Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 06-20-2002, 02:14 PM

<a href="http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/31/a-rind.shtml" target="_blank">Blasphemer Dies in Pakistani Jail</a>

Quote:

. . .But two days earlier, a little-known crime occurred that sheds light on the current state of chaos in Pakistan. An inmate shot and killed a fellow prisoner in Lahore, in central Pakistan, possibly with the help of a jail officer.

Muhammad Yousaf, a devout Muslim, was appealing his death sentence for blasphemy, when he was fired at six times and killed by Tariq Mota, a member of the banned extremist outfit Anjama-e-Sipahe Sahaba. Investigators believe that a jail officer provided Mota with the gun and had Yousaf walk by his cell as part of a setup. Yousaf's crime: He pretended to show people Muhammed's shrine. Yousaf had recently visited the Moslem shrine of Muhammed in Saudi Arabia.

During his trial, Yousaf was labeled "Kazab" -- the liar -- by the press. Mota, after killing Yousaf, shouted, "Allah-o-Akbar" -- "God is great" -- and declared that he had done the deed to win eternal salvation.

The next day, the headline in a newspaper read: "Yousaf Kazab Shown Ticket to Hell by Bravo Tariq."

"I am proud of my son," one newspaper quoted the killer's mother as saying. "From this act he has washed all his sin."

Welcome to Pakistan, the international community's frontline state in the war against terrorism. A country where free minds are condemned to death by rulers under the blasphemy law, which carries a mandatory death sentence if one person testifies that the accused made comments against the prophet Muhammad. It is a place where fanatics are provided weapons to hasten the execution of the damned, and go unnoticed. And if these acts are noticed, the press and public celebrate them as divine redemption.

Muhammad Yousaf was evidently a member of a minority sect within Islam.

brahma · 06-20-2002, 08:31 PM

You might also be interested in the case of <a href="http://www.iheu.org/Shaikh/" target="_blank">Dr. Shaikh</a>, a lecturer in a medical college in Pakistan. He was sentenced to death on 18 August 2001 for blasphemy as well.

The whole idea of Pakistan being a partner in the "war on terrorism" is just so offensive.

yahwehyadayada · 06-24-2002, 06:02 AM

The story you related doesn't fit very well with the theory that muslims hate America because we support regimes that are suppressing them, does it? One man's oppression is another man's divinity, I guess.

yahwehyadayada · 06-24-2002, 06:04 AM

Oops, I meant to say "oppressing" not "suppressing".

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06-20-2002, 08:31 PM	#2
brahma Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: India/Houston Posts: 133	You might also be interested in the case of <a href="http://www.iheu.org/Shaikh/" target="_blank">Dr. Shaikh</a>, a lecturer in a medical college in Pakistan. He was sentenced to death on 18 August 2001 for blasphemy as well. The whole idea of Pakistan being a partner in the "war on terrorism" is just so offensive.

06-24-2002, 06:02 AM	#3
yahwehyadayada Regular Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: WI Posts: 290	The story you related doesn't fit very well with the theory that muslims hate America because we support regimes that are suppressing them, does it? One man's oppression is another man's divinity, I guess.

06-24-2002, 06:04 AM	#4
yahwehyadayada Regular Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: WI Posts: 290	Oops, I meant to say "oppressing" not "suppressing".

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