http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/nov/09/blasphemy-laws-darkening-pakistan-skies
Blasphemy laws are darkening Pakistan's skies
A Lahore girls' school has been burned to the ground and an astronomer's family
arrested because of this tool of intolerance
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a.. Salman Hameed
b.. guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 November 2012 09.21 GMT
c.. Jump to comments (241)
Students of Farooqi Girls' High School protest in Lahore after their school was
burned down by an angry mob. Photograph: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images
I first met Umair Asim 15 years ago after an astronomy talk I gave in Lahore,
Pakistan. He peppered me with questions about telescopes, astrophotography and
the physics of stars. In the following years, Asim finished a masters degree in
astronomy and went on to establish a sophisticated observatory on the roof of
his house.
But what truly lights up Asim is his passion for public education. During the
International Year of Astronomy (IYA) in 2009, Asim helped lead and organise
numerous public observations in Lahore as well as in government schools in
smaller cities and towns in Punjab. Wherever he went, he would bring his
telescope with him. During IYA, it was a common sight to see Asim standing in
front of an audience of 500, first explaining to them basic principles of
astronomy and then entertaining long lines of people – from ages eight to 80 –
to show them craters of the moon and rings of Saturn.
It is not hard to explain where his passion for public education comes from.
His parents established Farooqi Girls' High School 34 years ago. It is now
considered one of the premier private schools in Lahore. Asim also serves as
vice principal and I get emails from him when a student or students from the
school would take top positions in the province-wide exams.
But on 31 October the school was burned to the ground by a crowd who had heard
it was accused of blasphemy. Lab equipment and computers were looted. Hundreds
of library books – obviously with little use to the mob – tossed into the fire.
Some even tried to pull the marble tiles off the floor.
The blasphemy accusations are not related to astronomy. Instead, they centre on
a teacher at the school, Arfa Iftikhar. In a rush for the start of the Eid
holiday, she accidentally missed a page while copying a homework assignment for
the class. Her mistake merged a line about the prophet of Islam with the lines
of a chapter on beggars. A parent of one of the students in her class noticed
it, and the chatter of blasphemy spread quickly.
It did not matter that this was an unintentional mistake. In the current
climate, it is comically easy to accuse someone of blasphemy in Pakistan. In
fact, in this instance, the blame was also extended to the school
administrators, including Asim.
The accused teacher is now in hiding and the police have arrested the
77-year-old principal of the school. He also happens to be Asim's father, and
his appeal for bail has been denied by the court. Asim and the rest of his
family are now in "protective custody".
It might be easy to blame religion here. But this is not a battle between
freethinkers and religious zealots. Asim and his family are pious Muslims. The
students at the school start their day with the name of God. I don't know the
accused teacher, but it is quite likely that she also belongs to a religious
middle-class family. Intentionally committing blasphemy against the prophet
would be appalling to all those involved.
The burning of the school is probably about a clash between the upwardly
mobile, educated middle class and the frustrated, poor and uneducated lower
class. The school's success and resources – and that also for a girls' school –
must have elicited envy. The mistake by the teacher provided the excuse to use
the blasphemy law to vent their frustration.
This blasphemy law is devouring Pakistani society from within. It is an
all-purpose tool in the service of intolerance. It has often been used against
religious minorities, but Muslims are paying the price as well. The repeal of
the law, unfortunately, is unlikely. Some voices critical of the law have
already been silenced by intimidation and violence, such as the assassination
of the governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer in 2011.
Maybe the school will recover, and the damages will be covered by donations of
concerned individuals. There have already been counter-protests. Two days after
the burning of the school, about 2,000 women – mostly former and current
students – gathered near the school holding placards demanding the release of
the principal and the reopening of the school.
But what is the future of Asim, his family and the accused teacher? With the
charged emotions around blasphemy, once accused, it is virtually impossible to
ever be safe afterwards, even if the court clears your name. Like the era of
European witch trials, Pakistan is going through its darkest phase.
If she is lucky, the accused teacher will be able to find asylum out of
Pakistan. Asim's father, now sleeping on the floor of a jail cell, will have to
cope with the fact that all the effort that he and his wife poured in for those
past 34 years is gone.
And Asim – one of Pakistan's brightest gems – must be wondering if he will ever
feel safe in a country where he shared his love for astronomy with so many
people.
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