THE Dawn editorial (Oct 18) on the above subject is pure logic and reality but these arguments do not carry any weight when the issue is blasphemy law.

This issue is judged purely on the basis of emotionalism and the critic, whosoever he may be, only treads a path that can invite immediate reprisal from some fanatic. Why then should a judge , or a lawyer pleading the case of the accused or witnesses whose statement could exonerate the victim of the blasphemy charge, take the risk when any such action is a crime of abetment in the eyes of the accuser!

A person accused of committing blasphemy will definitely receive a death sentence in all the tiers of judicial from the trial court to the apex court.

In fact it is either the neck of the blasphemy accused through judicial verdict or the neck of the trial judge by way of extra judicial action of the vigilantes.

In this scenario, it is futile to hold a blasphemy case trial. The charge framed by an accuser should be enough to convict the victim to death.

S.G.B. Shah Bokhari

Peshawar

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014