Monday, September 5, 2005

HINDU COUPLE ARRESTED IN PAKISTAN FOR ALLEGED DESECRATION OF THE KORAN

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A Hindu couple has been arrested by Police in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province for allegedly desecrating the Muslim‘s holy book, the Koran, by throwing it into the fields near their home on September 2, 2005.

According to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), the incident occurred in Gandaf village in the Swabi district, some 150 km from Peshawar the provincial capital, when a Muslim man named Saeedullah found the copy of the Koran in the agricultural fields. He told the village council he suspected Chaman Lal and his wife Krishna

An e-mail report from APMA says a stick-wielding mob chanting anti-Hindu slogans gathered outside Lal's home and finding that the couple and other members of the family were not there, they attacked the house and almost destroyed it.

"The angry mob demanded that the couple be handed over to them; the mob blocked the road leading to the village for a couple of hours. The paramilitary troops had been deployed after a mob attacked the house of the couple," the APMA report states.

APMA says Chaman Lal and his wife Krishna have been arrested and other members of the family have been moved to some other place. An FIR 302/05 has been registeed under section 295 B (Blasphemy law) of the Pakistan Penal code

Lal is the son of well-known Hakim Gangahvaish, and the family has been living in the village for over 120 years.

Meanwhile Mr. Gangahvaish rejected the allegation that his son had in any way desecrated the Koran.

He said that the case against his son is baseless and fabricated. Some people in the village are of view that Chaman Lal (the accused) had converted to Islam seven years ago but his wife allegedly forced him to give up Islam and return to Hinduism.

Hindu and Christian minority members living in the area are under constant fear. A special team of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) reached the place of incident to assist the victim family and to collect facts surrounding the incident.

APMA says: "This case is another example of (the) misuse of Pakistan's blasphemy law against religious minorities of Pakistan. In June, a blasphemy case was registered against Yousaf Masih of Nowshera in the same province without investigation and evidence.

The APMA statement continues: "The blasphemy law is a naked sword hanging over the heads of non-Muslims. The religious minorities are being roped in false cases under blasphemy law and murdered extrajudicially The religious extremists take the law in(to) their (own) hand and do not even wait for the judicial verdict. The judgments of superior courts have proved that (the) blasphemy law is being ruthlessly abused for settling personal scores and religious persecution."

All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has strongly condemned the registration of a blasphemy case against the Hindu couple, Chaman Lal and his wife Karishna at Swabi, NWFP. APMA urged the government to set up a Judicial Commission to probe the case.

APMA's Chairman, Shahbaz Bhatti, adds: "Kindly pray for the victim's family and religious minorities living under fear and insecurity in the area."