A long wait for Aasia Bibi
She has already suffered a lot but it looks like a longer, more painful and tiresome journey lies ahead for her. Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman sent to the gallows by a district court in central Punjab last year for committing blasphemy, will have to wait for several years before the Lahore High Court (LHC) takes up her application, seeking review of the lower judiciary’s verdict. Lawyers associated with the case have indicated that it is unlikely that the LHC would take up any time soon the review petition in arguably the most ‘controversial’ case in the country’s recent legal ...
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The constant variables
The more things change, the more they remain the same. I never realised until Tuesday how depressing that can be. The District and Sessions Judge Zawar Ahmed Sheikh was sent on a 4-month leave, removing the biggest bone of contention between the bar and the bench. But it is still far from over. The lawyers say that they want all their demands met, which includes that the Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice accept the resignations of all the judges who resigned in protest and that the police officials who beat the lawyers up be suspended. It is unlikely, even ...
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University of Panjab – anyone?
Some of our parliamentarians are being questioned on the authenticity of their academic degrees. How disgraceful that we have sitting lawmakers, most of whom might turn out to be complete frauds. Quite a few have master’s and bachelors’ degrees from an institution by the name of ‘University of Panjab’. Next thing we know, the rest will be from ‘Harward’ or ‘Priceton’. In that case, the majority of them will be qualified enough only to be disqualified. The Higher Education Commission has said that it will need three months to verify degrees of lawmakers from PPP, PML-Q and PML-N. The ...
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PTA plans to push Pakistan to 1984
A leaked confidential draft of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) allegedly delivered to the Lahore High Court (LHC) has suggested the implementation of a new draconian system which would greatly curtail internet freedom in the country, not unlike Big Brother from George Orwell’s ’1984′. Needless to say, the document obtained by APCmember Bytes for All has begun to make rounds online, leaving many (including this writer) extremely worried about the possibilities of such a system being actualised. Pertinent points from the PTA draft suggestions follow: 1. The draft states that blasphemous content found online has created dismay and discomfort among the government and ...
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Pakistan, a country where Zuckerberg can face death penalty
The news that Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg may face a death penalty by the Lahore High Court (LHC) didn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the facebook fiasco in Pakistan. Keeping in view the recent few verdicts by the LHC which ironically defied some basic laws of physics, geography and common sense, there is a major possibility that the young entrepreneur from New York is sentenced to a death penalty under Criminal Code 295-C on blasphemy laws. Now I am not here to discuss the global pitfall of such a verdict in the ...
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