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Killing in the name of blasphemy
6 Apr 2021
Amtal Hafiz holds a photo of her son Muhammad Shafique, who was sentenced to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in 2008. (Photograph by Karin Brulliard/ The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Aspontaneous demonstration that started on 27 February in Abbottabad, a large city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, has again drawn attention to the strict and contentious blasphemy laws in the country.
The angry protesters went on the rampage, shutting down markets and bazaars and blocking parts of the Karakoram Highway, also known as the Silk Route, as well as other roads in the city. They demanded the “public hanging” of a prison inmate who had allegedly desecrated a copy of the Qur’an in his cell.
In her Jan. 12 State of the State address, conservative South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) announced that she is calling on the state legislature to pass a law that would ban the killing of unborn children by abortion just because they have Down syndrome.