Islamabad, August 30: The President of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi has launched a major verbal attack on Pakistan’s fundamentalists. He has said, “No law provides for death penalty for insulting the Holy Quran, but religious elements resort to mob lynching to kill suspects. This is not only un-Islamic but also against the law of Pakistan.”
“The blasphemy law provides for four different punishments. The punishment for insulting the Holy Quran is life imprisonment. The punishment for insulting the family members of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions (sahaba) is seven years imprisonment. The punishment for violating the Qadianiyat Prohibition Ordinance is three years. The law envisages death penalty only for a person found guilty of blaspheming against the Holy Prophet. But religious groups believe that the punishment for all four offences is the same – death. Such people take the law into their own hands,” Dr Raghib told media at the CII office in the capital Islamabad on Thursday, according to Dawn newspaper.
He criticised religious elements for playing on public sentiments for political gains. The CII President narrated his recent experience when the media drew his attention to the fact that the CII failed to identify and isolate clerics who issue provocative statements or incite the public on blasphemy.
Dr Raghib said, “I had announced that the fatwa for the death of the Chief Justice of Pakistan was haram. Soon after that I received more than 500 threatening messages. Some of these contained abusive language.
He admitted that moderate leaders of religious groups are afraid of the fundamentalists.
He said that issuing fatwa to kill or taking law in one’s hands is illegal, unconstitutional and against the principles of Sharia. Sharia does not give any person the right to take the life of another person.
Expressing displeasure over the growing intolerance in the society, he said, “It is clear in all cases that only the state has the right to punish those found guilty of blasphemy.”
