Amid the growing cases of abuse of strict laws and violence against religious minorities, renowned activist and rights defender Samson Salamat has called for a two-day hunger strike, urging the saner voices to crowd Charring Cross outside the Punjab Assembly in Lahore on August 10.
Samson Salamat, who is also the chairman of the Rwadari Tehreek Pakistan, has been at the forefront of the fight against the misuse of blasphemy laws for almost a decade. He told Jarida Today that the main purpose of the hunger strike was to draw attention of the authorities to this sensitive issue that has adversely affected the lives of thousands.
“We are holding this hunger strike to demand an impartial inquiry into all attacks on religious minorities. From the Shanti Nagri incident of 1997 to last month’s murder of Nazir Masih in Sargodha, all cases need to be investigated thoroughly to ascertain whether the accusations levelled were genuine or mere malicious attempts to target individuals for personal vendettas,” he said.
He said that religious minorities no longer felt safe, mainly because of the frequency of strict laws being misused to settle personal vendettas, which often resulted in mob violence and extrajudicial killings. He regretted that in a country like Pakistan, even an allegation serves as evidence in blasphemy cases. About Rawadari Tehreek, he said the social movement was launched in 2015 to counter violent extremism and intolerance in the society. “We have been promoting respect for diversity and safeguarding religious freedoms from day one,” he said.
When asked what his movement aimed to achieve through the upcoming hunger strike, he said this protest aims to raise awareness. “Awareness about the rampant abuse of blasphemy laws as well as violence against religious minorities. What we want to highlight is the urgent need for judicial reforms and subsequent investigation into all attacks on members of the minority communities.” He called for comprehensive constitutional reforms to remove all discriminatory provisions.
“False allegations of blasphemy need to be criminalized so that people are discouraged to level them freely,” the Rawadari Tehreek chairman said, adding that his movement’s ultimate goal was to promote inclusiveness and tolerance in the society, where everyone could live without fear of persecution. Another issue that the movement has been highlighting is forced conversions and subsequent child marriages, especially of Hindu girls. “They target underage girls from minority communities, and force them to change their religion and marry against their free will. That is just inhumane,” he said.
Samson Salamat continued that regardless of their religious beliefs, no underage girl should be forced to marry. “They are robbing the girls of their childhood by marrying them off at such a young age,” he said, and urged the government to reset policies protect all its citizens, especially the most vulnerable ones. It may be mentioned here that the number of blasphemy cases has continued to increase over the years. According to some reports, at least 329 people were accused of blasphemy last year, which included 11 Christians and a Hindu.
All the cases continued to be reported this year, in which even youngsters were accused of blaspheming. One of the most prominent incidents of reported so far in 2024 was from Lahore, where a girl was nearly lynched by a crowd for wearing a dress with Arabic calligraphy.