Ulema lie, Qur‘an does not justify blasphemy law, Pakistani Muslim says
“The blasphemy laws have no justification in Islam,” said the reformist scholar and popular television preacher. “These ulema [council of clerics] are just telling lies to the people.”
However, “they have become stronger, because they have street power behind them, and the liberal forces are weak and divided. If it continues like this it could result in the destruction of Pakistan."
Ghamidi, 59, is the only religious scholar to publicly oppose the blasphemy laws since the assassination of the Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer, on 4 January (see Jibran Khan, “Punjab governor assassinated, he had called for Asia Bibi’s pardon,” in AsiaNews, 4 January 2011).
Ghamidi spoke to the AsiaNews from Malaysia, where he fled with his wife and daughters last year after police foiled a plot to bomb their Lahore home. "It became impossible to live there," he said.
Their fears were well founded: within months, Taliban gunmen assassinated Dr Farooq Khan, a Ghamidi ally also famous for speaking out, at his clinic in the northwestern city of Mardan.
The scholar's troubles highlight the shrinking space for debate in Pakistan. Liberal voices have been marginalised and many fear to speak out.
Mainstream political parties have crumbled, led by the ruling Pakistan People's Party, which declared it will never amend the blasphemy law.
Sherry Rehman, a lawmaker who proposed changes to the blasphemy legislation, was herself charged with blasphemy.
Since Taseer's death, she has been confined to her Karachi home after numerous death threats, some issued publicly by clerics.
Ghamidi's voice stands out because he attacks the blasphemy law on religious grounds, said Ayaz Amir, an opposition politician and opinion columnist. For Ghamidi, “Nothing in Islam supports this law”. Even when out of Pakistan, Ghamidi features on television shows by phone, often outwitting extremist clerics with his deep knowledge of the Qur'an.
Even so, he eschews terms such as "liberal". "I am neither Islamist nor secular. I am a Muslim and a democrat," he said.
For Joseph Habib, “The core problem is the alliance between Pakistan's establishment, i.e. the military, and Islamist extremists it uses to fight in Kashmir and Afghanistan. They are close allies. The blasphemy debate has exposed painful rifts in Pakistani society."
In the meantime, the campaign on Bibi’s behalf continues: salviamoasiabibi@asianews.it
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