The Economist - USA (2022-02-26)

40 Asia The Economist February 26th 2022

BlasphemyinPakistan

No mercy

T

anveer ahmed, afraid to leave the

near­darknessofhishome,sitsonhis

bedfretting.Heisa civilengineer;hiswife

wastheheadmistressofa privateschool.

Theyenjoyeda comfortablelifetogether.

Anaccusationofblasphemylevelledathis

wifesweptallthataway,andhenowcow­

ersina dilapidatedcoupleofroomsina

suburbofLahore.Hiswife,SalmaTanveer,

isondeathrow.Hehaslosthishomeand

jobandworriesthata mobcouldkillhimat

anytime.“Mywifeisa verygoodwoman,

shedidnotdeservethis,”hesays.“Weare

afraid,wecan’tgoanywhere.”

The high­profile case ofAsia Bibi, a

Christianfarmhandsentencedtodeathin

lowercourtsforblasphemyafterbeingac­

cusedbytheMuslimssheworkedwithof

insultingtheProphetMuhammad,ended

in 2018 with acquittal in the Supreme

Court. But such accusations still ruin

scoresoflivesinPakistaneachyear.In­

deedin 2020, the most recentyear for

whichAmerica’sStateDepartmenthastal­

lied figures, Pakistani courts heard 199

blasphemycases,a recordnumber.

MsTanveerwassentencedtohangin

Septemberaftera judgeruledshehaddis­

tributedwritingsdenyingMohammadwas

thefinalprophetofIslam.Herhusband

saysshewassufferingfromlong­standing

mentalillness,andthatthecasewaspur­

suedbya localclericseekingrevengeafter

a quarrelwiththecouple.(MsAsia’scase

also followed a row, with other farm­

hands.) Medical testimony on Ms Tan­

veer’smental­healthproblemsdelayedher

trialforyears.Herdeathsentencehasstill

tobeconfirmed.Infact,nodeathsentence

forblasphemyhaseverbeencarriedoutin

Pakistan.Butacquittalsgeneratesomuch

publicangerthatjudgesprefertopasscas­

estoappealscourts. MsTanveerislikelyto

spendyearsmorelanguishingbehindbars

ashercasecrawlsthroughthesystemto

theSupremeCourt.

According to the State Department’s

survey,ofthepeoplefacingblasphemyac­

cusationsin2020, 35 weresentencedto

death.Oftheaccused,70%wereShiaMus­

lims, 20%from thepersecuted Ahmadi

sect(whoareconsiderednon­Muslimsun­

derPakistanilaw),5%Sunnisandtherest

HindusorChristians.

Tehreek­e­Labbaik Pakistan (tlp), an

extremistparty, has amassed enormous

political clout, in part by resisting at­

temptstoreformtheblasphemylaws.It

has  been  emboldened  by  confrontations

with  the  government  of  Imran  Khan,  the

prime  minister,  all  of  which  have  ended

with the government’s climbing down. 

The  Centre  for  Research  and  Security

Studies, athink­tank in  Islamabad,  has

countednearly1,300accusations  of  blas­

phemymadebetween2011 and 2021. Cam­

paignerstryingtohelpthose  accused  say

thesuccessofthetlphas meant that mak­

inga blasphemyaccusation and whipping

upill­educatedfollowers can be a shrewd

careermoveforanambitious cleric.

The streamofaccusations  shows  no

signofdryingup.OnJanuary  19th  a  26­

year­oldwomanwassentenced to hang for

allegedlysendingblasphemous  messages

overWhatsAppandFacebook. The carica­

turesAneeqaAteeqforwarded were judged

tobea deliberateinsultto Islam. Ms Ateeq,

whoisMuslimherself,says  she  had  been

lured into conversation  with  the  com­

plainant,whomadeadvances  to  her  and

then wanted revengeafter  she  spurned

them. In the daysafter  her  conviction,

competing Twitter hashtags  lobbied  to

saveherandtohangher.

Earlierthismontha mob in rural Pun­

jablyncheda mentallyill man after accus­

inghimofburningpages  of  the  Koran.  A

SriLankanfactorymanager in the industri­

alcityofSialkotwasmurdered in Decem­

berafterworkersaccused  him  of  tearing

downpostersbearingholy verses. 

SalmaTanveerisbeing  represented  by

Saif ul­Malook,thelawyer  who  also  de­

fendedMsAsia.Thatearlier  case  brought

himinternationalacclaim and even fund­

ing.Hepredictshewill  receive  no  such

supportforthisone.Hesays: “If the accu­

sation is againstaChristian,  the  whole

Christianworldisreadyto stand, to fund a

lawyer, to raise a media  campaign  and

makediplomaticeffortswith  the  govern­

ment.Butwhenit comes to a Muslim, they

arenotinterested.”n

L AHORE

A cruel law devastates scores of lives

each year, most of them Muslim

Blasphemers beware

DiplomacyinSouth-EastAsia

The chastened

cowboy

H

un sen likes  doing  things  his  own

way.  Cambodia’s  prime  minister  has

ruled  the  country  for  37  years  and  count­

ing.  Satisfied  with  his  own  performance,

he  banned  the  main  opposition  party  in

2017. In January he flew to Myanmar, decid­
ing  that  he  was  the  man  to  bring  peace  to
that country, racked by war since the army
seized power last year.
This did not go down well in the region.
asean,the club of South­East Asian coun­
tries  to  which  Cambodia  belongs,  has  a
hallowed  tradition  of  consensus,  and  last
year  decided  to  shun  Myanmar’s  junta.  In
2022  Cambodia  holds  the  bloc’s  chair,
which rotates annually. So the timing of Mr
Hun  Sen’s  visit  was  unfortunate.  It  might
have helped create the impression that the
bloc  considered  the  junta  legitimate,  re­
marked Malaysia’s foreign minister. In ex­
change,  the  generals  offered  no  real  con­
cessions to Mr Hun Sen.
So  the  “cowboy”  diplomat,  as  he  has
been dubbed, has had a rough ride, recall­
ing  the  last  time  his  country  wielded
asean’s  gavel.  In  2012  Cambodia  scandal­
ised  the  region  by  appearing  to  act  as  a
proxy  for  China,  blocking  the  release  of  a
joint  aseanstatement  on  the  tussle  be­
tween China and several South­East Asian
countries  over  competing  claims  in  the
South  China  Sea.  Cambodia  began  to  be
seen as a Chinese client­state. In 2020 Bila­
hari  Kausikan,  once  Singapore’s  most  se­
nior diplomat, suggested that aseanmight
one  day  be  forced  to  expel  Cambodia  be­
cause it had fallen into China’s orbit. 

KUALA LUMPUR

Will humiliation in Myanmar help

Cambodia distance itself from China?