Church elated over clemency to 7,000 prisoners on death row; Muslims protests

While churches in Pakistan expressed glee over the government’s decision to spare thousands of prisoners held on death row, in remembrance of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Muslims protested, "It is against the Koran."

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani made the plea for their sentences to be commuted to life imprisonment (exludes terrorists) in a speech to the National Assembly to commemorate Ms Bhutto's 55th birthday.

Mr Gilani said the act of mercy would be a "big gift to the nation".

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an estimated 7,000 people in Pakistani jails are awaiting execution. Last year 309 people received the death sentence and 134 convicts were executed, the report said.

While NGO's and the international rights organisations welcomed the proposal, Muslims protested, “It is contrary to what Koran teaches.”

The Islamists further added the government has no right to abolish death penalty or commute it to life imprisonment.

Maulana Fazlur Rahman, head of Jamiat Ulema–i–Islam–Fazl, strongly condemned the proposal, calling on the Prime Minister to withdraw it because it is not in accordance with Islam.

The Church however, revealing its Christ–like nature was in favor for the decision of clemency. “It is a positive step by the government,” said Fr Bonnie Mendes, a Christian prelate in the state.

“Still we have to see whether the government implements it in cases involving the blasphemy laws or not, that is our concern,” he added.

Medhi Hassan, vice president of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Punjab chapter said, it was a welcome decision as the rights groups in Pakistan have been fighting for the repeal of death penalty.

Hassan told AsiaNews that the death penalty was inhuman because it “cannot be undone once it is carried out, unlike other forms of punishment. If a prisoner is condemned to death by mistake or because of legal complications that would be a great injustice.”

“People who kill others,” he added, “are in need of proper treatment or a psychiatrist, not the death sentence because this severe punishment does not provide them with chance to be a good citizen again and repair their wrongdoing.”

Christians in the country expressed strong disapproval of commuting death sentences “which is not a permanent solution for the problem.” Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church says, “The government should instead abolish the death penalty and educate masses in the country.”

Speaking to Christian Today from Pakistan, Rafook Masih, pastor of a local church said, "Terrorism is on rise, and the Islamic fundamentalists want to wage war against Christians and minorities, whom they call "infidels".

Solution to the fundamentalism, he says, is to "educate the children of this country inculcating in them good social values and moral ethics."

The presence of many unregulated madrassas throughout Pakistan is believed to contribute significantly to its terrorism problem.

According to Human Rights Watch, madrassas aimed at educating young people, became recruiting centers for terrorists and moreover financing for the institutions came from terrorist groups and not from the government.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has also acknowledged that madrassas have been involved in extremism and terrorism.

Pakistan was recommended by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in May 2006 to be designated as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) by the Department of State.