2012-08-27 15:09:39

Vatican official expresses support of arrested Pakistan girl


(August 27, 2012) A Vatican official has come out in support of the Pakistani Christian girl accused of blasphemy, saying that she “cannot read or write.” In an interview to Vatican Radio, French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue said "that before asserting a sacred text has been the object of scorn, it is worth checking the facts." Rimsha Masih, variously reported to be between the age of 10 and 16, of Islamabad was arrested Aug 16 on charges of burning pages from a children's religious instruction book inscribed with verses from the Koran, Islam's holy book. Cardinal Tauran said that Masih "is a girl who cannot read or write and collects garbage to live and picked up the fragments of the book which was in the middle of the rubbish." He said that he believed that it was "impossible in the light of the facts that the girl had tried to express her scorn for the sacred book of Islam." The minor girl reportedly has Down's Syndrome and her arrest has prompted outrage from rights groups and concern from across the world. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws punish defamation of Prophet Muhammad with the death penalty and blasphemy against the Qur'an with life imprisonment. Rights groups allege the legislation is often abused to settle personal vendettas.
Meanwhile, a small group of protesters gathered outside the Press Club of Karachi in Pakistan on Saturday to demonstrate against the blasphemy trial of the disabled Christian girl. Organized by the All Pakistan Christian League, the 50 or so protesters accused authorities of misusing Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws after Rimsha Masih was arrested after being found with burned pages of a religious textbook containing verses from the Qu’ran in a Christian village in Karachi on August 16. “We demand a judicial inquiry for those who file blasphemy charges against an illiterate child,” said Salamat Akhtar, chairman of the league. Masih’s lawyer, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, has said that the girl is mentally ill, although a police official has denied this. A medical board is due to verify the status of the girl, including her age, in coming days. Other groups, including the Pakistan Catholic Bishops Conference, have urged Pakistan to rethink its blasphemy laws which remain among the strictest in the world with harsh punishments extending to the death penalty in certain cases. The Catholic Bishop’s National Commission for Justice and Peace said in a statement on Friday that “a fair debate would only be possible if the threat of violence is removed to allow civilized discourse.”








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