Perception of scrapping provisions for crimes against religion is wrong: Supreme Court : Pakistan

Overseeing the campaign against Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa on social media, Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said on Thursday that the government will take strict action against such illegal activities as per the law.

On the campaign against Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa on social media,  the Supreme Court on Thursday said that due to wrong reporting of a decision of the Supreme Court on electronic, print and social media, many misunderstandings are being created and such an impression is being given. It is as if the Supreme Court has deviated from the second constitutional amendment (definition of Muslim).'

Since last day, a campaign is being carried out on social media against the Chief Justice of Pakistan on the verdict regarding the Ahmadi person in the Supreme Court, which includes inflammatory and hate-based content.

In this regard, the Supreme Court issued a statement today in which it was said that a campaign is being carried out by giving a false color, in which it was given the impression that the provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code regarding crimes against religion have been asked to be abolished. This perception is completely wrong. 

"Unfortunately, in such cases, emotions get inflamed and Islamic injunctions are forgotten. In the judgment, the verses of the Holy Quran are given in this context. In the judgment, the provisions of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan regarding the religious freedom of non-Muslims, which have been quoted, clearly state that these rights shall be available only 'subject to law, public order and morals'.

The Supreme Court said that in the case, the court had declared that even if the above-mentioned allegations in the FIR are accepted as true, then these provisions do not apply to them, but the application of section five of the Criminal Amendment Act, 1932. According to which the publication of prohibited books can be punished with imprisonment of up to 6 months.

"Since the petitioner/accused had already spent more than one year in prison, the Supreme Court ordered the release of the petitioner/accused on bail, keeping in mind Islamic injunctions, constitutional provisions and the requirements of law and justice. Gave it.

The declaration said: 'If anyone believes that there has been a mistake in the judicial decision in the interpretation of an Islamic principle or a constitutional or legal provision, then it is the responsibility of the scholars to correct it and for him to do so constitutionally and legally. There are ways. The Chief Justice and the Supreme Court have not stopped anyone before the review, nor will they stop it now.

Govt to take strict action on hate campaign on court verdict: Govt

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said on Thursday that the government will take strict action against such illegal activities as per the law. 

solangi, ashrafi

The caretaker federal information minister said in a special briefing that 'derogatory talk against the judiciary, armed forces and brotherly countries is not allowed under Article 19' (PTV screen grab).

The caretaker Federal Minister of Information said in the briefing that under Article 19, derogatory talk against the judiciary, armed forces and brotherly countries is not allowed. Some people are using social media platforms to incite violence, which is an illegal activity.

Murtaza Solangi added that under Article 19 of the Constitution, freedom of expression is not unlimited but subject to law, social media platforms do not abdicate the responsibility that their platforms maintain law and order within any country. be used to corrupt and incite people to violence and hatred.'

He said that social media platforms Twitter, YouTube, Facebook have been continuously used for propaganda, lies, defamation of government officials and harassment, the relevant companies must control this process. "Pakistan will not in any case allow these platforms to spread baseless false and fabricated propaganda in Pakistan, if this is not stopped by these platforms, the state will have to take strict measures."

He made it clear that 'there are means of legal review against any decision of the judiciary. If anyone has a complaint, a review application can be made for it, no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands and disturb the peace of the country.'

He said that Pakistan is a peaceful country where there is rule of law, lawlessness and disorder will not be allowed to spread in the country. All foreigners living in Pakistan are assured that they are safe and their security will be ensured by the Government of Pakistan.

Anarchy should be prevented by removing ambiguity: Tahir Ashrafi

The Prime Minister's Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, said in a media briefing on the 'misrepresentation' of the Supreme Court's decision that 'some people politicized the belief in the end of Prophethood, removed the ambiguity and stopped the troublemakers. Go, I want to tell those who spread evil that this is a legal matter.'

Tahir Ashrafi further said that 'we are in contact with lawyers, scholars and other parties regarding the decision of the Supreme Court on February 6. Belief is the guardian of the end of Prophethood.'

Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa's remarks during the hearing

Yesterday, a campaign was launched on social media against the Chief Justice of Pakistan on the decision of the Supreme Court regarding an Ahmadi person.

Today, during the hearing of the case related to Margalla National Park, Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa remarked that 'the last thing Allah has created is man and called it the best plan, man has been made the caliph of the earth. Animals, forests, everything comes into the earth, we forgot that. By which name was the Prophet remembered? He has been called Rahmatullil-Alamin, is it only for Muslims?

