Quality Content Writers Group
Perwiz Kambakhsh
by Ben Ferm Manager
Ben Ferm 
Manager
Recently we had a discussion about womans rights in muslim world. Here is one story from Pakistan that I think is, if not directly in the same category, as bad:
Wed Jan 30, 5:25 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's senate has endorsed a death sentence handed down by a court to a reporter and journalism student accused of blasphemy, the parliament media office said Wednesday.
The senate, called the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), issued a statement Tuesday backing last week's decision by the Balkh province primary court and criticising international pressure over the case, an official told AFP.
The court sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, to death for distributing articles downloaded from the Internet that were said to question the Koran and the role of women in Islam.
"The Meshrano Jirga endorses the Balkh primary court's verdict on sentencing to death Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh who has been sentenced over insulting Islam and misinterpretation of Koran verses," said the statement read to AFP.
The house also "strongly criticises those domestic and international organisations which are pressurising Afghanistan's government and legal authorities when pursuing such people," it said.
The statement was signed Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, the head of the senate who was briefly Afghan president in the early 1990s and is a close ally President Hamid Karzai.
The death sentence must pass through various higher courts and be approved by Karzai, who has been called on by international and Afghan media rights organisations to intervene in the case.
The extremist Taliban movement that is waging an insurgency against Karzai's administration has also called for "severe punishment" for Kambakhsh, whom they called the "new Salman Rushdie" -- a reference to the British-Indian author whose 1988 book "The Satanic Verses" was deemed blasphemous by then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called on Muslims to kill him.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, following a civil war by leaders of an anti-Soviet resistance who were also fundamentalist Muslims.
Feb 1st 2008 09:09
ManagerRecently we had a discussion about womans rights in muslim world. Here is one story from Pakistan that I think is, if not directly in the same category, as bad:
Wed Jan 30, 5:25 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's senate has endorsed a death sentence handed down by a court to a reporter and journalism student accused of blasphemy, the parliament media office said Wednesday.
The senate, called the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), issued a statement Tuesday backing last week's decision by the Balkh province primary court and criticising international pressure over the case, an official told AFP.
The court sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, to death for distributing articles downloaded from the Internet that were said to question the Koran and the role of women in Islam.
"The Meshrano Jirga endorses the Balkh primary court's verdict on sentencing to death Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh who has been sentenced over insulting Islam and misinterpretation of Koran verses," said the statement read to AFP.
The house also "strongly criticises those domestic and international organisations which are pressurising Afghanistan's government and legal authorities when pursuing such people," it said.
The statement was signed Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, the head of the senate who was briefly Afghan president in the early 1990s and is a close ally President Hamid Karzai.
The death sentence must pass through various higher courts and be approved by Karzai, who has been called on by international and Afghan media rights organisations to intervene in the case.
The extremist Taliban movement that is waging an insurgency against Karzai's administration has also called for "severe punishment" for Kambakhsh, whom they called the "new Salman Rushdie" -- a reference to the British-Indian author whose 1988 book "The Satanic Verses" was deemed blasphemous by then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called on Muslims to kill him.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, following a civil war by leaders of an anti-Soviet resistance who were also fundamentalist Muslims.
Feb 1st 2008 09:09
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Comments
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Jean DAndrea
 RetiredIt seems that all a man has to do is to try to uphold some womens' rights, and he will get a death sentence. The cases we hear about would be the minority, but in many cases i think there would be many moderat Muslims who deplore this type of "justice", but who are afraid of the fundamentalists, and therefore can do nothing. Feb 1st 2008 23:44 |
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Arthur Webster
Just plain honestySorry, Ben, Not firing on all cylinders when I read your first post - of course Sayed is a man! Snakesmum - Sayed was not trying to uphold women's rights - he was trying to promote the introduction of rights where none exist. While this is all very laudible, he must have been aware of the immense pressure on the clerical judiciary to hold a firm line. When you have an extreme religious community living under the rules imposed by the way the Quran has been interpreted, defending itself and its' way of life against people who only want to impose a different kind of rule - this sort of apparent injustice will be inevitable. Look at the way Americans are convinced about the need to attack any Moslem country because the Moslems want to change the way Americans live. By making these attacks, the west (USA and YUK, especially) have set back the democratisation of many nations and forced them back into a primitive and male dominated society. Afghanistan is a country undergoing great turmoil and strife - until the Afghanis can see that they will have some autonomy returned to them - this sort of perceived, religious crime will continue to be severely punished. Feb 2nd 2008 03:50 |
Hi, Ben,
The fact that it is a woman who has been sentenced is not an indication that this is a women's rights issue.
If a man had done the same, he, too, would have received a death sentence - but he would not have received such international support or concern.
The problem Afghanistan has is that it is the rope between rival teams who each want it to move in their direction and the only way they can see of preserving their own unique identity is by strict adherence to the religious rule.
When a country is being terrorised and fought over by infinitely stronger powers, it is inevitable that reaction to home grown law breakers will be very stringent.
In the west we don't like it - but I believe a lot of the reasons for the situation in many countries is the arrogance and ignorance of foreign powers trying to impose their own ideas of how the country should be run.
In the face of such pressure, it is so much easier to take extreme measures against wrong doers in an atmosphere that demands the local rulers demonstrate their determination to maintain state integrity.
Feb 1st 2008 10:15