ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Cell of the PPP has also expressed deep concern over the horrific rise in extrajudicial killings of blasphemy accused and the erosion of democratic space of the people by a security-driven state.
“The recent shameful incident in Umerkot of killing a blasphemy suspect extra judicially, burning his dead body, denying him burial and the celebrations over it by senior police officers, clerics and even a member of the National Assembly will always remain a stigma on state and society,” said President PPP Human Rights Cell Farhatullah Babar in a statement on Wednesday.
He also expressed concern over the recent ordinance amending the Practice and Procedure Act and demanded that the ordinance should be taken back as it is “thoughtless, irrational, suspicious and divisive”.
Babar said that barely a few months ago the parliament enacted a law to regulate procedure in suo moto cases and allocation of cases to benches and made it democratic instead of vesting powers in the hands of the CJP alone, and this was widely hailed by the bar and the public. “By investing these powers again in the CJP alone through an ordinance without discussion and debate in the parliament and without consulting stakeholders the government has done a great disservice to the independence of judiciary as well as to the sanctity of the Parliament,” he said.
About the Umerkot incident, Babar said the incident happened at a time when the Christian community was solemnly observing the 11th anniversary of the killing of over 80 innocent Christians in an attack on their Church in Peshawar. “A thorough investigation in a fair and transparent manner and prosecution of those responsible is needed. The legislator who publicly celebrated this gruesome incident owes a public apology and censure by the parliament and political parties,” he said.
He said that barely a few weeks ago a police officer in Quetta himself shot dead with an official weapon a blasphemy accused inside a police station where the accused had sought protection. “This gruesome incident will send shivers down the spine in a civilized society. What is even worse is the impunity of the crime of extra judicial killing and celebrations over it. This cannot and must not be allowed,” he said.
He also raised alarm over the continually shrinking democratic space, erosion of human rights and the state unlawfully controlling freedom of information and snooping the citizens’ private spaces by devices called ‘web management’ and mysterious internet shutdowns.
He said that some elements within the state, worried over the social media tearing apart the shroud of secrecy woven around their illegal actions, have placed curbs on social media platforms in name of 5-G war, fake news and digital terrorism. “Fake news indeed is an issue and needs to be addressed in consultation with all stakeholders, but it must not be made a pretext for blanket clamp of a vital source of information,” he said.
Record shows that the state itself has also been involved in spreading fake news, he said and recalled the closure of hundreds of pages in 2009 by Facebook accusing a government organisation which it also named.
“Fake Wikileaks surfaced in 2010 promoting the state narrative on some issues. When it was found that the Wilileaks were fake and deliberately planted by vested interests, the newspapers which had published it apologized,” he said.