By Martin Cole-
An eight-year-old boy faces the death penalty after becoming the youngest ever person charged with blasphemy under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, with activists warning he could face the death penalty.
The child is currently being held in protective custody, while his family have fled their homes to go into hiding after a Muslim crowd set fire to a Hindu temple in response to claims that the boy had ‘intentionally’ urinated on the carpet of a library where religious books were kept.
Over 20 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks, while several members of the local Hindu community have left the district of Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab over fears that more religiously motivated attacks may occur.
A number of people have been sentenced to death under Pakistan’s extreme laws over recent decades, and while the country has never actually carried out an execution since the death penalty was introduced for blasphemy in 1986.
Activists in Pakistan have called on the government to step in, with human rights campaigner Kapil Dev saying, ‘I demand charges against the boy are immediately dropped, and urge the government to provide security for the family and those forced to flee.’
A member of the boy’s family said the child did not understand what his crime, has been asking why he had been kept in jail for a week.
The family member said: “We have left our shops and work, the entire community is scared and we fear backlash. We don’t want to return to this area. We don’t see any concrete and meaningful action will be taken against the culprits or to safeguard the minorities living here.”
Blasphemy charges filed against the child have shocked legal experts, who say the move is unprecedented.
Blasphemy laws have been disproportionately used in the past against religious minorities in Pakistan. Although no blasphemy executions have been carried out in the country since the death penalty was introduced for the crime in 1986, suspects are often attacked and sometimes killed by mobs.
Ramesh Kumar, a lawmaker and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said: “The attack on the temple and blasphemy allegations against the eight-year-old minor boy has really shocked me. More than a hundred homes of the Hindu community have been emptied due to fear of attack.”
Kapil Dev, a human rights activist, said: “I demand charges against the boy are immediately dropped, and urge the government to provide security for the family and those forced to flee.”
He added: “Attacks on Hindu temples have increased in the last few years showing an escalating level of extremism and fanaticism. The recent attacks seem to be a new wave of persecution of Hindus.”
Footage circulating on social media appears to show an angry mob attacking and vandalizing the temple with iron bars and sticks last week.
Ahmad Nawaz, a spokesman for the Rahim Yar Khan district police, said: “Police are hunting the attackers and police teams are conducting raids to arrest the culprits but there has been no arrest made yet.”
Lawmaker and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council Ramesh Kumar said: ‘The attack on the temple and blasphemy allegations against the eight-year-old minor boy has really shocked me. More than a hundred homes of the Hindu community have been emptied due to fear of attack.’
The family of the boy, who has not been publicly identified, told The Guardian that he didn’t understand why he’d been arrested, saying, ‘He is not even aware of such blasphemy issues and he has been falsely indulged in these matters. He still doesn’t understand what his crime was and why he was kept in jail for a week.’
‘We have left our shops and work, the entire community is scared and we fear backlash. We don’t want to return to this area. We don’t see any concrete and meaningful action will be taken against the culprits or to safeguard the minorities living here,’ they said.