“Here we are: Leading Shiite cleric arrested in Pakistan based on new blasphemy law”, Bitter Winter, September 6, 2023:
“We wish we had been wrong. But we weren’t. After a test case against a Sunni retired teacher, Pakistan amended last month Article 298-A of its Criminal Code, which is part of its blasphemy laws and punishes those who disrespect “the Prophet’s wives, family, close companions, and the Righteous Caliphs.” The penalty passed from one month to three years in jail to a minimum of ten years to life imprisonment, plus a fine of one million rupees.
“Bitter Winter” reported that the government had amended Article 298-A under pressure from radical anti-Shiite Sunni movements, and that Shiites would risk severe jail penalties. In fact, in Shia literature one can find curses against Aisha, the third and youngest wife of Muhammad, for her role in denying that Ali, whom the Shiites regard as their founder, was the legitimate successor of the Prophet, and against those companions of the Prophet who sided against Ali.
We were not alarmist, and what we denounced as a possibility has already happened, as soon as the new law entered into force. A prominent Shiite cleric, Agha Baqir al-Hussaini, was arrested in Skardu, the largest city in the Gilgit-Baltistan region…..”
Read the full article at Bitterwinter.org
