Arthur Greene
Following a huge public outcry, Pakistani police have dropped all charges against a Hindu boy who became the youngest person ever in Pakistan to be charged with blasphemy.
The eight-year-old boy was arrested in July after being accused of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the library of a madrassa, where religious books were kept.
His release prompted a crowd of Muslims to vandalise a Hindu temple in the district of Rahim Yar Khan, in Punjab.
Dozens of the perpetrators of the attack have since been arrested and ordered in court to pay for the damages they caused. The temple has been repaired and was handed back to the Hindu community on Wednesday.
However, the eight-year-old boy, who has not been named for his own safety, remains in hiding and under police protection.
Authorities fear that even though charges have been dropped, he remains a target for religious extremists.
“The charges against the boy were baseless,” Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, special representative of the prime minister on religious harmony, told the Guardian.
“Minorities are equal citizens and these are illiterate people attacking worship places,” he said. “Our Islam does not allow attacking of any other religion’s places of worship.”
Ashrafi confirmed that the officers who charged the boy have been arrested.
