A person falsely accusing anyone of being involved in blasphemous expression or action must get the same punishment as set forth for the convicted, a Senate Special Committee on Human Rights recommended Tuesday.
The Upper House panel also recommends the stipulation that the accuser seeking to file a blasphemy case must produce at least two witnesses to back up his/her claim.
“Anyone falsely accusing someone of blasphemy should be subjected to the same punishment as a person convicted of blasphemy,” the committee proposed, according to a report in Dawn newspaper.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been under national and international scrutiny in the wake of a spate of cases in which the accusers have been found falsely implicating members of Christian minority.
Human rights activists have criticized implementation of the blasphemy laws, which are exploited by people to settle scores against their opponents.
The courts have also dealt with some high-profile cases but some religious groups have been staunch defenders of the blasphemy laws and reject any effort to amend the laws.
On Tuesday, Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar, a member of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, rejected the proposed punishment for the accusers, calling it “an attempt to sabotage the blasphemy law.”
Senator Farhatullah Babar of Pakistan People’s Party clarified that the recommendations are just meant to prevent misuse of the blasphemy laws.
“We are not trying to make any changes to the blasphemy law, we are trying to keep people from misusing it,” he noted.
The committee will now forward its recommendations to the Council of Islamic Ideology, an advisory body on Islamic laws.
