Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah instructed the police to hold back from registering any further blasphemy cases against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in connection with the Madina incident, saying that the use of religion for political gains must be ended.
He issued this statement at the resumption of a hearing of a petition submitted by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, demanding that the use of blasphemy cases against political opponents be declared illegal, and that the harassment of PTI leaders over these cases be put to an end.
The incumbent government had registered blasphemy cases against PTI leaders following the incident that took place at Masjid-e-Nabwi in Madina. A group of ‘unknown individuals’ heckled and hurled slogans at the PML-N delegation that was visiting Madina on a 3 day trip at the time.
“Registering cases for your own benefit is a disrespect to one’s own self,” said Justice Minallah, adding that the misuse of religion as a political tool and making accusations of blasphemy is a huge violation of human rights.
He said that after reviewing the case, it did not appear to be justified or valid, adding that political parties refusing to foster an environment of tolerance leads to cases like the lynching of Mashal Khan, or the Sri Lankan Priyantha Kumara.
Upon examining the Islamabad Police reports and FIRs that PTI’s legal counsel, Faisal Chaudhry presented to the court, the CJ said that they didn’t even have the ‘required ingredients’ needed to register the actual case.
Justice Minallah also stated that using blasphemy laws for political gains was a “blasphemous act in itself”, and said that political parties should refrain from using religion to win political battles.
Fawad Chaudhry requested the court to withdraw the cases registered against the PTI members, and claimed that PTI would make a commitment to not use religion as a political tool again.
