ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: A number of local NGOs would hold a protest demonstration in front of the Supreme Court here on Saturday against the decision of a court in Karachi that sentenced a man to death on charges of blasphemy.

The decision in this regard was taken by various NGOs at a meeting at the office of Action Aid here on Friday.

Younus Shaikh has been convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death by a court. He is currently in solitary confinement in a prison in Karachi. He was convicted of ‘blasphemy’ for writing in his book that “stoning to death as punishment for adultery is not in the Quran”.

The representatives of various NGOs were of the opinion that if Younas Shaikh could be convicted of blasphemy then most human rights activists, who protested against the Hudood Ordinance, could be an easy prey to these charges.

They said the National Commission on Status of Women and a number of other organizations and religious scholars had also objected to the Hudood Ordinance. They said critiquing the Hudood Ordinance had never been called blasphemy before even though the religious right wing considered them divine laws.

They said they strongly felt that they needed to protest against his conviction.

However, the NGOs have cautioned the protesters to hold banners and placards stating the exact statement that Younus Shaikh had been convicted for, i.e. ‘Stoning to death for adultery is not in the Holy Quran’, because, they said, that was what the human rights activists had been saying for over two decades.