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REX/ZUMA
World News

Pakistan government not to change blasphemy laws

Pakistan's government has agreed to seven out of ten demands made by Mumtaz Qadri supporters, who have been protesting outside government buildings in Islamabad, including demands not to amend the country's blasphemy laws.

The laws have been used in the past to target Christians in the country.

Mumtaz Qadri (pictured below) was executed on 29th February.

REX/KeystoneUSA-ZUMA

He shot dead the former Governor of Punjab Province, Salman Taseer, on 4th January 2011.

Salman Taseer had been an outspoken critic of the blasphemy laws and had campaigned on behalf of Asiya Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman currently on death row following a blasphemy conviction.

Supports staged a sit-in in a high security area where Parliament House and key government buildings are located in Islamabad.

The protest has violated a district magistrate's notice to disperse by 30th March.

Anti-persecution charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported that since the protests, which began on 27th March, there has been a media blackout in Islamabad.

It also says there have been a suspension of mobile phone networks and bus services in the area.

The government had agreed to protestor's requests on the condition that they would disperse.

Government officials had agreed to seven of their ten demands, including the release of those arrested during the sit-in, that no amendments be made to Article 295 A, B and C of Pakistan's blasphemy laws; and to show no leniency to anyone convicted of in blasphemy.

Amjad Nazeer, Director of Institute of Development Research and Corresponding Capabilities (IDRAC), told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW): "Every single demand was and is lethal, immediately and in the longer term, to the diversity and plurality of the country. Such demands might eventually end up having a theocratic state of Pakistan".

CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: "After the tragedy of the Lahore bomb attack the government of Pakistan should be resolute in protecting religious minorities.

"These concessions highlight the government's inability to withstand pressure from hardliners and raises questions about its commitment to guarantee the rights of all Pakistani citizens, including religious minorities.

"Religious minorities are already vulnerable and subject to multiple threats, from the use and misuse of blasphemy laws to the promotion of hate speech and discrimination towards them. This regressive step is a betrayal to victims of the recent bomb blast and undermines the commitment by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to eliminate the extremist mind-set."

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