PUNJAB, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- An analysis of the reported blasphemy cases in Pakistan since 1986 (the year when this controversial law (295-C) was made part of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who was the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988), reveals that the majority of these cases occurred in a few districts in central Punjab.

The late General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

According to Rizwan Paul, Executive Director of LFA, "Around 80 per cent of all these cases have been registered in only eight districts of central Punjab -- Lahore, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujrat and Kasur".

The worst part, Paul went on to say is that so far 37 accused "blasphemers" (16 Christian, 15 Muslims, five Ahmadis and two Hindu) have been killed extra-judicially.

"Twenty-seven out of them have also been killed in these districts. The killing of nine blasphemy-accused in police custody or jail also took place in this part of the country," says Paul

He believes that in majority of the cases, the blasphemy accusations are used by people for settling personal vendettas and disputes over property or business or to discriminate against minorities.

Zia's dictatorship and affluence [both came to the region in late 1970s] instigated intolerance in central Punjab.

All Pakistan Minorities Alliance activists raise their voice against the blasphemy laws. (Photo: Abid Nawaz/Express)

Paul believes the Pakistani society was polarized when Gen Zia, who died along with several of his top generals and then United States Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel, in a suspicious aircraft crash near Bahawalpur (Punjab) on August 17, 1988, introduced Islamic studies as a compulsory subject in 1977 at school level and a separate electorate in 1985.

Experts on society and fundamentalism agree with Paul's argument, but say they also need to see the issue in larger perspective.

"It is not easy to pinpoint one reason for the radicalization of central Punjab over the years," says Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) and editor of the quarterly research journal Conflict and Peace Studies.

He says, "We also need to check the demography of Christian minorities in Pakistan. More than 50 per cent of total Christians and majority of Ahmadis of Pakistan live in these seven to eight districts of central Punjab.

"Christians, initially, had been living on the fringes of cities and towns away from the majority population to avoid direct contact with them. But as the population increased manifold over the last few decades, their localities have become part of cities and towns making their properties more valuable and bringing them into direct contact with Muslim majority."

Rana does not rule out the role of religious parties in this regard.

"Religious parties always play a very important role in blasphemy cases," he went on to say. "Central Punjab, being the most economically developed areas of Pakistan, has become the most lucrative area for religious parties. More than 20 major religious parties belonging to all sects have their headquarters in Lahore or in its surrounding areas".

Rana says that businessmen and traders are the main supporters of these religious parties as they ensure security to them.

"It is also important to note that Madaris [a Shia Islamic religious school] have developed at a good pace in central Punjab over the years, but interestingly an overwhelming majority of teachers and students in these Madaris hail from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir or Southern Punjab," he stated. "They do not have emotional or historical connection with these areas and that is why they do not care about hurting the feelings of others. They also force minorities to convert to [their version] of Islam."

Shafqat Tanvir Mirza, an expert on Punjabi culture and literature, believes that central Punjab has always been a center of reformism and liberalism.

"Just take the cases of Guru Nanak, Waris Shah, Bulleh Shah, Faiz and Iqbal. They all were against Mullahism and in reaction Mullahs started concentrating in this area. They have got some success, but fundamentalism is not the main discourse of majority in central Punjab."

Sabiha Shaheen, Executive Director of Bargad, a Gujranwala-based NGO, believes urbanization and media played the most important role in radicalizing the society in central Punjab.

"Urbanization," she said, "has been providing opportunities to minorities for upward social mobility, which is resulting in awareness about individual rights in society. The feudal mindset has not accepted it. Increasingly radicalized mullahs are helping landowners in rural areas and traders in urban areas to maintain their stranglehold over minority workers."

Shaheen says the radicalization of women has also been fueling the issue. "In Gujranwala district alone, we have around 40 degree-awarding Madaris for women while there are less than 20 government colleges for girls," she added.

Arif Hassan, an expert on urbanization, says that all major right-wing Islamic movements in the world are the products of urbanized areas.

"Income generation opportunities are most visible in urban areas. Urban areas also provide more space for the expression of social and economic inequalities," says Hassan. "In Karachi, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - a political party, provides the opportunity of expression while in central Punjab religious parties do the same."

He believes that doctrine of rationality has vanished from our society.

"Right now," Hassan added, "two factors have been ruling the thinking of our urban society -- megalomania (we are the best) and paranoia (that the whole world is busy conspiring against us)."

Asia Bibi

* According to the BBC, the Ahmadi movement, which has its origins in British-controlled northern India in the late 19th Century, identifies itself as a Muslim movement and follows the teachings of the Koran. However, it is regarded by orthodox Muslims as heretical because it does not believe that Mohammed was the final prophet sent to guide mankind, as orthodox Muslims believe is laid out in the Koran. "The Ahmadiyya community takes its name from its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was born in 1835 and was regarded by his followers as the messiah and a prophet," says the BBC on its website. "Ghulam Ahmad saw himself as a renewer of Islam and claimed to have been chosen by Allah."

Rodrick Samson is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan.