Ashrafi for impartial probe into Rimsha blasphemy case

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council, Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi Monday stressed that if the court releases Rimsha Masih, the Christian girl accused of blasphemy, then in that case the government should take steps to ensure her security.

Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi addressing a press conference along with the representatives of religious organizations and leaders of Christian community, demanded of the government to form an investigation team to bring the facts and real culprits before public eye.

He said the acts of Khalid Jadoon, the Imam of the Mosque who is in police custody on charges of tempering with the evidence in Rimsha's case, has 'made our heads hang low in shame'. No Muslim can commit such a mortifying act, he added.

"Rimsha is Pakistan's daughter and if the government cannot provide protection to her, the Pakistan Ulema Council is ready to do so," Tahir Ashrafi claimed.

Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said that Pakistan's blasphemy law should be retained but added that the standard of investigation also needed to be improved in the wake of recent events in regard to the registration of First Information Report (FIR). "This law must not be allowed to be made a mockery of."

He proposed that apart from Muslim Ulema and Muftis, people from other faiths living in Pakistan should also be taken on board to stop the misuse of this law. Otherwise, a strategy in this connection will be formulated in coordination with religious and political forces, he added.

Hafiz Ashrafi said Kahlid Jadoon was not the central character in the case and stressed that the masterminds should also be unveiled. "We will try our best to ensure that no one gets subjected to excesses and justice gets upheld."