LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) denounces threats to Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman for condemning the stoning to death of a couple in Mohmand Agency, said HRCP Chairwoman Asma Jehangir on Tuesday.

According to the local press, militia spokesman Dr Asad had “reacted angrily” to the information minister’s criticism. The newspaper quoted Asad as saying, “The Islamic militia had no regrets over their act of stoning a couple who had committed fornication.” He said that the Taliban did not expect such strong criticism from the federal government “for punishing adulterers according to Islamic Shariah” and that this was not something unusual for a country like Pakistan, which had been founded in the name of Islam.

Rehman in her statement on Sunday said, “I condemn in [the] strongest terms the way the couple was put to death in a barbaric, gruesome, and uncivilised manner”. She said any person who violated the law or took into their own hands would be punished in accordance with the law, and that the government would not overlook any such unlawful act.

Jehangir in her press statement condemned Dr Asad’s words, and said that the militia spokesman claimed the right to execute people with impunity. “The government should not take such statements lightly,” she said. Action should be taken against those breaking the law in the name of Islam or their cultural norms, she said. The threatening tone used by militants was frightening, she said, and added that the government and its allies must speak with one voice against those committing crimes in the name of religion.
Source: Daily Times
Date:4/9/2008