MONTH THAT WAS

Mentally challenged girl accused of blasphemy by imam in Islamabad - Imam arrested but released

Islamabad: A Muslim cleric charged with falsely accusing a Christian girl of blasphemy was freed by a Pakistani court for lack of evidence. Khalid Jadoon Chishti was arrested last year on charges of planting pages of the Quran in a shopping bag containing burnt paper to strengthen the blasphemy case against Rimsha Masih, a mentally challenged teenager.

Chisti's lawyer Wajid Gilani said a court in Islamabad had accepted his plea that there was not enough evidence to prosecute him. Masih was booked under the controversial blasphemy law and spent three weeks in jail before she was released when it emerged that the imam of the mosque in her neighbourhood had falsely implicated her. Three witnesses who testified against the cleric had later backtracked from their statements, The Express Tribune reported. They said police had "forced" them to testify against Chishti.

Masih and her family went into hiding after she was released by a court due to fears of being targeted by militants. They secretly shifted to Canada and are currently living at an undisclosed location. Rights groups say the controversial blasphemy law, introduced in the 1980s during military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's regime, are often misused to settle personal scores or to persecute members of minority communities. International rights bodies have called for changes in the law but no government can dare do so due to the fear of militants. Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, was killed in 2011 by his own police guard for criticising the blasphemy law.

Mute  uses RTI & minister sacked

Chennai: The UPA Government might be wary of giving more teeth to one of its pioneering legislations – the Right to Information (RTI) Act. But the legislation has empowered people to such an extent that a speech and hearing impaired man in the southern district of Madurai has, albeit unintentionally, managed to get Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Vaigaichelvan dropped from the Cabinet by exposing corruption in his Department.  

K Ganesan, a Dalit who is suffering from speech and hearing impairment, had applied for the posts of Government school watchman and sweeper and attended the interview for the same in June last year. When he was rejected for the job, Ganesan sought details about the selection procedure from the District Educational Officers (DEO) in Melur, Madurai and Usilampatti (all in Madurai district) under the RTI Act.

While the DEOs of Madurai and Melur did not respond to his application, the Usilampatti DEO replied that most appointments were made on the basis of recommendations of ruling party politicians. Of 25 posts of watchmen and sweepers that were filled up, 13 were appointed acting on the recommendations of a Minister, four MLAs and some ruling party office-bearers, the DEO said in his RTI reply. Ganesan submitted these documents in the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) and sought to quash all appointments made in the Usilampatti education district. Surprised by the evidence, Justice Nagamuthu had summoned senior officials of the School Education Department to the court to explain the charges.  

Finding that some pages were torn in the files, the judge questioned the officials how the selection was made. A Desk Superintending Officer, Mayan, who was present in the court told the judge that he had received a call from the office of the Director of School Education asking him to make the appointments based on the recommendation letters of politicians. After the said candidates were appointed, the recommendation letters were forwarded to the School Education Director’s office. However, Mayan did not name the name of the official who influenced the appointments saying he was unable to recollect the name. 

The former School Education Director, who was summoned, denied any knowledge about the recommendations.  An angry judge had while hearing the case a couple of days ago said that this was a fit case for being probed by external agencies like the CBI or CB-CID and asked the Additional Advocate General to get instructions from the Government on its stand on the matter before he could decide on ordering a probe.

‘Walking’ shark discovered in Indonesia

Jakarta: A new species of shark that “walks” along the seabed using its fins as tiny legs has been discovered in eastern Indonesia, an environmental group said. The brown and white bamboo shark pushes itself along the ocean floor as it forages for small fish and crustaceans at night, said Conservation International, whose scientists were involved in its discovery. 

The shark, which grows to a maximum length of just 80 centimetres and is harmless to humans, was discovered off Halmahera, one of the Maluku Islands that lie west of New Guinea. Bamboo sharks, also known as longtail carpet sharks, are relatively small compared to their larger cousins, with the largest adult reaching only about 120 centimetres in length. They have unusually long tails that are bigger than the rest of their bodies and are found in tropical waters around Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Woman in beggar’s home ordered to be set free

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court  directed that a Pakistani woman, who has been languishing in a beggars' home here since May, be released, saying she had lawfully married an Indian here in 1983 and allowed her to reunite with her family to celebrate Eid. 

Allowing a habeas corpus plea filed by her husband Mohd. Gulfam, a resident of Kala Masjid Turkman gate, for his wife's release, a bench of justices Kailash Gambhir and Indermeet Kaur ordered for Nuzhat Jahan's release. 

"Undeniably, we do not find any justification in detention of the petitioner (Nuzhat) in a solitary confinement in the Beggar's Home, Nirmal Chhaya Parisar, Delhi as persuasive when, undisputably, the petitioner had lawfully married Mohd. Gulfam, and was holding a valid passport and valid long-term visa.

"No doubt, the Pakistan authorities did not renew the passport of the petitioner and there is a possibility that on that account, the visa of the petitioner was also not renewed by the Indian Government, however the petitioner did take necessary steps to seek renewal of her passport and extension of her long-term visa," the bench said.