By Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad: PTI Senator Seemee Ezdi on Tuesday suggested revisiting the blasphemy law, seeking answers on why incidents of mob violence were taking place with such frequency.
She made the remarks during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights chaired by Senator Walid Iqbal today.
At the outset of the hearing, the committee expressed its displeasure at the absence of the human rights minister and the state minister for human rights. At one point, the committee also held a discussion on the Jaranwala incident, when a violent mob destroyed dozens of houses and churches over allegations of blasphemy.
Ministry of Human Rights Secretary Allah Dino Khowaja briefed the committee on the Jaranwala incident. He said that two Christian youths had been accused of desecrating the Holy Quran.
He further said that mob violence had caused damage to dozens of homes, adding that it had been decided that 92 families would be compensated for the rampage.
The secretary said that there was a lack of coordination between the federation and the provinces. He proposed forming a national coordination committee, adding that there was also a need for improving policing.
The committee agreed with the secretary’s view regarding the formation of a national coordination committee to prevent such incidents from taking place in the future.
During the meeting, PTI’s Seemee suggested revisiting the blasphemy law. “Earlier, such incidents did not happen so frequently,” she said, adding that it needed to be examined whether “something was left out”. “Many people are also afraid to talk about this,” she said.
PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui, however, disagreed with Seemee’s view. “If there is no law, then there will be no way to curb it,” he said.
“There should be a law to prevent every incident,” he said, adding that the “path should not be blocked”.
At this, Seemee said, “The path will not be blocked. We will review the law.” Speaking to media, Seemee said that there had to be a reason why such incidents (of mob violence) were taking place with such frequency.
“People think that if they do this, they will go to heaven. We only have to revisit the blasphemy law, not change it,” she said. “We have to look at how we can make it better.”
The senator reiterated that people were afraid to talk about the issue and a decision in this regard had to be taken after much consideration.
“The matter could not be decided during today’s meeting. Let’s see what happens in the next meeting,” she said.
Incarceration of PTI women
During the hearing, PTI Senator Falak Naaz Chitrali raised the issue of the arrest of the party’s women workers. She said that 35 PTI women were in jail. The committee then decided to call a meeting on the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and the party’s women workers.
Senator Iqbal said that the committee would call a meeting for this month. He said that the meeting’s agenda would have the arrest of the PTI chief and the party’s women workers on the agenda.
The committee also decided to meet Imran and the incarcerated workers.
“The women have been arrested for the past several months without any (charges),” Chitrali said, calling for meeting the women in jail.
At this, Senator Iqbal said, “Okay, we will go and meet them in jail. I will also talk to the Senate chairman regarding this matter.”
