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BY DR. AHMED SHAH

Junaid Hafeez, a 33-year-old Pakistani English teacher who earned his master’s degree in American literature at Jackson State University, was sentenced to death for blasphemy. Hafeez was known for his candid advocacy for liberal ideas including feminism and social equality.

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Being a secular Canadian of Pakistani origin, his ordeal is personal to me.

As a university lecturer, Hafeez drew harsh criticism from the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami political party for being “too liberal” and was later arrested after being accused of criticizing the Prophet Muhammad on social media in 2013. He was held in solitary confinement for five years awaiting his sentence. Those who represented him were also targeted. Hafeez’s first lawyer abandoned the case after multiple death threats. His second lawyer, Rashid Rehman, was gunned down in 2014.

Hafeez was found guilty for violating 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which states: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation … defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad shall be punished with death.” A draconian law that violates the basic human right of freedom of thought and expression.