Asia Bibi v. The State: the politics and jurisprudence of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws

Navigating Pakistan’s Religious, Social and Political Fault Lines in the 1980s: Contemporary Trends and Relevance

“…General Zia’s military regime weaponized colonial-era blasphemy laws by introducing amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code, the most notorious of which was Ordinance XX introduced in 1984 (Haq, 2019). While the nature of colonial blasphemy laws was general in their orientation and not specific to any religious group, Ordinance XX was specific to people of the Ahmadi faith and is entirely exclusionary in nature (Ahmed 2021, p. 277). The Ordinance prohibits Ahmadis from publicly professing Islamic religious terminology; it also prohibits Ahmadis from using religious titles, descriptions or epithets of Muslim origin including using the word ‘Masjid’ for their place of worship or referring to their call for prayers as ‘Azan’ and themselves as ‘Muslims’—these words reserved specifically for the majority Muslim community; and the Ordinance also provides that any Ahmadi who, directly or indirectly poses himself as a Muslim … or by visual representations or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims, shall be punished with imprisonment…for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to a fine (Berberian, 1987, pp.…”

“…In the post-Zia years, the politicization of blasphemy laws has only gathered pace with the introduction of a new political actor, the TLP, which in the 2018 general elections emerged as Pakistan’s fifth-largest political party in terms of votes received (Basit, 2020). The immediate genesis of the TLP is contained in the assassination of the Punjab Governor, Salman Taseer, by his security guard, Mumtaz Qadri as the former campaigned in favour of Asia Bibi’s release and also for reforming blasphemy laws (Ahmed 2021, p. 280). Qadri belonged to the Barelvi order, a traditionally reformist and peaceful sect compared to its more proactive and jihadist-inspired Deobandi rival.…”