Blasphemy law ‘targets’ media
islamabad — Ahmad Waqas Goraya couldn’t see anything through the black hood, but he could hear the screams.
A blogger with a penchant for criticising 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, struggling for words as the memories flooded back. “I don’t even want to think about what they did.”
But that wasn’t the worst of it, he said in an interview. 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 a powerful intelligence agency.
Analysts and social media monitors say the blasphemy law is a powerful tool to silence 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 government crackdown on 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 earlier this 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 if they are in Pakistan. “Right now they have made sure I cannot come back to Pakistan by introducing blasphemy charges,” Goraya said.
The lawyer who is arguing the case against the bloggers, Tariq Asad, has openly called for their deaths, while praising outlawed militant groups. “They should have been killed,” Asad said in an interview this week. “If I had the opportunity I would have killed them.
Asad smiled at the suggestion that invoking the blasphemy law subdues the media and frightens social media activists. “They should be scared,” he said.
The blasphemy charges against the bloggers being heard in Islamabad’s High Court were filed by Salman Shahid, who has ties to Islamabad’s Red Mosque, a hotbed of militancy where hundreds were killed in 2007 after security forces ended a months-long standoff with militants holed up inside. Asad is Shahid’s lawyer.
Zahid Hussain, a defence analyst and author of several books on militancy in the region, said invoking the blasphemy law is a form of “pushback” against the proliferation of news outlets and social media that amplify moderate voices. Extremists “are trying to reassert themselves with this ideological battle and the easiest thing for them to use is the blasphemy law”, he said.
Hamid Mir, a popular news anchor, says both media owners and journalists operate under a cloud of fear. Threats come from a variety of quarters, including the powerful spy agencies, but the most frightening are from those who would use the blasphemy law, he said.
Mir was shot six times in a driveby shooting in Karachi three years ago. The culprits were later said to have been killed, but Mir pointedly accused country’s intelligence agency at the time. “I am not afraid of bullets or bombs,” he said in an interview this week in his office in Islamabad. Even with three of the six bullets still in his body, he has refused to leave Pakistan.
But now he is having second thoughts. Last year, he was charged with blasphemy after writing a column condemning those who would kill in the name of honour following the burning death of a young girl.
“It broke me,” he said. “Here I had done nothing wrong and for four months I faced this blasphemy charge. Then I thought I should leave my country.” —
I could hear the screams of torture. I don’t even want to think about what they did. right now they have made sure I cannot come back to Pakistan by introducing blasphemy charges. I was tortured beyond limits Ahmad Waqas Goraya, An independent blogger
Invoking blasphemy law is a form of ‘pushback’ against ... social media that amplify moderate voices. Extremists are trying to reassert themselves and the easiest thing for them to use is the blasphemy law Zahid Hussain, defence analyst and writer