May 12, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 24, 1428

LAHORE, May 11: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has advised the government to proceed with the adoption of the proposed apostasy bill with utmost caution.

Describing the reports of a plan to enact a law to discourage apostasy as deeply disturbing particularly in Pakistan’s current environment, HRCP chairperson Asma Jehangir said in a statement the government should not proceed in the matter without a survey of relevant practices in the Muslim world and public debate.

“It is also worth noting that a great many other issues of national significance facing the country perhaps deserve greater attention than apostasy which is not a serious issue and can lead to a new controversy.”

She said the HRCP believed that it was imperative that the authorities carefully considered any decision with respect to the apostasy bill given the tendency to abuse the laws in the country. The blasphemy law, widely used to settle petty personal disputes, was a case in point with suffering inflicted on many people through its abuse.

It was also a fact that there was apparent lack of unity among Islamic scholars on the application of centuries-old concepts in modern age. There was as such a danger that the new law could further create sectarian friction and acrimony, she said.

She said the authorities needed to consider global opinion, Pakistan’s obligations to uphold human rights and its image in the international community. A new law on religion might further damage the country’s standing in the comity of nations, particularly at a time when violence by extremist groups had already brought it a bad name. —Reporter