With immense pain and agony, I as a citizen of India bring to your notice the shocking case of blasphemy being slapped against an eight year old Hindu boy in Pakistan - the youngest person ever to be accused of blasphemy in  the country. It is alleged that the minor Hindu boy urinated in the premises of a library of a Madrassa where religious books were kept in the Rahim Yar Khan district of Punjab province of Pakistan  last month. Following this incidence, an infuriated Muslim mob attacked a Hindu temple after the minor boy was released on bail and because of this attack, panic stricken Hindu families have fled the locality.

This case has sparked outrage among rights groups as well as among Hindu community of Pakistan and  India. It is ludicrous as well as preposterous and perplexing to slap the draconian blasphemy law against an innocent eight year old boy who barely has any understanding of this law. At such a tender age, he could have seldom anticipated the fallout of his act of urinating in a library containing religious books. To brand his mistake as an unpardonable offence tantamounting to blasphemy is a gross exaggeration on the part of Pakistani state. Going by the track record of Pakistan it can be surmised that the latest case is simply a continuation of targeted violence and indiscriminate oppression of minority communities, especially Hindus who constitute two - four percent of Pakistan's total population. Blasphemy is a veil to systematically persecute Hindu minorities as in extreme cases, blasphemy warrants death penalty for the offender. It is chilling to even imagine if the little boy ends up in the gallows for a small mistake which could be rectified by not so horrendous measures.  

The International Human Rights Consensus against ''blasphemy'' laws advocates repeal of draconian blasphemy laws. During the Durban Review Conference, Geneva in 2009, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief argued that, '' states should repeal blasphemy laws that have a stifling effect on open dialogue and public discourse, often particularly affecting persons belonging to religious minorities''. 

Despite concerted international campaigns against blasphemy laws, countries like Pakistan which have an authoritarian, illiberal character inimical to democratic political culture continue to have such laws to ruthlessly suppress minorities and using the provisions whimsically on flimsy grounds to exact vengeance, promote religious bigotry, extremism, fanaticism and vigilantism.

It is my sincere appeal and imploration before you to urgently interevene in this case and save the life of the eight year old Hindu boy who is being hounded for an inadvertent mistake which could have been a result of his sheer ignorance or childhood innocence. 

Regards
Aggrieved citizens of India &
Persons of Indian Origin

Background

Section 295C of Pakistan’s Penal Code carries a mandatory death sentence for blasphemy. However, it is not clear under which specific clause this Hindu boy has been charged.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are overbroad, vague and coercive, enable abuse and violate Pakistan’s international legal obligations to respect and protect human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and of opinion and expression.  

Hindus constitute Pakistan’s largest non-Muslim minority, estimated at between two and four per cent of the population. In December 2020, another Hindu temple was set alight in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, following authorities halting the construction of a Hindu temple and community center in the federal capital earlier that year.