The real story of Buddhists and Hindus in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka

The other day I posted a video by Choudary’s group, ‘need for caliphate’ staging a mock-outrage demo about persecution of muslims in south Asia.

The interview below gives a better picture of the region.

In the comments below this video at Youtube, Wrath of Khan was kind enough to post the following comment:

Pakistan shopkeeper gets life term for blasphemy (zeenews, May 9, 2014):
“A shopkeeper has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court for an act of blasphemy in Pakistan’s biggest city. The district and sessions court here ruled that there was enough evidence to sentence Malik Farooq for tearing up a banner which had the name of the Prophet and other Quranic verses inscribed on it, in February, 2013. In many instances, mostly non-Muslims have been convicted under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law which human rights groups say must be reviewed so that it is not misused to settle personal enmity or disputes or for persecution of religious minorities. Judge Nadeem Ahmed Khan also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Farooq who will have to undergo further six months of imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine. The accused took the plea before the court that he was framed in the case as he had a dispute with the management of a mosque adjacent to his shop but the court ruled he had not produced any evidence to support his claim while the three prosecution witnesses who deposed against him all stood firm in their testimony…”

Pakistan ‘blasphemy lawyer’ shot dead in Multan office (BBC, May 7, 2014):
“Gunmen in the Pakistani city of Multan have shot dead a lawyer defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy, police and officials say. Police said that Rashid Rehman was sitting in his office when he was shot. Two of  his assistants were injured. Allegations of blasphemy against Islam are taken very seriously in Pakistan. Critics argue that blasphemy laws are frequently misused to settle personal scores and that members of minority groups are often unfairly targeted. Senior police official Zulfiqar Ali told AFP news agency that Mr Rehman died amid “indiscriminate firing” in his office on Wednesday evening. He said he and his two injured colleagues were rushed to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival. Mr Rehman was defending Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University accused by hardline student groups of making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad in March last year…”

Pak Taliban vows to implement ‘Sharia’ in India, wage war in Kashmir (niticentral, Jan 8, 2013):
“A top Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader (TTP) Wali Ur Rehman in a rare video appearance has pledged to send fighters in Kashmir and wage a struggle for implementation of Sharia rule in India. Wali Ur Rehman, against whom the US has announced a $5 million reward for his involvement in the murder of seven CIA officials in Afghanistan in December 2009, is believed to have said this in a rare video of his along with the TTP chief Hamikullah Mehsud, in which the two militant leaders have for the first time spoken about their ambitions transcending beyond the Af-Pak border taking them to Kashmir, India and the United States as well. “The practical struggle for a Sharia system that we are carrying out in Pakistan, the same way we will continue it in Kashmir, and the same way we will implement the Sharia system in India too. And this is the only solution for people’s problems,” said Rehman…”

‘Hate content against religious minorities rampant in school textbooks across Pakistan’ (newstrackindia, Oct 25, 2012):
“Textbooks used in Pakistan’s schools include factual errors and hate content, which fuels the increasing levels of intolerance and extremism in the society, according to education experts. According to the experts, the government, civil society, education experts and citizens need to contribute to a serious process of curriculum and textbook reform to help combat the growing levels of intolerance and violence towards minority groups in society, reports the Daily Times. These views were presented by the experts during a discussion on curriculum development and textbook reform in Pakistan, organised by the Jinnah Institute in collaboration with the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) in Islamabad.”