Скачать или смотреть Reax to pope's call for Pakistan to reverse blasphemy law

(11 Jan 2011) SHOTLIST
1. Statues in front of Catholic church
2. Various exteriors of church
3. Muslim and Christian children going to church-run school
4. Munawar Hasan, President of Jamaat-e-Islami, walking
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Munawar Hasan, President of Jamaat-e-Islami:
"As a matter of fact, there are no true opinions as far as the Pope statement is concerned. They have been poking their nose into our internal affairs and that also is because of the reason our rulers, they don't care about that. Their internal affairs are disturbed by all these things. So as a matter of fact this is our internal affairs, number one. Number two, blasphemy law is common and popular as far as the United States of America and the United Kingdom are concerned, both have blasphemy laws. And blasphemy laws does not mean, as far as Pakistan is concerned, that it is against minorities or Christians or anybody else."
6. People standing in front of newspaper stand
7. Close of newspaper front page
8. Headline reading (English) "Pope calls on Pakistan to abrogate anti-blasphemy law"
9. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Amjad Ali, local Muslim resident:
"The Pope's statement is totally wrong, we condemn it. The blasphemy law should be more strict, so that no one whether they are common people or anyone else can think of giving any statement against the Prophet."
10. Mid of man reading newspaper
11. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Riaz Masee, local Christian resident:
"The Pope's opinion is wrong, because I think the Pope is not allowed to speak about our internal matters. We do have our religious scholars who can speak about this matter. The blasphemy law is implemented on everyone whether he is Hindu, Muslim or Christian. No religion is allowed to say anything against any other religions and this is our own law."
12. Various of security personnel deployed on Karachi streets
STORYLINE
The head of Pakistan's Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, condemned the recent statement by Pope Benedict XVI in which he urged Pakistan to reverse its blasphemy laws, saying they were a pretext for violence against non-Muslims.
On Tuesday, Munawar Hasan, President of Jamaat-e-Islami, said the blasphemy law was an "internal affair" of Pakistan and was not designed to target "minorities or Christians or anybody else".
"They have been poking their nose into our internal affairs," Munawar Hasan added.
Some Karachi residents also supported the law, saying it would prevent individuals from insulting Islam.
"The blasphemy law is implemented on everyone whether he is Hindu, Muslim or Christian. No religion is allowed to say anything against any other religions and this is our own law," Riaz Masee, a local Christian resident said.
The Pope has said Pakistan should repeal its blasphemy laws, which carry a death sentence for insulting Islam, and noted the recent slaying of the Punjab governor who opposed them.
The governor, Salman Taseer, had called them "black" laws, but he wasn't demanding they be repealed, instead, he wanted them reformed so they wouldn't be misused.
Taseer became energised by the case of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, whom he said was wrongly sentenced to death for insulting Islam's prophet,
Muhammad. The Pope also called for her release.
Tens of thousands of people marched through the southern port city of Karachi on Sunday to oppose any change to the blasphemy laws and many
expressed support for Taseer's killer.
Human rights activists have also said Pakistan's blasphemy laws are used to settle rivalries and persecute religious minorities.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...