DAYS after two men accused of blasphemy were gunned down in Pakistan, a Pakistan high court yesterday released a mentally ill woman held without trial for 14 years on allegations of desecrating the Koran.
Despite “no evidence” being found against 60-year-old Zaibul Nisa, she had been left to languish in the prison section of a mental asylum since 1996, the court said.
According to this report, Nisa’s family did not challenge her detention.
Pakistanis demonstrating against the 'blasphemous' Danish cartoons
Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Khawaja Mohammad Sharif, “has ordered the release of Zaibul Nisa after no evidence was found against her,” a court official told AFP.
The chief justice expressed his dismay over keeping the woman confined so long without any trial.
Nisa was arrested in the town of Rawat, near the capital Islamabad, after a local resident filed a complaint at a police station that someone had desecrated the Koran, defence lawyer Aftab Ahmad Bajwa said.
Bajwa said that Nisa’s name was not even mentioned in the police complaint.
Nobody, not even her relatives, pursued the case. She was sent to jail and then forgotten by everyone.
Complainant Qari Mohammad Hafeez told reporters at the hearing that he had not specified anyone by name in his submission and that police had arrested Nisa of their own accord.
Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law carries the death penalty although no one has ever been sent to the gallows for the crime, but religious fanatics have attacked and killed several accused in custody.
Human rights activists want the legislation repealed, saying it is exploited for personal enmity and encourages religious extremism.
Pakistan is one of a number of countries with rigid blasphemy laws often described by the global human rights groups as “inhuman”.
According to this report, in Pakistan, the blasphemy law has pre-empted all possibility of an open debate on Islam and its role in a rapidly changing world.
Indeed, there have been blasphemy cases instituted against teachers for trying to explain to their students that the Prophet’s parents could not have been Muslims for the simple reason that they died before the advent of Islam.
Said one analyst
The intellectual oppression across the Muslim world has left the onus of initiating an informed debate on religion entirely in the hands of the West.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 pm
C’mon, guys, it’s not “blasphemous”; it’s blasphemous. Does having quotations around the word make you more “fair and balanced?
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I like the one about the Prophet’s parents who could not have been Muslims for the simple reason that they died before the advent of Islam. if you can’t even say that in good faith, no more words are necessary to describe the morons who’re so indoctrinated that they can’t handle this kind of information.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:40 pm
@erie
I think the quotation marks are there to subtly point out that blasphemy is in the eye of the beholder. That’s the way I read it anyway.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Does that mean that Jesus wasn’t brought up in a Christian home then?
My illusions have been shattered!
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
The quotation marks indicate that “blasphemy” is a non-crime. It’s like accusing someone of “insulting” a brick!
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Nobody seen the deliberate mistake in the poster behind that little kid? Wonder what the poor little sod is thinking.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
@ barriejohn
“It’s like accusing someone of “insulting†a brick!”
Whereas, with islam, blasphemy is accusing someone of insulting a prick.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
The phrase “sense of humour failure” – which I always read as “symptom of ignorance” – could have been invented for this lot. Only the response tends to be just a wee bit more lethal than Glasgow Empire on a Saturday Night – although comics do speak of “dying” in font of a hostile audience. I think the ability to take a joke without reaching for your blade, rifle, rucksack, shoe etc should be a prime test at Border Control!
Any heard about this: http://www.indianexpress.com/n.....en/650819/
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Whys the guy wearing a little gold bra on his head?
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
any way you whites dont have religion you would not unerstand what is religion , so shut your filthy mouth and if its freedom of speech then i can call you , bastards your mothers shag different men everynight then give yo birth how can you critisise other people
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:24 pm
“Whys the guy wearing a little gold bra on his head?”
Because every boob should be in a bra.
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Knock yourself out, jan.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Most Muslims insist that Islam existed before Mohammed – he being the last of God’s messengers. Then maybe we should reintroduce “Mohammedan/~ism” – you’ve guessed it, they object to that too!
_____
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Jan, it’s nice of you to articulate your ideas and contribute to the debate but you’ll need to be a bit clearer, for my sake anyway.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
I love broken English attempts at insults Jan, but its best to have a stab at the actual language before diving in looking up the dirty words in its dictionary not matter how much more fun that is. Furthermore, the point of the article was the abuse of the law as an excuse to lock up/feed to the mob anyone you don’t like by making unfounded claims.
What’s funny is that around the time of Christian Europe’s own witchhunting, the muslim world wasn’t as batshit as it is today. Makes me wonder if the religions play by some kind of crazy tag-team rules behind closed doors against the world.
ISLAM: “Ok, we’re just about all out of crazy, I think we jumped the shark around that cartoon mohammed thing, Hinduism, you’re up next.”
HINDUISM: “Death to those who say an elephant with sixteen arms is lame!”
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:00 pm
jan
Muzzie, xian, whatever sort of religiot you are you’re welcome to come here and put your point across. If you swear AT someone, then any respect we would have given you is lost.
Insult our mothers all you like, but I’m sure it was yours I saw up on stage performing on a mate’s stag night. Smoking a cigar with her cunt and blowing smoke rings she was.
jan, you’re a ffwrch.
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Hey, Jan – quite simply, go fuck yourself you retarded, ignorant, moronic twat. (Oooooh, that feels SO much better!)
