The Kafkaesque Reality of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws

Blasphemy is a serious crime in Pakistan, but the law sets out no guidance, standards on evidence or safeguards against false accusations. As such, the law is subject to great abuse. Witnesses, police and court officials avoid repeating alleged comments, out of fear of attracting new charges. “The blasphemy law has created and facilitated a culture of vigilantism,” writes Samira Shackle in the New Statesman, and she compares the law to the horrific and nebulous investigation in Franz Kafka’s The Trial. Shackle reports that Pakistan’s ambassador to the US is being now investigated for blasphemy, after making remarks on television in 2010 that the blasphemy law should be reviewed, with the death penalty abolished. “A crucial part of a functioning democracy is the ability to openly and publicly debate significant legislative changes before they are passed into the statute book,” Shackle writes. The law reflects a dysfunctional state, subject to religious extremism, and she warns the Pakistani public will suffer if abused laws and policies can’t be debated. – YaleGlobal