The Freethinker
TAHIR Mehmood Ashrafi, above, the Pakistani Prime Minister’s special representative for religious harmony, is reported today as saying that charges against a boy arrested for blasphemy after he urinated on a carpet in the library of a madrassa, have been dropped.
After the arrest sparked international outrage – and the destruction by Muslim thugs of a Hindu temple – Ashrafi said:
The charges against the boy were baseless. Minorities are equal citizens and these are illiterate people attacking worship places,.
Our Islam does not allow attacking of any other religion’s places of worship.
The boy, the youngest Pakistani ever to be charged with the crime, was accused of intentionally pissing on the carpet close to where religious books were kept.
His release on bail after his arrest in July prompted an attack on a Hindu temple by a Muslim mob in the conservative district of Rahim Yar Khan, in Punjab.
The temple has been repaired by the government and was handed back to the Hindu community in a ceremony yesterday (Wednesday).
Dozens of people have been arrested for vandalising the temple and have been told by local authorities they will have to pay for repairs.
The boy and his family are still in hiding and under protective police custody for fear of reprisals.
Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said:
We are happy that the charges are dropped and the temple is repaired. It was made possible after the media pressure and government pressure on the [local] authorities.
On Monday, Amnesty International demanded the blasphemy charges against the boy be dropped. It said:
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have long been abused to target minority groups, but this case marks a shocking and extreme departure.
Amnesty has called on the government to provide adequate protection for the boy, his family and the wider Hindu community.
Hat tip: Asad Abbas
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