Muslim Boy’s Response to Blasphemy Charge Unnerves Many in Pakistan
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Waqar Gillani and Rod Norland
PAKISTAN---Late one night, the imam Shabir Ahmad looked up from prayers at his mosque to see a 15-year-old boy approaching with a plate in his outstretched left hand. On it was the boy’s freshly severed right hand. Mr. Ahmad did not hesitate. He fled the mosque and left the village, in eastern Punjab Province. Earlier that night, Jan. 10, he had denounced the boy as a blasphemer, an accusation that in Pakistan can get a person killed — even when the accusation is false, as it was in this case. The boy’s family, however, argues that the cleric did nothing wrong and should not be punished. [link]
By Waqar Gillani and Rod Norland
PAKISTAN---Late one night, the imam Shabir Ahmad looked up from prayers at his mosque to see a 15-year-old boy approaching with a plate in his outstretched left hand. On it was the boy’s freshly severed right hand. Mr. Ahmad did not hesitate. He fled the mosque and left the village, in eastern Punjab Province. Earlier that night, Jan. 10, he had denounced the boy as a blasphemer, an accusation that in Pakistan can get a person killed — even when the accusation is false, as it was in this case. The boy’s family, however, argues that the cleric did nothing wrong and should not be punished. [link]
