What a foolproof plot —some people spotted a minor girl “moving suspiciously” in a rural area near Islamabad while carrying a plastic shopping bag. They later found some burnt pages of Noorani Qaida — a book to learn the basics of Quran' script — in the plastic bag. The events then rolled: the girl was accused of blasphemy and was badly beaten. Her family fled for safety, police registered a case against the girl and arrested her. A large crowd gathered outside the police station, they wanted to put the girl on fire. Another crowd cordoned off the police station and blocked the nearby highway, fearing for girl's life — as well as their own. Police produceed the girl in a court which sent her off to Adiyala jail on judicial remand. Police and court actions infuriated the protesters who scuffled with police and damaged nearby public and private property. During the initial investigation, the Christian girl, aged 11, was unable to answer questions and had been reported to suffer from Down Syndrome — a genetic disorder that causes mental retardation and severe learning disabilities in children. If this girl survives in custody, it is expected that court will throw out the case for lack of admissible evidence. But what about the girl and her family who will have to suffer in jail or in hiding in the years to come? Is this not a case, after the blasphemy-related amendment was introduced in the Pakistani constitution, that the whole country has suffered from Down Syndrone? Can we justify that we are sane people and not the type of monsters the outside world portrays us to be but which we reject as a stereotyping of our country that was created to safeguard the rights of the minorities?
