Religious leaders belonging to various schools of thought said they feared that more people would tend to commit blasphemy to go abroad if Aasia’s departure was not blocked. – Photo by AP

LAHORE: Religious leaders belonging to various schools of thought pledged here on Thursday to jointly resist a reported move to send a Christian blasphemy convict abroad.

They decided to take along other segments of society to build a public campaign against the government’s plan to amend the blasphemy law.

Briefing the media after a meeting of religious parties under the banner of Tehrik Hurmat-i-Rasool, the leaders said they would use their influence both within and outside the parliament to block the move to send Aasia abroad.

They said the president had no legal authority to pardon blasphemy convicts. They said Muslim rulers should boycott European markets and their products because they were supporting the people involved in blasphemy. They asked the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer’s comments relating to the Aasia case and restrain the government from sending her abroad.

They said they feared that more people would tend to commit blasphemy to go abroad if Aasia’s departure was not blocked.

They announced that they would observe Friday (today) as a protest day, stage demonstrations and hold rallies across the country to press the government to execute Aasia in line with the verdict of a lower court.

The religious leaders criticised the non-government organisations issuing statements against the blasphemy law and vowed to foil all attempts for repeal or amendments to the law.

They alleged that Minorities Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was doing propaganda that Aasia’s family was facing life threats. They said Bhatti had been doing propaganda abroad against similar issues, making Pakistan suffer economically.

They criticised Taseer for working to seek presidential pardon for a blasphemy convict and doing nothing for hundreds of Pakistanis facing capital punishment. The governor, they said, was ignoring the plight of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

Maulana Amir Hamza, Maulana Abdul Malik, Allama Ahmed Ali Kasuri, Hafiz Abdul Gaffar Ropari, Maulana Amjad, Allama Kazim Raza Naqvi, Jameel Faizi, Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, Syed Naubahar Shah, Qari Yaqoob Sheikh and Mirza Ayub were present at the briefing.