EVEN when the issue of exodus of Hindu families was still open, another case of alleged blasphemy by a Christian teenager has shown that, in Pakistan, there is no regard for the protection of minorities.

Minorities in Pakistan are really senseless; why else would anyone try to dispose of burned holy pages in public? Don’t they know that they live in a country where even, prima facie, Muslims are gunned down for not being ‘Muslim enough’?

The government and society need to ask some tough questions. The plain reading of this law gives one the impression that its application pertains to all religions.

Yet no Muslim has ever been persecuted for religious intolerance against minorities.

Moreover, the present government passed the contempt of court law 2012 in just a day.

Can it repeal this law in two days to save an innocent life?

Furthermore, is the foundation of our religion so weak that it can be belittled so easily by such alleged events?

Finally, for how long will we play the role of passive and silent bystanders in the face of real blasphemy, committed not by our minorities but by the self-righteous bigots of our society?

ABEER JAVAID Lahore