Move to amend Pakistan's blasphemy law at standstill

Pakistani police have arrested a 17-year-old boy for alleged blasphemy in a school exam. A police spokesman said he could not repeat what the boy had written on his examination paper because he himself would be committing blasphemy if he did.

Pakistan's blasphemy law allows for the death penalty for insulting Islam. Critics say the law is often used to settle scores and needs to be repealed or amended to prevent it from being abused.

Last year a Christian mother of five, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death under the blasphemy law, triggering an outcry from the international community and an appeal for her life by Pope Benedict XVI.

In another development, Pakistani parliamentarian Sherry Rehman this week announced she will withdraw the bill seeking amendments to the law on the directions of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Peter Jacob, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Pakistan Bishops Conference, called this a “setback to the move” against the law.

“The general atmosphere in the country has come to a stop,” Jacob told Vatican Radio. “Any further movement regarding amendment in the blasphemy laws or stopping abuse will be stalled in the foreseeable future.”

Listen to Peter Jacob’s interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: