Pakistan: Proposed Apostasy Legislation Unlikely to Go Through
Jul 24 2007
Postings >> Pakistan

Pakistan's proposed apostasy legislation is unlikely to go through on the nod, says the committee charged with reviewing it.

The Apostasy Act 2006, which has been put forward by Islamic hard-liners on the opposition benches, would impose the death sentence on any Muslim man converting to another religion (7x7, May 30). A Muslim woman doing the same would be jailed for life. Christians were alarmed this spring when the bill passed through the National Assembly without opposition. But now the assembly's Standing Committee on Law and Justice looks
unlikely to pass it in its original form.

Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, a committee member, told Compass Direct: 'The person who changes religions of his own will and wish, according to his own thinking, should not be punished at all. Therefore we don't consider that it will be passed in this way.'

Some commentators suggest that the government's current battle with religious extremism will sink the bill. The long stand-off between the government and radicals at Islamabad's Red Mosque ended in a battle which left 102 people dead, according to BBC figures. General Musharraf's troops are now engaged in fierce fighting with militants in north-west Pakistan who launched reprisal attacks after the Red Mosque siege.

Meanwhile, a young Christian man, allegedly 'gang-raped' by up to 30 Muslim men then 'falsely accused' of theft, has been released on bail, thanks to the intervention of lawyers from RI partner CLAAS (Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement). 7x7 reported on July 10 that police had taken the youth into custody and denied him medical treatment.

• Ask God to strengthen the Christian youth's faith and bring him justice.
• Pray that the apostasy bill will fail to become law.