after a complaint was lodged with the police by the head of an Islamic religious body, the International Majlis Khatam-e-Nabuwwat.
Maulana Muhammad Rauf registered the complaint on behalf of a student of the college, Mohammad Asghar, who alleged that Shaikh committed the offence in the classroom last year.
The blasphemy law promulgated in 1985 by the then military ruler General Moahmmad Zia Ul Haq lays down the death penalty for offenders. Many cases have since been tried under the law but so far no-one convicted has been executed, pending appeals.
The Pakistani Dawn newspaper quoted the defense counsel as telling the court that his client was framed by Asghar because of a personal quarrel with the teacher. Asghar, a foreign ministry employee, initiated the complaint through the religious body last month.The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 30.
Western human rights activists say that Pakistan's blasphemy law is abused, making the accused the victims of what is normally a victimless crime. Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has promised to rein in religious activists but he was unlikely to influence case as Prophet Mohammed is extremely highly regarded by Muslims all over the world.
Shortly after the October 1999 coup that brought him to power, Musharraf was forced into an embarrassing clampdown over plans to make blasphemy cases more difficult to register.
Pakistani religious organizations have always strongly opposed any changes in the law and threatened street agitation to foil any such attempts.
Pakistani human rights activists sought to label the case "political" to avoid the rage of millions of Muslims in different parts of the world. One of them is Kamila Hyat who said it was common practice for vested interests to exploit the harsh law to harass opponents.
"More cases have come to light of blasphemy laws being used to settle minor disputes during the last year than at any other time in Pakistan's history," said Hyat, a director at the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Several blasphemy-related incidents in the past had attracted international attention leading to pressure from foreign governments and human rights organizations to amend the law.
Hyat said minorities and human rights groups had long demanded that the law be repealed.
"The government should give due consideration to these genuine concerns."
