Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 23:45:14 EST From: WEvans6368@aol.com Subject: Fwd: URGENT CALL!!! EMERGENCY: Pakistani humanist leader imperilled To: 103217.260@compuserve.com> Subject: URGENT CALL!!! EMERGENCY: Pakistani humanist leader imperilled Sender: "Linda K. Chapman" <103217.260@compuserve.com> To: Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com Message-ID: <200011030020_MC2-B982-7003@compuserve.com> ---------- Forwarded Message ----------From: INTERNET:PaulKurtz@aol.com, INTERNET:PaulKurtz@aol.com DATE: 10/20/00 10:04 AM
RE: URGENT CALL!!! EMERGENCY: Pakistani humanist leader imperilled
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The Council for Secular Humanism has been in frequent contact with Dr. Shaikh for several years. He has been a reader of Free Inquiry and our various publications. We have encouraged him to develop his organizations defending
freedom of conscience and human rights And he has kept us informed of his activities and publications. I had lengthy conversations with him on my visit to India. He is a dedicated scholar and humanist. I urge all of the supporters of secularism and freedom to assist us in mounting a campaign on
behalf of Dr. Shaikh, as outlined by the IHEU. Please apprize your members
of what is happening and urge them to undertake individual and collective action to defend this courageous man. Please keep us informed of whatever you do. His cause is our cause: if the bell tolls for him, it tolls for us. As we begin the 21st century, it is vital that we act together in defending
freedom of inquiry and expression. The anti-blasphemy laws of Pakistan, if not struck down, may reverbate throughout the world. We urge you to act NOW.
Paul Kurtz, Chairman, Council for Secular Humanism; Editor-in -Chief, Free Inquiry magazine
Subj: Can you Help Save Dr. Shaikh's life? Date: 19/10/00 18:29:12 !!!First Boot!!! From: <A HREF="babu@iheu.org">babu@iheu.org</A> (Babu R.R. Gogineni) To: <A HREF="babu@iheu.org">babu@iheu.org</A>Can You help Save Dr. Shaikh?
Dr. Younus Shaikh is founder-President of 'Enlightenment', a Pakistan-based
organization which is a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (<A HREF="http://www.iheu.org">www.iheu.org</A>). Dr. Shaikh is a doctor and a teacher at a medical college in Islamabad. He lived and worked
in the UK before returning to Pakistan. If you were at the IHEU's 1999 World Humanist Congress in Mumbai you would remember his amusing speech; or you may have received his numerous emails about Humanism, about his collaboration with liberal minded Pakistanis to promote Human Rights, or about his other passion - the South Asian Peace Movement.
On 4 October 2000, Dr. Shaikh was arrested by the Islamabad police and booked under the dreaded Section 295-C (Blasphemy) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The
police First Information Report was not readily available, but in it he is alleged to have defiled Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, by pointing out that the Prophet did not become a Muslim till the age of 40 (ie. until he received the first message of God), and that the Prophet's parents were non-Muslims because they died before Islam was proposed by the Prophet. It is for stating these facts that Dr. Shaikh will be killed by the State, if he is found guilty: we should not forget that he did not abuse, he did not threaten, he
did not scorn or sneer.
Forty-five-year-old Dr. Shaikh lives alone, has no family, and has been sacked from his job following his arrest. To build popular pressure, an Islamabad-based Urdu-language newspaper, 'Khabrain', is carrying a campaign, demanding the death penalty for him. In Pakistan, blasphemy is a non-bailable offence and attracts the mandatory death-penalty. Dr. Shaikh is currently held in Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi, in judicial remand.
Today, 19 October 2000, Dr. Shaikh was presented before the court, but he had no lawyer. Frequently lawyers are intimidated by the mob, so they do not take up blasphemy cases. Even judges are afraid of trying them. A group of 20 clerics - menacing and aggressive - came to the court, to pursue their case
against Dr. Shaikh. They represent the Majlis-I-Khatam-I-Nabuwat (Organization on the Finality of the Prophet), one of the groups responsible for Pakistan's descent into lawlessness. Dr. Shaikh's reading glasses were broken when he came to court, he was unable to read well, and was not allowed to speak to anyone. Fortunately he has not been tortured by the police during two weeks of custody. If we do not act in time, he will be doomed.
Blasphemy in Pakistan
Blasphemy in Pakistan is a cognizable offence, punishable mandatorily by death, but Section 295-C does not even precisely define the crime it is meant to punish. This law has a history of abuse: it is a convenient means to settle personal scores. In this case, it is a disgruntled student, Mr. Muhammad Asghar Khan, who complained to the fundamentalists. Even those not
present at the time of the alleged 'offence' can file a complaint - this is
the case as regards Dr. Shaikh. A cleric, Maulana Abdur Rafoof, registered the case in Islamabad's Margalla police station. Despite the severity of punishment, Section 295-C empowers a police officer to arrest, without obtaining a warrant from a judicial magistrate. Dr. Shaikh is in custody since 4 October 2000.
The Blasphemy law in Pakistan is a shameful relic of the British Raj's 1860
Criminal Law. It was modified in 1926 before Pakistan was born, and again as recently as in 1986 and in 1991 when criminal law was Islamicised by the then dictatorship.
