'Section 295C was introduced into the Pakistani legal system in the 1980s by the military dictator Gen. Zia ul-Haq as part of his broader effort to Islamize laws in Pakistan. It stipulates that "derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet … either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly … shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine." '
So let's get this straight: the USA & KSA supported Zia ul-Haq because he was helping the mujahideen fight the Soviets. Zia ul-Huq 'was described by some as a "fundamentalist Sunni dictator"'.
While Zia al Huq was President, 'On 4 April 1979, the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged, after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence as passed by the Lahore High Court. The Supreme Court ruled four to three in favour of execution. The High Court had given him the death sentence on charges of the murder of the father of Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a dissident PPP politician. Despite many clemency appeals from foreign leaders requesting Zia to commute Bhutto's death sentence, Zia dismissed the appeals and upheld the death sentence. The hanging of an elected prime minister by a military man was condemned by the international community and by lawyers and jurists across Pakistan.'
Hey it was the 80s! In the 80s most Americans had no idea where Pakistan is. As a teenager growing up in Colorado, I knew there was a country called Pakistan, and most Pakistanis are Muslim, but I did not know so many of them are Shia. It wasn't until I read Vali Nasr's The Shia Revival that I learned about the history of sectarian conflict in Pakistan. It seems that most Americans still don't know about the sectarian violence in Pakistan, and if they do, they probably don't care. Americans in general don't see a difference between Sunni and Shiite.
'Some see a precursor of Pakistani Shia-Sunni strife in the April 1979 execution of deposed President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on questionable charges by Islamic fundamentalist General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. According to Vali Nasr, Ali Bhutto was Shia and Zia ul-Haq a Sunni.
The "Islamization of General Zia ul-Haq" that followed was resisted by Shia who saw it as "Sunnification" as the laws and regulations were based on Sunni Fiqh, or Jurisprudence. In July 1980, 25,000 Shia protested the Islamization laws in the capital Islamabad.'
It's amazing how quickly one can learn about the history of a country (and just about anything else) on the web these days.
2 comments :
"So since killing people for abusing Muhammad is unequivocally from the religion"
Muhammad isn't God. He's been dead for 1300 years, and can't be abused by anyone. God can't be abused either, for that matter. If Salafis had any faith at all, they would let Allah handle his own business. What kind of God can't strike down disbelievers without the help of suicide bombers?
I don't agree with people who say not all Salafis are bad. That's like saying not all Nazis are bad. Asshole bigots playing God are bad.....period.
"President Hosni Mubarak has accused foreign groups of being behind the attack, which has sparked a wave of angry protests by Christians in Egypt.
But on the ground, investigators are searching in a different direction — scrutinizing homegrown hard-liners, known as Salafis, and the possibility they were inspired by al-Qaida.
Only two or three days before Saturday's bombing, police arrested several Salafis spreading fliers in Alexandria calling for violence against Christians, a security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
According to authorities, the strong belief among investigators is that local extremists who knew the area and the nature of their target were behind the blast. The Egyptian weekly Al-Youm Al-Saba said police were examining photos of the Salafis' weekly protests for suspects."
http://tinyurl.com/269b9m4
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