Once again, this clown is not telling the truth.
Daily Dawn Pakistan (2000)
Convicted for blasphemy - by Z.Z. HAMID Rawalpindi
A kind, benevolent and honourable Muslim Sufi of a small order has been sentenced to death on blasphemy charges by a court in Lahore. I am an eyewitness to what happened in the court and how the prosecution murdered justice, human dignity, Islamic and contemporary law and all norms of humanity in the name of Islam.
Mohammad Yusuf Ali is a staunch Muslim and a scholar of the Holy Quran. He has rendered meritorious services to Islam, Pakistan and humanity in his career. It was only a difference of interpretation which was exploited by extremist mullahs and some Urdu newspapers. Yusuf Ali had already spent two years in jail and now he has been convicted. I was present in the courtroom to assist the defence lawyers. It was barred to the outside world. I am witness to what happened inside and how he has been convicted.
The prosecution had based their case on four items: audio cassette of Juma Khutba, video cassettes of Juma Khutba, Yousuf Ali`s purported diary, and one Pir and his few followers, who claimed that he had claimed to be “Muhammad“ in front of them many years ago! There was nothing objectionable in the cassettes, and even according to Qanoon-i-Shahadat, they were inadmissible, as the one who had made these was not known. They were highly edited, doctored and manipulated. The diary was not of Yusuf Ali`s at all, and even the prosecution admitted that they were not sure of its origin. It had no name, no handwriting match, no owner.
It was simply alleged on Yusuf Ali and was torn to shreds in its originality and credibility. The Pir and his followers were again torn to shreds, as none of them was the complainant. They never reported the alleged blasphemy to the police or any other authority, which supposedly happened many years ago. Their credibility did not exist at all in terms of contradictions in cross examinations. One of them was on bail on fraud charges. The complainant had all the info on hearsay. He had never met the accused in his life. All his info was through Urdu newspapers. He accused Yusuf Ali of adultery, but even in the FIR, the relevant section was not mentioned for lack of evidence, making the complainant liable to “Qazaf“. His testimony was not admissible at all. Yusuf Ali had categorically, even before the registration of the FIR, made it clear through paid ads that he had not claimed to be a prophet and he was a staunch Muslim.
Top religious scholars like Maulana Abdul Sattar Niazi had declared him a true Muslim and asked the charges to be dropped. According to all legal and Shariat requirements he had proved himself to be a true Muslim. Still the prosecution insisted that he called himself a prophet. How can anyone be the judge of someone`s faith? The prosecution lawyers went so overboard that even the judge had to stop them from committing blasphemy in trying to prove Yusuf Ali wrong. Even though Yusuf Ali was on bail, he was arrested one day earlier against all rules, laws and norms. It is extraordinary how the bail given by a High Court was cancelled by the Sessions Court and the accused was arrested. The whole trial was in camera and the media was not allowed in to hear Yusuf Ali`s explanations, his speeches and comments.
The media was also barred from seeing the hopelessness of the prosecution witnesses and their lawyers. It was on this quality of evidence that a great living sufi has been condemned to death on so many counts that we have lost count. Now Yusuf Ali is in the line for gallows. Will we wait and let the evil win or raise our voices for our own survival?
Special Thanks to : Convicted for Blasphemy, Zaid Hamid's Article In Daily DAWN 13 Aug 2000 [Original Scan] March 24, 2010 /
http://zaidhamidexposition.org/2010...icle-in-daily-dawn-13-aug-2000-original-scan/
Regarding Zaid Hamid’s article/letter in Dawn
http://grandtrunkroad.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/regarding-zaid-hamids-articleletter-in-dawn/
