Pakistani Christians demand abolition of blasphemy laws

Agencies

September 23, 2018

Geneva, Sept 23: Pakistani Christians living in Europe and the United Kingdom gathered in front of Palais Wilson, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and demanded justice and equal rights for the minorities in Pakistan.

Holding placards which read "Save Pakistani Christians", "Stop Human Rights Violations against Christians in Pakistan" and "Abolish Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan", they shouted slogans against the Pakistan government to demand justice for Asia Bibi, a victim of Blasphemy law.

They also carried out a protest march from Palais Wilson to Broken Chair in front of Palace of Nations, to make people aware about the persecution of Christians and other minorities in Pakistan by the state and non-state actors.

The event was held during the ongoing 39th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Advocate Qamar Shams, President of the International Christian Council, said, "The situation is quite serious and is going from bad to worse because it's happening all the time. Hardly a day passes when you don't hear a new case of persecution. And persecution in different ways - it's not persecution of blasphemy laws - it is social persecution, it is economic persecution and at the moment what the condition in Pakistan is of the minorities and particularly the Christians that they have been made to believe that they are not equal human beings. They are not equal citizens, they don't have equal rights, they don't have equal opportunities in jobs and government official positions, in the army, in navy and in the air force."

"Lately, there were ads in the newspapers which said that the job of a sweeper is specifically for Christians and only Christians need to apply. At the moment they (Christians) have been made mentally upset and convinced to believe that they are inferior and meant to do dirty jobs," said Shams.

Anjum Iqbal, a Pakistani Christian based in Amsterdam, who joined the protest, said: "We are in minority and demand equal rights. There are several other issues which members of our community are facing in Pakistan. The major issue is injustice, which should not happen to any Christian, a Hindu or a person of some other religion. We demand equal rights".

Talking about the forced marriages and religious conversion of Christian women, he added, "There are many Christian girls, who have been kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam. If she agrees to live with a Muslim then she will be alive, if she denies their demand, she gets killed. This is a major issue Christian girls have been facing."

The cause of Pakistani Christians was supported by the Members of European Parliament who have asked Pakistan to protect the rights of the minorities in the country.

Tomas Zdechovsky, Member of the European Parliament, said: "The situation is very critical and we have to open the issue of Pakistani Christians with the government. It is an unacceptable situation and we will do our maximum to change the situation".

"If the Pakistan government does not agree to a dialogue, we have to take action. But first, it should be a dialogue with the new Pakistani government and if it will not happen then the government has to take responsibility for that."

Henri Malosse, former President of European Economic and Social Committee, said: "Today, Pakistan is benefitting from European Trade policy. Pakistan is benefiting from what we call GSP+ (Generalised System of Preferences), the trade preferences which allow Pakistan to supply goods free of any duty - textile and other products. But, it has a condition to protect human rights and protection of minorities. And as you hear today, Pakistan government is not respecting this condition because of discrimination, slavery, blasphemy law. So we will ask political groups to stop this trade preference as long as Pakistan is not respecting the human rights and minority rights in its own country".

Gyorgy Holvenyi, a Member of European Parliament, while talking about the misuse of blasphemy law against minorities in Pakistan, said: "We have done a kind of resolution that declares that blasphemy law is against the religious minorities. The majority tries to blame Christians and other minorities, this is unacceptable. If Pakistan wants close relations with Europe, they have to take the consequences. European Parliamentarians shouldn't be lecturing the Pakistan government; they have to do their own homework".

A film and a poster campaign were also launched in Geneva to make people aware about the condition of Christians in Pakistan.

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US expresses concern over political leaders’ detentions, internet suspention and situation in Kashmir

Agencies

January 12,2020

Washington, Jan 12: The US State Department has described the recent visit of envoys of 15 countries to Jammu and Kashmir as an "important step" but expressed concern over the continued detention of political leaders and restrictions on internet in the region.

Alice Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, tweeted on Saturday that she was "closely following" the visit of the envoys to Kashmir, describing it an "important step".

Wells, who will be visiting India this week, added: "We remain concerned by detention of political leaders and residents and Internet restrictions. We look forward to a return to normalcy."

The group of diplomats made a two-day visit to the Union Territory on Thursday and Friday to see the conditions thereafter Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status was removed last August.

While some US politicians and media have criticised the action by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, the US has officially appeared to support the abrogation of the Constitution's Article 370 on the special status.

Last October, Wells told the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific that the State Department supported the objectives behind it, while not directly mentioning the abrogation.

"The Indian government has argued that its decision on Article 370 was driven by a desire to increase economic development, reduce corruption, and uniformly apply all national laws in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in regard to women and minorities.

"While we support these objectives, the Department remains concerned about the situation in the Kashmir Valley, where daily life for the nearly eight million residents has been severely impacted since August 5," she had said.

Washington has banked on India's democratic institutions - the judiciary and public debates - being able to steer the country.

Bearing this out, the Supreme Court last week ordered the government to review its decision to shut down the internet in Kashmir, which it declared was a fundamental right, thus taking a step to address Wells's concern.

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Parties should not give tickets to candidates with criminal background: ECI to SC

Agencies

January 24,2020

New Delhi, Jan 24: The Election Commission of India on Friday told the Supreme Court that its 2018 direction asking poll candidates to declare their criminal antecedents in electronic and print media has not helped curb criminalisation of politics. The poll panel suggested that instead of asking candidates to declare criminal antecedents in the media, political parties should be asked not to give tickets to candidates with criminal background.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat asked the ECI to come up with a framework within one week which can help curb criminalisation of politics in nation's interest.

The top court asked the petitioner BJP leader and advocate Ashiwini Upadhyay and the poll panel to sit together and come up with suggestions which would help him in curbing criminalisation of politics.

In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench had unanimously held that all candidates will have to declare their criminal antecedents to the Election Commission before contesting polls and had called for a wider publicity, through print and electronic media about antecedents of candidates.

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What about those criminals who were already in parliament and vidahan sabhas? shall the ECI cancel their positions?

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Trump signs executive orders banning TikTok, WeChat for 45 days

Agencies

August 7,2020

Washington, Aug 7: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) signed executive orders halting all transactions with Chinese applications TikTok and WeChat within 45 days, citing national security concerns, further escalating the tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users.

This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to Americans' personal and proprietary information," Trump said in a statement.

Citing reasons for the ban on WeChat, the US President said that the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the US, thereby providing the CCP a mechanism to keep tabs on the Chinese citizens who may be "enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives".

"In March 2019, a researcher reportedly discovered a Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages sent from users in not only China but also the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. WeChat, like TikTok, also reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP.

These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. The US must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security," he added.

Earlier, Trump had issued an order banning TikTok as it "reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.

TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP."
US politicians have repeatedly criticised TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

The development comes as China and the US are at loggerheads on a variety of issues including Hong Kong national security law, the South China Sea, the novel coronavirus and trade.

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