Pakistan's Parliament Aligns with Hardliners |
| May 29 2007 |
| Postings >> Pakistan |
Pakistan's parliament has aligned itself firmly with extremist hardliners by giving the green light to a bill making apostasy illegal.
The draft bill of the Apostasy Act 2006, which would impose the death penalty for any Muslim man converting to a different religion, went through unopposed on its first reading in the National Assembly this month. The bill, introduced by the opposition Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), will now be sent to a standing committee for consideration.
If the bill becomes law, it will be a huge blow for Pakistan's religious rights campaigners. While the worst punishment is reserved for Muslim men, any Muslim woman found committing apostasy would be sentenced to life in prison. An apostate would lose all property rights and custody of young children.
In the same session, parliament threw out a bill to amend Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws, which are widely abused to persecute non-Muslims. The proposer, an MP named Mr Bhandara, argued that the law should treat all Pakistani citizens equally.
He wanted to amend the laws to make it illegal to blaspheme the central figures of all religions, not just the Prophet Mohammed. He also proposed that the penalty should be reduced to five years in jail and a fine. But his bill was booed and rejected unanimously.
These are worrying times for Pakistan's church. Christians in Charsadda and Mardan in North West Frontier Province were recently warned in handwritten letters to convert to Islam or be bombed. Though the 10-day deadline they were given has now passed without incident, the Christian community are still fearful.
The government has failed to condemn the threats, thought to come from militant Islamists who bombed music and video shops in the province earlier this month.
- Pray for Christians in North West Frontier Province, fearful over recent threats.
- Pray that the threats come to nothing -- and that God will give His people peace.
- Pray that the draft apostasy bill will not become law.
