“Doing away with Pak’s blasphemy law not at all possible, mustn’t be done”: Musharraf
By ANIMonday, January 17, 2011
LONDON - Pakistan “must not” do away with its controversial blasphemy law, former president Pervez Musharraf has said.
Musharraf said blasphemy was an extremely sensitive issue for the people of Pakistan, The News reports.
“Therefore doing away with the blasphemy law is not at all possible and must not be done,” he added.
He was of the view that, rather than amending the laws, Pakistan needed to find ways to make sure that they were not misused.
Musharraf also condemned the killing of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, and said it was wrong for anyone to take the law into his own hands, and “therefore, the killer of the governor, he is a culprit, he is a criminal, he must be tried and he must be punished,” he said in an interview at his London home.
He also called for a strict punishment for Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin who fired 27 bullets in Taseer’s neck.
“Punishment is the sole responsibility of the State. Mumtaz Qadri should be punished because he challenged the writ of the government,” Musharraf demanded. (ANI)
