ISLAMABAD: Without contemplating changes to the blasphemy law, members of a parliamentary committee said on Thursday that it was necessary to devise ways to prevent its misuse.

Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights Chairperson Senator Nasreen Jalil said innocent people have been wrongly accused of blasphemy and have suffered.

“The blasphemy law is a sensitive matter and the committee does not seek an amendment to the law. We only want to bring procedural changes to prevent its misuse,” she said.

The committee met to reconsider procedural changes to prevent the misuse of the blasphemy law.

The Ministry of Interior, in a written response, said that a thorough consultative process should be undertaken involving stakeholders from provincial governments, the ministries of religious affairs, law and justice and information, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), ulema councils and law enforcement agencies.

Committee told that previous CII reports suggested punishment for false accusers under section 295-C

It decided to prepare a brief based on recommendations from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the CII and a recent Islamabad High Court judgement in a blasphemy case, and seek the views of all provincial governments and stakeholders on it within a specified timeframe.

The Senate committee was informed that in its 2000-01 and 2003-04 reports, the CII had proposed awarding the same punishment given to blasphemers to those who register false cases under PPC section 295-C.

In a 1997-98 report, the council had also recommended that anyone who lodged a complaint under 295-C should be required to produce two witnesses to corroborate their accusation.

The religious affairs ministry also recently said that while substantive amendments are not permissible, procedural amendments could be made to prevent misuse of the law.

National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) Chairman Ali Nawaz Chohan proposed that no police officer below the rank of superintendent should investigate offences under section 295-C. He also said that repentance should be allowed in this case.

Ministry of Human Rights Director General Malik Kamran said his office endorsed procedural changes to prevent the misuse of the law.

“Pakistan comes under pressure from the international community on the issues of death sentences and the blasphemy law. Procedural changes to prevent of misuse of the blasphemy law will only be appreciated by the international community as a step forward to bring improvements,” said the government official.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs also supported the committee when it said that while any substantive amendment in the law – such as changes in punishment – are not allowed, procedural amendments and those to prevent misuse may be done.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017