Pakistan's Blasphemy Statute
By Liaquat Ali Khan & Jasmine Abou-Kassem AASIA Bibi, a 45-year old Christian woman, has been sentenced to death, under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, for allegedly `defiling` the Prophet (PBUH). Though Aasia is the first woman to be convicted for blasphemy, Christians, Hindus and hundreds of Muslims have been charged under the statute. Section 295 is a convenient legal tool to settle petty personal scores, intimidate rival families and practise ill-informed versions of Islam, particularly in small towns and villages. Local judges come under pressure to convict persons charged under the statute with the strident approval of local elders. Over the years, attempts to repeal the statute have provoked stiff opposition from Muslim jurists and invited threats of violence from militant groups. Even Pervez Musharraf, a secular military dictator, could not, for fear of imminent and severe reprisals, repeal the statute. For the same reasons, major political parties are disincl