They are for the birds and for all the worlds. Tell me why all the prophets prayed behind the Prophet on the night of Ascension. Why was this honor not given to any other prophet? Hazrat Ibrahim had invited him to lead the Imamate, it meant that after him (PBUH) it was over, we have to take guidance from the Prophet (PBUH), we are a religious state, for us you (PBUH) The essence of peace is the source of guidance.

What was the decision of the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court had issued the decision in English on February 6, but after criticism on social media, the decision was also issued in Urdu last day.

While writing on the legal aspects of the matter, the Supreme Court has referred to Article 12(1) of the Constitution and said that 'an offense cannot be applied to a person which was not an offense at the time when it was committed. Therefore, when it was not a crime to print or advertise a banned/controversial book in 2019, therefore such an indictment cannot be imposed on the accused.

According to the written decision, the lawyer of the accused further said that 'Accused has also been charged with Section 298C (propagating Ahmadiyya ideas by pretending to be a Muslim) and Section 295B (insulting Quran) of the Pakistan Penal Code, which are the contents of the FIR and the challan. Not correct according to

The court asked the counsel for the plaintiff to read the FIR and the court noted that there is nothing in both the FIR and the challan which would make the above provisions applicable to the accused. Therefore, the court declared that the said provisions are excluded from the charge sheet which the Additional Sessions Judge has imposed on the accused.

The court has further said that 'courts should be very careful while looking at cases related to religious matters and in this regard verse 256 of Surah Baqarah of the Holy Quran was also referred to that there is no coercion in religion.

The creator of the universe himself said to the Holy Prophet in Surah Ra'ad verse 40 and Surah Yunus verse 99 that your job is only to convey the message to the people. Religious freedom is the main point of Islam, but unfortunately in religious matters, emotions flare up and the injunctions of the Quran are forgotten.'

The court further said that the Qur'an orders deliberation on important matters, but all the parties in the case tried to prove that the Qur'an and the Prophet of the Qur'an were insulted, while they should have remembered that the Qur'an itself Allah has taken the protection of the Qur'an upon Himself.'

The court stated that 'non-compulsion in religion is included as a fundamental right in Article 20A of the Constitution which states that every citizen shall have the right to adopt, practice and propagate/preach his religion. .

Whereas Clause B of Article 80 states that every religious minority/unit and sect shall have the right to establish and run religious institutions. Also in Article 22 the right is given that no religious sect shall be prevented from imparting its religious teachings within the educational institutions established for the students of its sect.

The court said that these rights cannot be taken away.

The court declared that if only the government officials had taken into consideration the Holy Quran, the Constitution and the relevant law, the said case would not have been registered under these provisions. Therefore, the appeal is allowed and sections seven and nine of the Quran Act 2011 and sections 295B and 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code are deleted from the indictment and the accused is granted bail.

What was the background of the case?

According to the written judgment, the accused was accused in the FIR that he was distributing, promoting and propagating a controversial book, Tafsir-e-Sagheer, which is banned, while according to the Punjab Quran (Printing and Recording) Act, 2021. It is an offense to distribute or print a banned/restricted book. 

The trial court charged the accused under Section Seven of the Quran Act 2011 and Section 295B and 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code, against which the accused filed a criminal vigil in the High Court which was dismissed. The accused filed an appeal against this in the Supreme Court.

The lawyer of the accused said that the said law came into effect in 2021, while the alleged act of the accused, on which the case has been registered, is of 2019, so the law cannot be applied from the past.

Guizhou wildfire stretches for 100 kilometers, nearly 10,000 people rescued, official cold treatment

Recently, wildfires in Guizhou have affected more than 20 cities and counties and stretched for more than 100 kilometers.

Mountain fires have broken out in at least 25 areas including Guiyang, Zunyi, Bijie and Jinsha in Guizhou since the 18th of this month. The wildfires burning day and night stretch for more than 100 kilometers. It is said that the area of ​​the wildfires is about "two Taiwans", and the authorities have invested nearly 10,000 people to put out the fires. The causes of wildfires are related to farmers offering sacrifices, littering cigarette butts or using fire for spring plowing. Officially, two firefighters died. Public opinion blasted the official media for deliberately cold handling of the Guizhou wildfires.

