Pope Benedicts statement calling upon Pakistan to repeal its anti-blasphemy law has been received in the political and religious circles with much surprise and consternation. Blasphemy is as much condemned in Christianity as in Islam, if not more. For the head of the Catholic Church to ask a country to repeal its anti-blasphemy law seems like an exercise in self-contradiction.

It would have been more appropriate for the pontiff to ask his followers to refrain from blasphemy of Allah and all his prophets, peace be upon them. That would be more in keeping with the teachings of Christianity, then asking other countries to abrogate their laws forbidding blasphemy.

It may be mentioned here that the Pakistans law under reference forbids blasphemy of not only the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, but of all other prophets, peace be upon them.

His Holiness should realize that the law is based on the teachings of the Holy Quran. His statement amounts to asking the Muslims not to follow the Quran. Whither the spirit of inter-faith understanding?

The Pope is also reported to have remarked in his annual address to the diplomats that the Pakistani law was a pretext for violence against religious minorities. Here again it seems that he is not properly informed. According to official record ever since the anti-blasphemy law was promulgated, there has not been even a single execution under the law.

It would be pertinent to point here that most of the stories of harm to Christians and other minorities in Pakistan are mere propaganda. There is no discrimination against religious minorities except a constitutional requirement that the heads of state and government should be Muslims. All other posts are open to all, including Christians. In fact Christians have served in some of the highest positions in the civil administration, judiciary and the armed forces of Pakistan and there are thousands of them working in top positions in the country.

It is also a matter of historical record that thousands of Christians and Hindu Dalits migrated to Pakistan from India because of better treatment and more economic opportunities for them in Pakistan. India, which boasts of secularism and democracy, has had thousands of communal riots since independence. Recently there have been attacks on churches in India. Some years ago a Christian priest was burnt alive by Hindu mobs in a riot in eastern India.

But strangely, all these gross violations of human rights in India have escaped the notice of the pontiff, while he has gone to the extent of interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan in asking for an Islamic law to be repealed.

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