Now, under the regime of Islamic punishments, the evidence required is 'at least two Muslim adult male witnesses who are supposed to be truthful persons who abstain from major sins'. It is required at the trial that the Presiding officer must be a Muslim. Islamic law of evidence declares that the evidence recorded by minorities and women has a status inferior to that of Muslim men.
In the case of blasphemy, very often the accused is murdered either in police custody or even in the courtroom itself by blood thirsty zealots. So few cases are even brought to fruition. General Pervez Musharraf's recent attempts to improve the law has been met with vehement opposition from the clerics, and he immediately climbed down, in deference to the Islamic fundamentalists. The law remains as barbaric as it was. And so is the mob.
Pakistan's minorities
3% of Pakistan's 140 million citizens are non-Muslims; and there are at least 20 million Shiites, a minority Islamic sect in Pakistan. The situation for these minorities is desperate. The main victims of Pakistan's discriminatory and repressive legislation so far have been the Ahmadias, the Christians and the Hindus - and the most victimized are the Christians and Ahmadias. Their
evidence is not accepted, their rights to freedom of religion or belief not
protected, they are not allowed high-positions in the Army or in the bureaucracy, and they are forced to vote under the separate electorate system, where non-Muslims vote for non-Muslims.
But the main concern of Pakistan's Human Rights activists are the Blasphemy
laws. Blasphemy of Islam is punished differently and much more severley than Blasphemy of other religions. There is no Freedom of Religion or Belief in Pakistan. Bishop John Joseph, Roman Catholic Bishop of Faizalabad even killed himself in protest in front of the sessions court of Sahiwal, on May 5, 1998. But even this ultimate sacrifice did not move the administration or the legislature.
Pressure must mount from all quarters to enable the law to change, and to protect the victims. Pakistan's theocracy is depriving many honest citizens
of their liberty and their life.
What Can you Do?
* If you live in the UNITED STATES, please write to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, and invoke the provisions of the International Freedom of Religion Act, 1998. Better still, call them on phone. The law obliges them to take up the case with the US Ambassador in Islamabad, and to follow it up. If Pakistan's government fails to protect Freedom of Religion, there will be automatic and mandatory sanctions imposed on Pakistan.
Write to
Office of International Religious Freedom (DRL/IRF), Room 4829, U.S. Department of State Washington, DC 20520
Telephone 202 736 7133 Fax 202 647 5283
* If you live in a European Union Member State, ask your own country's EU Ambassador to explore possibilities of asylum for Dr. Shaikh. Taslima Nasrin was saved similarly from Bangladeshi fundamentalists. Point out that Pakistan's present blasphemy law violates international standards of justice; point out that to term religious criticism as 'blasphemy' is primitive; death penalty as punishment for it is terrible; and that mandatory death penalty is even more savage.
* Write to your Foreign Minister, and demand that the Minister summon the Pakistani High Commissioner to share concerns about the state of Freedom of
religion or Belief in Pakistan. Ask your Minister to arrange for an observer at Dr. Shaikh's trial, if he is not released immediately.
* Wherever you live, Fax your MP and ask him to take up the case of Dr. Shaikh. Ask your MP to bring pressure on the Pakistani government to release Dr. Younis Shaikh, and to ensure his physical safety. Ask your MP to call the Pakistani High Commission / Embassy in your country.
* Write to Amnesty International, asking them to adopt Dr. Shaikh as a prisoner of conscience.
* Write to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. The Special Rapporteur has the mandate to take the matter up with the government on a diplomatic level.
Write to
Dr. Abdul Fatteh Amor The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief 8-14 Avenue de la Paix CH-1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Telephone Number (41-22) 917-9000 Fax Number (41-22) 917-9016
* Please also write to General Musharraf, with the respect due to a Head of
Government. Remind General Musharraf that he had declared that Mohammad Ali
Jinnah, Pakistan's founder (formal title: Quaid-I-Azam) was his political hero. The Quaid had declared in his speech to the Constituent Asembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947: 'You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the state'.
* Ask General Musharraf to take steps to make Pakistan true to the Quaid's ideals. He can do so by ensuring that Pakistan will no longer remain a theocracy. Ask for protection to all religious minorities and non-believers
living in Pakistan.
* Demand that the Sections 295-B and 295-C of the Criminal Code be repealed
as soon as possible, and that he should take steps to prevent their malicious and frivolous abuse meanwhile.
* Remind him that Pakistan, one of the poorest nations in the world, will be better able to use Dr. Shaikh's services as a doctor rather than keep him prisoner. Mention specific details: Jail: Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi; Date of FIR and arrest: 4 October 2000; Police Station: Margalla.
* Invite Pakistan to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and political Rights and the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights.
Please write to
General Pervez Musharraf Chief Executive of Pakistan Government E Mail: <A HREF="CE@pak.gov.pk ">CE@pak.gov.pk</A>
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF ALL YOUR MESSAGES TO <A HREF="campaign@iheu.org"> campaign@iheu.org</A>. Please send Letters of Support to Dr. Shaikh also to
this e mail address.
SEND DONATIONS FOR DR.SHAIKH'S LEGAL DEFENCE to
IHEU, 47 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8SP, UK
Cheques payable to IHEU; Credit Card donations preferable, to avoid international bank charges. Fax us card details (address, card number, Visa/mastercard, date of issue, date of expiry; name of card holder) to +44
207 404 8641 or +44 207 4301271.