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PPP statement on threat to Bilawal and death sentence to Sawan Masih
* Party’s human rights cell also condemns attack on Raza Rumi
ISLAMABAD: PPP Human Rights Cell’s Central Coordinator Dr Nafisa Shah has strongly condemned the threats by a banned outfit to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and demanded comprehensive action by the government of Punjab on its safe havens.
The cell has also condemned the attack on commentator and TV anchor Raza Rumi.
In a statement, Nafisa Shah said that it was clear that ceasefire was a red herring while terrorists were working on their agenda. “The government is either unwilling or unable to fight terrorism or address the fundamental problems of internal security,” she said.
The HR cell has further called the award of death sentence to Sawan Masih of Joseph Colony an apparent miscarriage of justice, which will further marginalise the minorities.
Dr Nafisa Shah said, “This seems to be a case of adding an insult to injury, or might is right, as instead of punishing those behind the Joseph Colony conflagration the courts have punished someone through a law that is usually misused against minorities.”
“A hundred-plus houses, besides schools and hospitals, were torched and no one seems to have been punished for these cruel acts,” Nafisa Shah said. “This will only encourage mob extremism against the minorities, as the recent example of Dharamshala in Larkana and Mandir in Hyderabad demonstrates.”
She said it was universally agreed that in most cases the present blasphemy law made during Gen Zia’s dictatorship had been misused against the minorities. “It is therefore no surprise that the state institutions, including the judiciary, seem to be surrendering to the fanaticism and bigotry generally.”
The HR cell has called upon all political parties to devise legislation to stop the misuse of the blasphemy laws, and particularly called upon the legal community to ensure right to fair trial was ensured and that minorities were protected against discrimination in such cases.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk