Blasphemy charges create climate of fear for bloggers

ISLAMABAD — Ahmad Waqas Goraya couldn’t see anything through the black hood, but he could hear the screams.

A blogger with a penchant for criticizing Pakistan’s powerful military and taking the government to task, Goraya was kidnapped in January along with four other bloggers.

“I could hear the screams of torture,” he said in a telephone interview, struggling for words as the memories flooded back. “I don’t even want to think about what they did.”

Even more terrifying was the accusation of blasphemy —— punishable by death in Pakistan — hurled at him and his fellow bloggers. They were held in what Goraya called a “black site” on the edge of Lahore that some say is run by Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency.

Analysts say the blasphemy law is a powerful tool to muzzle critics. Some say it is being used by extremists to silence moderates at a time when Pakistanis are increasingly speaking out against violence and extremism, and voicing support for a crackdown on Islamic militants.

In Pakistan, even the suggestion of blasphemy can be tantamount to a death sentence. It has incited extremists to take the law into their own hands and kill alleged perpetrators, often forcing people to flee the country, as Goraya and the other bloggers have.

The government heightened concerns last week when it said it had asked Facebook and Twitter to ferret out Pakistanis posting religiously offensive material, promising to seek their extradition if they are out of the country and prosecute them on blasphemy charges.

“Right now they have made sure I cannot come back to Pakistan by introducing blasphemy charges,” Goraya said.