Call to set up commission to probe escalating religious violence

LAHORE:The participants of a conference on theme “Addressing religiously motivated violence” demanded the government immediately establish a Commission of Inquiry to probe the factors behind the escalating violence, particularly the abuse of Sections 295-A, B, and C and 298-A, B, and C, and determine the scale of abuse, identify factors behind it, propose remedies, and way out of this situation.

The speakers at the conference expressed that there was an organic link between pervasive religious intolerance and certain lopsided policies and laws. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) which has been collecting data for several years, presented an assessment of crimes against religious minorities and the recent developments including a factsheet on the abuse of blasphemy laws.

The conference welcomed the passage of resolutions by the National Assembly, Senate, and Punjab Assembly condemning violence in the name of religion and supporting the right to life, in the aftermath of brute violence exemplified in the incidents of mob violence in Sargodha and Swat.

The speakers including Peter Jacob, Nadeem Ashraf, Ijaz Alam Augustine, Arafat Mazhar, Asad Jamal Advocate, Moulana Mehmood Ghaznavi, Samson Salamat, Bishop Abraham Daniel, Maheen Paracha, Salman Farooq, Michelle Chaudhry, Suneel Malik, Kashif Aslam, Tayyaba Rafiq and Yasar Talib demanded the government introduce safeguards against the abuse of blasphemy laws and prosecute and punish the perpetrators using allegations of blasphemy and incitement to violence.

Ijaz Alam Augustine, former minister for human rights, said that all stakeholders including academics, religious leaders, politicians and civil society need to engage in dialogue to address the menace of violence in the name of religion. He added that the persons making false accusations of blasphemy must be brought to justice, with implementation of existing safeguards.