Magic Statistics

Pakistani Christian Martha Bibi Masih was accused by a neighbour’s husband of insulting Mohammed during an argument on 22 January.  Threatened by rioting villagers, she was arrested the next day and moved to detention in another town.  The authorities have just announced that her trial is to commence tomorrow in yet another location in hopes of avoiding more violence.

Police arrested Masih in the early morning hours of January 23 after a violent mob stormed her house in the village of Kot Nanka Singh, the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) reported.

The riot was prompted by claims that Masih made insulting remarks about Islam’s founder, Masih’s husband said in an interview with CLAAS the day of his wife’s arrest. Masih remains behind bars in Kasur’s district jail, while her husband and five children have gone into hiding to avoid a revenge attack, defense lawyer Shujat told Compass.

“They are afraid and worried now,” said Shujat, an activist with the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. “They can’t work anywhere.”

The accusation by the neighbour’s husband, who had not even heard the alleged argument, prompted villagers to ransack the family home, after the family had taken refuge elsewhere.  The official complaint was lodged with the police by a friend of the husband, who also was not present when the purported offence occurred.

The charge has been criticised as simply incredible.  No Pakistani Christian would be so stupid as to insult Mohammed, Islam, or the Qur’an.

In a letter posted at the Pakistan News Service, Professor Wasif M Khan of Lahore calls the arrest illegal state terrorism.

The appalling 'case' against Martha Bibi makes an utter travesty of the recent and praiseworthy Supreme Court ruling that only the state can bring blasphemy charges. Once again, the utter moral degradation and ignorance of the state's operatives, the police and the avarice of some in the majority community have combined to wreak sheer havoc on the poor Christian community. One need not be blessed with any rare intelligence to gather that this is nothing but another sordid tale of extortion from the ever-growing anthology in the land of the pure. The police once again appear to be the biggest villain.

Even the most dim-witted Christian could not dare dream of even approaching anything remotely resembling blasphemy in Pakistan unless it was a novel way to commit suicide.

Government officials were quoted suggesting Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy law may be amended after this year’s election.

Previous related posts:

• Anti-Christian riot in Pakistan, one year on
• Pakistani Christian innocent of blasphemy—eight years later
• Pakistan is a police state
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BC NDPer Mike Hanson ran for a seat in the May 2005 provincial election but finished second to Liberal candidate Kevin Krueger.  Mr Hanson was subsequently hired as communications officer for the NDP caucus, but has now been suspended after writing an e-mail in which he called Mr Krueger a “potato head”.

An NDP official in Victoria has been suspended by the party because of an e-mail he sent, describing the Liberal who defeated him in the last election as a "potato head."
. . .
In Hanson's e-mail about Krueger — sent to political contacts in Kamloops — he also wrote about "bringing him down."

Hanson will off the job until next week.

Earlier this month, Krueger was elevated to the provincial cabinet to replace an MP who had to resign after sending an angry e-mail to a constituent.

Justin Trudeau spoke to an audience of business people in London, Ontario, and criticised the economic system that has made Canada one of the wealthiest countries in human history.  Check out the opening sentence in the London Free Press story, which makes no sense at all.  There are no quotation marks but, for the reporter’s sake, I do hope it’s a direct quotation.

Capitalism is an excellent system but it must be committed differently if the planet is to survive, Justin Trudeau told a business crowd yesterday in London.

How does one “commit” capitalism anyway?  And how can it be “excellent” if it’s killing the planet?

"The problem is, it is not sustainable. We need to change the way we do business," Trudeau told a crowd of 420 at a London Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "We need to change our priorities and adjust our values."

A very old, and bogus, rap.  We’ve been hearing that capitalism isn’t sustainable at least since Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital.

Business success, he said, should no longer be measured on growth alone and must produce benefit for society and the planet.

Actually, the primary measure of business success is profitability not growth, but never mind.  Clearly, young Mr Trudeau is convinced that private-sector business firms are not now producing for the benefit of people and the planet.  One wonders why Canadians buy all those cars and houses and shoes and hamburgers and what not if it’s not to their benefit, but never mind.  Assuming for a moment that Mr Trudeau is right, what has to happen if businesses are to produce for the good of “society and the planet”?  It can only be government oversight and regulation of private business on a massive scale.

Capitalism is such an “excellent system” that it must be sabotaged by boundless government intervention.  Advocate soft socialism but call it adjusted capitalism.  With such a gift for doubletalk, that young man has a bright future as a Liberal politician.

h/t: National News Watch

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