A Pakistani political party has publicly demanded a ban on the Bible, and set a 30-day deadline for the Supreme Court to take action in this regard.
The Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam- Samiul Haq (JUI-S) has requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of this issue, The Express Tribune quoted party leader Maulana Abdur Raoof Farooqi, as saying.
Farooqi claimed that the Christian’s holy book ‘contains blasphemous passages that are a cause of humiliation for Muslims.’
He said that if the CJP does not accept their writ within one month, he would present the issue to an independent tribunal that may comprise of judges from the Federal Shariat Court.
The JUI-S leader said he wants the matter to be resolved judicially, so that the Christian community has the right to defend its stance over the matter.
Farooqi also said that if this petition became unsuccessful, then ‘pages from the Bible will be burned all over the world.’
On this issue, Pakistan People’s Party MPA Pervez Rafique, a member of the central organising committee of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said that the Supreme Court should not take any action on the JUI-S request to ban the Bible, as it is a matter of a religion followed all over the world.
“We totally condemn this demand from their party. It is against religious freedom and violates the right to practice our religion as granted by the UN charter,” said Rafique.
He criticized the JUI-S’ statement as being ‘very negative’, adding that no one had the authority to ban the Bible.
“How can they ban the Bible that is followed throughout the world?” he questioned.