Pakistan Moves to Protect Girl over Alleged Qur'an Burning

Shortly after William Gomes reported a heated case involving the religious persecution of a little girl, Pakistan's President moved in and ended it.

Salem-News.com's William Nicholas Gomes

(SALEM) - A government intervention for the sake of Human Rights has taken place in another extraordinary turn of events involving the writings of our Human Rights Ambassador, William Nicholas Gomes.

In a letter to Mr. Asif Ali Zardari; President of Pakistan, Mr. Gomes called attention to a serious situation involving the religious persecution of a child, and a government intervention has taken place.

There will be no prosecution of a young Christian girl described as having Downs Syndrome, who allegedly burned pages of the Holy Qur'an.

Both BosNewsLife Asia Service, and Pakistan Christian Post, published reports about the detention of the 11-year old Pakistani Christian girl; Mr. Gomes' credits those reports as source material for his letter to Pakistan's President.

Dawn, one of Pakistan's largest media outlets, wrote today:

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has taken “serious notice” of the incident and called for a report from the Ministry of Interior.

Dr Nafisa Shah, central coordinator of PPP’s human rights cell, also issued a statement expressing concern over the girl’s arrest and termed it “a glaring example” of misuse of the blasphemy law.

Presidency’s spokesman Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar quoted the president as saying that blasphemy by anyone could not be condoned but no one would be allowed to misuse blasphemy law for settling personal scores.

According to Mr Babar, the president called for a report within 24 hours, directed the authorities to protect the life and property of everyone and said no-one should be allowed to take the law in his own hands.
(- Blasphemy case: Misuse of law won’t be allowed: Zardari - Amir Wasim Dawn.com)

It is fantastic to know that these events connect and to have a role in an incident that brings relief to an innocent child being hounded by a political/religious system that often bears little compassion. The President's intervening actions in this particular case are extremely commendable.

We seriously applaud the fact that we can publish good news in relation to this story.

Pakistan Jails Christian Teenager over Blasphemy - Letter by William Gomes Salem-News.com

Blasphemy case: Misuse of law won’t be allowed: Zardari - Amir Wasim