JUI-F Senator Haidri says will block 'any amendment' to blasphemy law

Published October 10, 2018
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Secretary General Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. Photo:File
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Secretary General Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. Photo:File

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) secretary general Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri on Wednesday opposed any amendments to the blasphemy law, which was under discussion in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee for Information and Technology.

As a discussion on amendments to curtail the misuse of the law started, Maulana Haidri said: "Why is the blasphemy law alone the topic of so much discussion?"

To this, he was told that the law was being reviewed as it was being widely misused.

Also read: A brief history of the anti-blasphemy laws

The Maulana's retort was that, "other laws are also being misused in the country, but no one seems to mind that and thus we will not let this law be changed either."

He also dropped a threat, saying that the blasphemy law had previously "taken a lot of lives, and if anyone tries to touch it, they will be the ones held responsible for any damage caused."

He also said that if any step to amend the law is taken, his party will show "complete resistance" and even block it in the National Assembly and Senate.

"We will tell the people the complete truth behind this," he said before marching out of the meeting along with Senator Fida Muhammad Khan.

As a result of the walkout, the committee's meeting was adjourned indefinitely.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...