Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan supporters chant slogans during a rally against a woman recently arrested on charges of blasphemy in Lahore, Pakistan Photo: AP Photo/K M Chaudary
Pakistan police have arrested a Chinese national on blasphemy charges after he allegedly insulted Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, in what could lead to a rare flare-up of tension between Beijing and Islamabad.
Hundreds of Pakistanis gathered at a residential camp for Chinese workers near the Dasu Hydroelectric Power Plant in northern Pakistan late Sunday evening, yelling death threats at a Chinese citizen named Tian, who could face the death penalty.
Mr. Tian allegedly told the men that they had been praying for too long.
Protesters gathered at the Chinese camp from villages across the region as news of the alleged blasphemy spread, and the crowd only dispersed four hours after Pakistani police fired warning shots into the air.
To ensure Tian's safety, the police flew him to Abbottabad, about 85 miles north of Islamabad, where local Pakistani journalists say he will be tried by an anti-terrorism court.
p>Mob violence
Blasphemy is considered one of the heaviest crimes in Pakistan and is punishable by death.
Usually, those found guilty languish on death row and the sentence is never carried out, but some of the accused were lynched in the course of the mob.
In February 2022, an angry mob killed a mentally unstable man in a remote village in eastern Pakistan after he allegedly desecrated a Koran in a mosque.
Police attempted to arrest the man, but an angry mob stoned him to death and hung his body from a tree.
Human rights groups say Pakistani authorities used the country's blasphemy laws as part of a broader crackdown on national minorities, including Christian and Shiite Muslim population.
In August 2020, at least 42 cases of blasphemy were reported in Pakistan in one month. Most of those facing trial were Shiite Muslims.
Asia Bibi, a 52-year-old Christian woman, was sentenced to death by hanging in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province after being found guilty of blasphemy.
Ms. Bibi stated that the allegations were false and arose from a quarrel with several other women in her village over drinking water.
The case sparked a wave of international support for Ms Bibi, but massive protests in Pakistan were in favor of her death penalty and two senior Pakistani politicians were killed for speaking on her behalf.
Her family went into hiding, and a conservative Muslim cleric placed a £1,415 bounty on her head.
After all, a Pakistani court acquitted Bibi, citing insufficient evidence. She was taken out of the country and has since applied for asylum in France.
Laws have been tightened
In January, Pakistan tightened its blasphemy laws to punish those who abused the wives, companions or close friends of the Prophet Muhammad with the maximum sentence of life in prison.
Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani called the law «historic» and praised Pakistani lawmakers for expanding the law.
It's unclear what will happen to Mr. Tian, and Beijing has yet to comment on his arrest .
Public anger is running high, but Islamabad and Beijing are firm allies and China is unlikely to allow Pakistan to execute one of its citizens.
Beijing has invested at least £50 billion in China-Pakistan relations. An economic corridor that is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative and rolled over billions of pounds of Pakistani debt to stop Islamabad from defaulting during the worst economic crisis in the country's history.
Beijing described China and Pakistan as «all-weather strategic cooperation partners», and the two countries regularly conduct joint military exercises on land and at sea.
However, it is understandable that China has privately raised concerns about the safety of its citizens in Pakistan following a series of deadly attacks by insurgent groups, especially in Balochistan province, who say Chinese investment is not benefiting the region. residents.
In July 2021, operations in Dasu were suspended for several months following a suicide attack on a bus carrying Chinese citizens in the Kohistan district, which killed nine people.
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