Pakistani disabled Christian girl arrested for blasphemy, 300 families flee

(August 20, 2012) For the first time in Pakistan's history, a controversial blasphemy law has been used against a disabled 11-year-old Christian girl. Arrested on Thursday on blasphemy charges of burning pages of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, Rimsha Masih, who suffers from Down's syndrome, could get life in prison. The episode occurred in Umara Jaffar, an Islamabad slum, where the girl lives with her family. Police filed a First Information Report after Syed Muhammad Ummad, a Muslim made a formal complaint. Threatening to take justice in their own hands, a mob of hundreds enraged people attacked the girl's family, trying to lynch her and her mother. Police eventually took the girl away for her own safety, in prison. Fearing more violence, some 300 families living in the Christian slum fled their homes seeking safety elsewhere. National Harmony Minister Paul Bhatti, who is also special advisor to the prime minister on minority affairs, has appealed to Muslim leaders, especially clerics, asking them to help keep the lid on matters to avoid anti-Christian attacks. A spokesperson for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Farhatullah Babar, said the president has taken ``serious note'' of reports of the girl's arrest and has asked the Interior Ministry to look into the case.
Paul’s brother Shabbaz, Pakistan's first Catholic minister, was murdered by extremists on 2 March 2011 because of this opposition to the infamous law. Prominent politician Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab was also gunned down last year for the same reason. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws were introduced in 1986 by General Zia-ul-haq in response to demands by Muslim extremists. The laws punish defamation of Prophet Muhammad with the death penalty and blasphemy against the Qur'an with life imprisonment. Thus far, at least a thousand people have been charged for breaking it. Of these, 60 have died, mostly killed in extrajudicial murders by enraged mobs or individuals.