Pakistan - restoring faith in humanity's inherent capacity for good

[Cain]

Hahahaha no

Teh Beeb:

Pakistani police have arrested a mentally disabled 11-year-old girl after a mob accused her of desecrating pages of the Koran.

The mob demanded the Christian girl's arrest and threatened to burn down Christian homes outside the capital Islamabad, local media say.

Officials said the girl could not properly answer police questions.

Her parents have been taken into protective custody following threats and other Christian families have fled.

It is thought that the girl has Down's syndrome.

Paul Bhatti, Pakistan's minister for National Harmony, told the BBC that the girl was known to have a mental disorder and that it seemed "unlikely she purposefully desecrated the Koran".

"From the reports I have seen, she was found carrying a waste bag which also had pages of the Koran," he said.

"This infuriated some local people and a large crowd gathered to demand action against her. The police were initially reluctant to arrest her, but they came under a lot of pressure from a very large crowd, who were threatening to burn down Christian homes."

He said more than 600 people have fled from the Christian neighbourhood.

How much must it suck, being in charge of "National Harmony" in Pakistan?  You do your job right, and you're the next Salmaan Taseer.  Play it safe, and...well, you're not really doing your job.

Meanwhile, India is accusing Pakistan of using bulk text messaging to help spread panic and violence in the province of Assam, which has driven out tens of thousands of migrant workers.

A bunch of Shias got slaughtered by religious extremists, the Taliban nearly blew their way into a major air force military installation and a suicide bomber took out a military checkpoint in Quetta and this is only the news from the past seven days.

If there was ever a country more fucked than Pakistan....well, it's either North Korea or Somalia.

[Juana]

Encouraging. D:

[P3nT4gR4m]

LOL, even someone with downs syndrome knows what the Koran is for. Exactly how fucking retarded are muslims?

[Junkenstein]

So any guesses on likely outcomes?

I have no idea. I'd like to think that a sensible judge would realise it's an 11 year old child with a mental disorder, but, you know, Pakistan...


I'd also like to add Afghanistan into the mix for the world's most FUBAR'd country. It's got to be at least on par with Somalia really. 

[Cain]

The girl is as good as dead.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/30/pakistan-blasphemy-case-muslims-law

A lawyer representing the man who accused a Pakistani Christian girl of blasphemy has said that if she is not convicted, Muslims could "take the law into their own hands".

Rao Abdur Raheem cited the example of Mumtaz Qadri, the man who last year shot dead a politician who had called for reform of the much-abused blasphemy law.

...Raheem said he had taken on the case for free because he was convinced that Masih should be punished. "This girl is guilty. If the state overrides the court, then God will get a person to do the job," he said.

Raheem, as one suspects, is a bigoted, fundamentalist nutcase.  But because of an increasingly Islamized middle class in Pakistan (General Zia's generation finally coming to fruit) his blatant calls for the assassination of a mentally disabled 11 year old will no doubt never get him into trouble.

[Cain]

Well, this is a twist:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19454739

Pakistani police have arrested an imam accused of planting burnt pages of the Koran in the bag of a Christian girl accused of blasphemy, officials say.

The girl was detained two weeks ago near the capital Islamabad after an angry mob demanded she be punished.

However, a witness has testified that imam Khalid Chishti put the pages in the bag himself, local media say.

I note only one witness.  It would be terrible if an accident were to occur.... like dying from falling on a knife 72 times, or walking into the path of a stray bullet, or something like that.

I mean, if you're going to frame a kid with Downs Syndrome for blasphemy, in a country where the courts frequently don't get the chance to pass the death sentence because religious lunatics beat them to it, chances are you're not going to care about adding another person to the death toll.

Assuming, of course, the witness is sincere, and this isn't some attempt by the Pakistani state to win back some lost international prestige and take care of a "troublesome priest" in the bargain.  I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if the events really did occur as this witness says they did, but it's equally likely someone was put up to it as a form of political damage control.

Meanwhile, the girl in question is still being held at a maximum security prison, away from her parents.

[Verbal Mike]

Seems odd to me that an imam would personally do that, especially in view of another being capable of speech. Doesn't seem at all odd for the state to make shit up like you're suggesting they may have.

[Kai]

Yep. Totally fucked.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I'm not a mean spirited person in general but I would have a grin from ear to ear if they were to execute the retard and let the little girl go home to her family. And no, I wouldn't feel so good about any other punishment. Does that make me a bad person?

[Luna]

No bail for the girl, she's in jail until at least Friday, due to a lawyer's strike.   

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-03/an-pakistan-blasphemy--case-adjourned/4240842

[Placid Dingo]

No bail for the girl, she's in jail until at least Friday, due to a lawyer's strike.   

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-03/an-pakistan-blasphemy--case-adjourned/4240842

Update: positive news

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-09-09/pakistan-blasphemy-girl-flown-from-prison-after-bail-ruling/1012834