Call for Help! Our own Pakistani astronomer arrested for blasphemy related charges......

by Salman Hameed

[Update: Umair Asim himself is not accused of blasphemy. But he has been arrested as part of the school administration. Please see my follow-up post here].

This is a quick post as I am still trying to get more details. Please if you have more information about this event, please either email me directly or post it here.

I posted a number of times about Umair Asim. I have known him personally for the last 15 years. He is one of the most dedicated amateur astronomers that I know of and owns Pakistan's largest telescope (here is a report on his observatory). He gives regular talks on astronomy to the general public and was instrumental in making the International Year of Astronomy a huge success in Pakistan (see here, here, here, and here). He is also runs Farooqi Girls High School in Lahore, which is considered an outstanding school and students from the school routinely get top scores in Lahore.

But the school was burnt down on Wednesday. There are rumors of blasphemy circulating. And I think Umair's father (who is 77 years old), his mother (67 years old) and Umair have been arrested. It is unclear what exactly happened - but the issue seems to be about some missing page for a test. The mob wants the teacher as well who made the copies of the test. Here is the story from the CS Monitor:

A mob attacked a girls' school in the city of Lahore, Pakistan,  Wednesday, demanding that teachers hand over the principal and a teacher, after rumors emerged that the teacher had insulted the prophet Muhammad. 

Though it is unclear just what the teacher said, more than 200 people ransacked the school, set a nearby car on fire, and graffitied the phrase “school management are blasphemers” on the wall of the Farooqi Girls's High School, which is considered one of the better schools in Lahore.  

The police arrested the principal, Asim Farooqi, on blasphemy charges, which carries the death sentence in Pakistan. The accused teacher, Arfa Iftikhar, has reportedly gone into hiding. 

Analysts say that the fact that that the incident happened in Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, raises serious concerns about the lack of control Pakistani authorities have over extremist elements even in progressive parts of the country. 

Here are two picture of the protest and the burnt out school:

And from The News:

LAHORE: Police arrested a headmaster on blasphemy charges on Thursday, officers said, after a mob ransacked his school over allegations a test paper insulted the Prophet Mohammed. 

A 250-strong crowd stormed Farooqi Girls' High School in the eastern city of Lahore late on Wednesday after students told parents about derogatory references to the Muslim prophet in an English test. 

Police officer Azam Manhais told AFP the school principal Asim Farooqi had been arrested under Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, which can lead to the death penalty, and a search was under way for the teacher who prepared the question paper.  

Furniture and the principal's car were set ablaze in the attack and the school, which was opened in 1978 and has a good reputation, remained closed on Thursday.

Tahir Ikram, a police official, said 250 people including parents, residents and young boys were involved in the attack and officers have registered a case against this "unknown group of people" for ransacking the school. 

Multan Khan, a senior police official, confirmed the incident and said police had opened a blasphemy case against the teacher, Arfa Iftikhar, and the principal.

More on it as I get more information.

And just for information, Umair is the last person I can imagine who would commit blasphemy. He is a polite, religious guy who loves and absolutely loves astronomy.

This is complete insanity!