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
“not matter how much”. Ever notice that mocking someone else’s English is round about the same time your own goes belly up?
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Why are these all powerful deities always too feeble to stick up for themselves I wonder? Also why is it the most weak witted among humanity that think said deities need sticking up for? It’s almost as if those deities don’t actually exist.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:02 pm
@jan
A lot of mothers not far from me do indeed shag different men every night,but lots of those men are muslim husbands either cheating on their wives or visiting the UK from Pakistan.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:20 pm
There’s nothing quite like the death penalty when it comes to maintaining piety; ya just can’t have wiseacres going around pointing out all kinds of absurdities in a religion. Lets face it, with a death penaly, thinking could bring about disagreement which is a danger to the thinker’s life. There’s no room for the honest mind that just wants to stand back and ask: “Is this stuff true?.”
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:26 pm
@Jan….I believe your knickers are on a tad too tight old boy..
“how can you criticize (spelling corrected) other people”
Think it’s called freedom of speech …something that your “man made” holy book will not permit….
Oh and you sister…..she is very good at the naughtier aspects of loving making…..
Jan you should get out a little more ….take a trip to Amsterdam perhaps …there are a few ladies there with red lights in their windows …they will cure all your ills….you seem to have a few more than average.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:36 pm
@Jan
Tell your Mum I want my money back. She gave me the clap.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:59 pm
And this is what the ‘fundy Right’ wants for america.
Can’t wait for the fun and games, killing , stoning, locking old women up, fun stuff to be had by all males.
July 24th, 2010 at 1:43 am
I was wondering what that image of the kid on the loon’s shoulders reminded me of:
http://www.scifistation.com/im.....ls/wak.gif
Remember “Explorers” anyone?
July 24th, 2010 at 3:18 am
Jan, my mum’s 88; if she’s getting shagged every night, I bloody well want to know how she does it. She’s getting more action than I am, if that’s the case. Sheesh…Allah (piss be upon him) must be overjoyed with her sexual prowess. Life just ain’t fair, really, is it?
July 24th, 2010 at 5:24 am
Oi Jan, your prophet was a child-molester and your koran is completely fabricated. Read both these completely accurate statements a few times and then storm out into the street with a badly-written placard and scream your infantile head off for a while. That’ll be both of us exercising our free speech.
July 24th, 2010 at 6:08 am
Despite Jan’s insulting remarks we should not pick holes in the spelling or grammar of anyone that posts on The Freethinker. My alter ego, The Bigoted Bishop, set out the reasons here:
http://lolgod.blogspot.com/201.....d-old.html
Please read the first two comments to get the context.
July 24th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Damn it, I’m just glad none of you refer to ME as “Jan.”
As for that Jan, go suck off a donkey, pig-diddler. See? You have the right to call my mother a whore (though I wouldn’t suggest saying it to her face lest you want an earful that’ll turn you purple, plus maybe get your mouth washed out with soap), and I can say that your prophet and mullahs support bestiality, pedophilia, rape, brutality, and general craziness. Of course, I can point to relevant articles, fatwas, and suras which back my claims. How do you support yours?
July 24th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Whilst I take the point that it’s wrong to dismiss someone’s views simply on the judgmental basis of his or her communication skills, I have to challenge the assertion that “we should not pick holes in the spelling or grammar of anyone that posts on The Freethinker.†Whilst the point is well made as far as it goes, I think we have to consider the extent to which those “holes†in question represent flaws, not just in writing, but in thought (and perhaps also a disrespect for the language that mirrors a similar contempt for the society in which that language was developed).
The pursuit of excellence in communication is fundamental to what this site is about: good thinking and a decent command of the language go hand in hand; with Imam-style manipulation of weak minds through textual interpretation the corollary of that. Brains get stronger with exercise; and a truly beneficial fitness routine concentrates on language discipline – that’s why crosswords are recommended to stave off Alzheimer’s.
As an ex-teacher of English, including a TEFL stint, I’d say by all means make allowances for excusable difficulties in someone’s efforts as, perhaps, a non-native speaker, or just a product of our society’s often crap custodianship of its own beautiful language. But grammar, spelling – these are essential tools whose better use needs constant encouragement; so never hesitate to offer correction and instruction where appropriate. And when good communication is inhibited, if not deliberately spoiled, by sheer wilful fuckwitedness, it’s no less than a duty on those who know better to weigh in and put the shit-heads in question straight.
So: pedantry as point-scoring, no. But insistence on clarity when its absence constitutes a positive threat – OK by me. Those who mangle our language in pursuit of malign arguments need a zero-tolerance, maximum sarcasm response to their laziness in thought and articulation. Oscar Wilde said there is “no sin except stupidityâ€; where such idiocy is evidenced by poor expression of bad thoughts, there’s nothing wrong with exposing the paucity of people’s ideas by lambasting the way they set them down. Fuck ‘em if they can’t be bothered.
As an afterthought, I understand that one especially powerful element in the influence exerted by Bin Laden is the beautiful way in which he is apparently able to express himself. He’s reliably reported to have a capacity to speak exquisite classical Arabic extemporaneously. So never underestimate the significance of good linguistic discipline. And shove it back up them whenever you can!