Since February 18, severe wildfires have occurred in more than 20 cities and counties in China, including Guiyang, Zunyi, Bijie, Jinsha, and Anshun. In the video shot by netizens, the mountain fires continued in the night, forming a Great Wall of Flame. On the highway in Guizhou, flames rushed onto the road. It is said that the area burned by the wildfire is equivalent to "two Taiwans", and it was not until the 21st that Chinese media began to report it. In response, netizens criticized the authorities for their "cold handling" of the Guizhou wildfires. One netizen posted a video and said: "It's strange, there is no heat at all for something as big as the wildfires. Why? Is all the heat taken away by the winter vacation homework being left in the toilet in Paris, or is it the various reports that follow the trend? What kind of Internet rumors, what kind of marriage breakup, and divorce trend have been obscured? Why are you doing that? Do you need the self-media to shout about this kind of thing? I don’t even know about the mountain fire that broke out on the 18th. It was a mountain fire in Guizhou. , Guizhou is full of mountains, and now the fires are all burning together"

In an interview with this station on Friday (23rd), Mr. Wang, a resident of Zunyi, criticized the state media for being so persistent in reporting foreign disasters, while turning a blind eye to domestic disasters. He said: " Reporting good news but not bad news is a characteristic of the propaganda agencies of communist countries. Previously, when wildfires occurred in the United States and Australia, the Chinese media under the control of the Propaganda Department continued to report relevant news every day. However, the wildfires in Guizhou, China, They will be selectively indifferent.”

The wildfire spread for more than a hundred miles and caused heavy losses to residents.

On the American social media platform The old man could only look at the ruins in front of him and cry with grief. The old man's daughter, Ms. Tang, said heartbrokenly: "The fire has been extinguished, but our home has been burned down. We have nothing"

On Douyin and WeChat videos, more netizens showed the scenes of wildfires in Guizhou, including farmers' houses collapsed and batches of live pigs burned to death. However, more bloggers criticized the official media for their negative attitude. This fire.

The Guizhou Provincial Forest and Grassland Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting Emergency Headquarters reported on the 22nd that from February 10 to 21, a total of 221 forest fires occurred in Guizhou Province, and all of them have been extinguished. Among them, 11 have been verified as forest fires, causing 2 casualties. Detailed damage and losses are under investigation and statistics. According to a report from the Guiyang police, a 57-year-old man burned weeds in his farmland and caused a local wildfire in Guiyang. According to official reports, the authorities deployed more than 9,200 people to fight the wildfire, and two firefighters were killed.

Mr. Yuan, an Anshun scholar, said in an interview with this station that the wildfires in Guizhou have affected most of the province in the past few days. The main reason is the recent high temperature and dryness, as well as the fact that people go to the mountains to worship: "It is during the Spring Festival, and there are more people going up the mountains to sweep tombs and pay homage to their ancestors." , it is easy to cause wildfires if you are not careful, but in an authoritarian and abnormal era, it is often the case that good news is reported but not bad news. The official media, CCTV News Network, only reports foreign deaths and catastrophic news. This is Authoritarian societies are a common phenomenon.”

Guizhou National Security Bureau asks dissidents to delete posts and not comment on wildfires

Ji Feng, a dissident who is in his hometown in Tongzi County, Guizhou, told this station that on Friday morning, two local national security guards came to him and asked him to delete his comments about the Guizhou wildfires: "They came to my door and asked me to delete the post about the Guizhou wildfires. , told me not to post it, because the wildfire involves the local area. This is pressure from the superior police, and I must delete the post. In fact, I heard about the wildfire when it started five or six days ago, because the national security came to my house that day, He said that his superiors asked him to perform the task of preventing wildfires. There is a custom in Guizhou that starting from New Year's Eve is to pay homage to lost relatives and light incense and candles. I even think this is a kind of doomsday chaos."

Caixin reported that on February 21, public security bureaus in many places in Guizhou Province reported forest fire warning cases. Common causes of fires include villagers discarding unextinguished cigarette butts, burning paper for sacrifices, and using fires in spring plowing and production fields. The Guizhou Provincial Forest and Grassland Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting Emergency Headquarters issued a notice on February 19 stating that since the Spring Festival, a total of 148 forest fires have occurred in the province, three times the number in the same period last year. Guiyang City, Zunyi City, Bijie City, and Liupanshui City have The fire triggered public opinion, and it was decided to launch a forest fire level IV emergency response at 9 a.m. that day.