To much of our surprise, the list of categories which decide the blasphemers in Pakistanis getting longer. The new entry is ‘students’ who are expected to give exams based on their understanding, knowledge and vision. The freedom to express their views should clearly be the core idea behind the examination, which does not exist anymore here. Is it a joke what I have read? No it is clearly not. A 17-year-old, not an adult, has been accused of blasphemy immediately after Controller of Examinations Agha Akbar Mirza of Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) found his answer sheet with an “expression of blasphemy”. His arrest followed by an FIR must have left the little boy bewildered and with his trust shaken which he ever had in teachers and education system. The country has lost the sacredness of education and respect for other’s views and for those matter students’ views. The board has a right to judge any student on the basis of his answers and allowed to follow the criterion of marks and grades. But the BIEK’s Controller has misunderstood and misused his powers when he sent the answer sheets to the police. It is a shame. The concept of a teacher, ustad, is universal who show the right path to every soul regardless of his/her religion, nationality, and biases. But this incident has shown how a youth has lost his future and path for good because one man in the system misused his authority and could not rise above his prejudices and notion of right and wrong. I take this opportunity to convey this to Mr. Agha Akbar Mirza that he has not done any service to Islam or the Prophet (PBUH) rather he has confirmed unfortunately what the accused cousins told him about “liberty and a happy life”.
Below is the story:
PakistanToday, April 22:
KARACHI– The police on Saturday arrested a teenage boy for allegedly writing blasphemous material on examination answer sheets. Seventeen-year-old ‘S’, a resident of Malir, was detained following a complaint by Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) Controller of Examinations Agha Akbar Mirza, police said.
The BIEK management has also sent photocopies of the answer sheets as proof of the blasphemy charges against the teenager to the police. The police added that FIR No 56/11 has been lodged against S under Sections 295-C and 109 of the Pakistan Panel Code on Mirza’s complaint.
Shahrah-e-Noor Jehan Station Investigation Officer Qudrat Sher Ali told Pakistan Today that during investigation, the boy told the police that his two Norwegian cousins, who visited the family in January 2009, had influenced him with anti-Islamic views. The statement said: “My two cousins visitedKarachifor 11 days. One day, when I returned home after offering Jumma prayer they laughed at me, saying that Islam has detained Muslims.”
“Both my cousins teased me and started convincing me that they were enjoying a happy life in Oslo while I am visiting mosques. They told me that their country was free and no one could stop them from expressing themselves. Gradually, I started thinking about the liberty they enjoyed,” the statement quoted S as saying.
The SIO said the boy was presented before Judicial Magistrate-VI Maqbool Memon, who sent the boy on a judicial remand for 14 days. Ali said the police had asked the BIEK management to provide the original answer sheets of Islamiyat and physics while the statement of board officials would also be recorded for further investigation.
Children of a Lesser God 