Islamabad: The government is considering amending the country's blasphemy law to prevent its misuse by unscrupulous elements, Minister for Minorities Shabbaz Bhatti said on Friday.
He told a foreign broadcasting network that consultations were under way with the opposition parties and religious groups with a view to formulating necessary legislative proposals. The minister hoped that proposed legislation would be enacted during the next year.
Bhatti said at present anyone can lodge a complaint under the law and police registers a blasphemy case on its basis.
The government wants to tighten the procedure to lay down that a blasphemy case can be registered only after an inquiry by a district and sessions judge finds that grounds exist for registration of a case, he said.
The minister said the blasphemy law had been misused by some elements and a clear proof of this was that higher judiciary in the country had never upheld any conviction under the law and no one had to serve a sentence.
Referring to the recent conviction of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges by a lower court in Punjab province, the minister said she had moved an appeal at the Lahore High Court and hoped that she would be acquitted.
The minister said he had written a letter to the Punjab government asking it to ensure security for Asia Bibi in jail and help her in getting justice.
The blasphemy law was introduced during the 1977-88 rule of military dictator Mohammad Zia-ul Haq. Minorities in the country as well as human rights bodies have been demanding its repeal, a demand strongly opposed by religious parties.
Meanwhile, an international human rights advocate has joined calls for the release of Asia Bibi under the country's blasphemy laws.
Amnesty International on Friday also called on Pakistan to revise the law under which the mother of five was convicted this month.
The case stems from a dispute between Bibi and a group of Muslim women over the use of a water bowl.
— With inputs from AP
