The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source: Fox News
Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:31 PM
WORLD: Pakistani Women's Right Activist Pushing Back Against Charges Of Blasphemy, A Crime That Carries Death Penalty
Gulalai Ismail, the founder of the Aware Girls, a women’s empowerment group in Pakistan, filed charges against Hamza Khan, the zealous head of a local youth parliament.
The move is seen as bold – and unprecedented – in a patriarchal society where women’s rights are seen as lagging.
Khan accused Ismail, 31, of insulting Islam, defaming Pashtun culture and threatening the state of Pakistan. Khan posted a photo of Ismail on social media accusing her of pushing a “western agenda” because of her advocacy for women’s rights. On the social media clip, he also urged a mob to attack her, denouncing her as an infidel.
While the social media post put her life in danger, the blasphemy allegations are even more severe. It is one of the most serious crimes in the Pakistani penal code and carries an almost certain death sentence. Several politicians have been assassinated for trying to amend the country’s draconian blasphemy laws.
Ismail has strongly fought back against
the blasphemy allegations, calling on the state to decide her case.
She told Fox News she took the extraordinary step of filing charges to
stand up for those who have been wrongly accused.
“I stand not only for myself – this legal move will give voice to other
people in Pakistan who are falsely charged with blasphemy,” a defiant
and emotional Ismail told Fox News. “It will be a precedent and the
state now should legislate the growing issue of false blasphemy
allegations of in the name of religion.”
Khan, who was arrested after Ismail filed a complaint against him,
brushed off the charges and vowed to prove his innocence.