The Lahore High Court dwarfs the adjacent buildings along the city’s historic Mall Road. With its red bricks and high round white domes, it’s one of the many structures in the city that remind people of its colonial past.
Surrounding the High Court, narrow alleyways accommodate many lawyers’ chambers, often in shabby, cramped offices.
In a small plaza just behind the High Court, above a busy teashop, Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry has his chambers.
Chaudhry is the president of an anti-blasphemy lawyers’ alliance called Khatam-e-Nabuwat, which roughly translates as “finality of the prophet”. They offer free legal advice for any Muslim filing a case of blasphemy.
The alliance has around 800 volunteer lawyers working all over the country.
“Whenever we notice any such incident [of blasphemy] anywhere in the country, we reach out to the complainants and offer them free of charge legal assistance,” explains Chaudhry.
“We do this to please Allah and to protect the honour of the Prophet Muhammad – there is no material motivation.”
Chaudhry founded the forum almost 18 years ago, after he started practising as a lawyer. Now in his 50s, he says he is even more driven in his mission.
“It’s very unfortunate – blasphemy has become rampant. There are 40 blasphemy cases under trial in Lahore city alone.
“People who commit blasphemy are glorified like heroes, this is sad.”
He is unhappy at how the Asia Bibi case has played out.
“She has insulted the prophet, but she has become a hero for the West.”
Chaudhry was also the defence lawyer of Mumtaz Qadri, the former bodyguard turned assassin of the governor Salman Taseer. He says that the blasphemy law is a “blessing” and is actually a “deterrent” to mob justice.
“Mumtaz Qadri approached the police to lodge a [blasphemy] complaint against the former governor, but his complaint was not entertained”.
“He would not have been forced to take gun in his hands, if the law would have taken its course” he added.
In Asia’s case, the law did take its course, to the very highest court in the land, and despite the ruling that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict her, violent protests still erupted.
from Viral News Show http://bit.ly/2HLWUPc
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