Ayaz Nizami

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File:Fauzia Ilyas, Maryam Namazie and Nina Sankari demand freedom of blasphemers and apostates.webm
Fauzia Ilyas, Maryam Namazie and others demanding the release of Ayaz Nizami and others accused of blasphemy and apostasy (April 2017)

Ayaz Nizami is a blogger and political prisoner in Pakistan known for his arrest on 24 March 2017 for alleged blasphemy,[1] with a possible death penalty for such charges.[2][3] He was given the death sentence in January 2021.[4]

Biography

File:Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan.png
AAAP
File:Fauzia Ilyas - free Ayaz Nizami.png
Fauzia Ilyas holding banner 'Free Ayaz Nizami'

Early life

Ayaz Nizami is a pseudonem for Abdul Waheed.[4] Waheed is a religious scholar,[5] who primarily specialises in Islamic law such as "tafsir, Hadiths, Fiqh and their principles";[5] besides this, he is an expert in Arabic language, grammar, terminology, philosophy and rational thinking.[5] He received his religious education after completing the standard education and was admitted to a religious school.[5][6]

Activism

Before his arrest, he allegedly translated materials critical of Islam in English to Urdu for publishing, and was first exposed by Alyan Khan, a Pakistani political author.[3] Nizami founded the website realisticapproach.org, a website in Urdu about irreligion,[7] and allegedly served as the vice president of the Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan.[8]

Arrest

On 24 March 2017, Nizami was arrested for alleged blasphemy by the FIA, and agencies in Pakistan. Two other bloggers were arrested along with Nizami in a crackdown on social media content deemed blasphemous by the Pakistani government.[9] After his arrest, the hashtag #hangayaznizami and #FreeAyazNizami was trending on Twitter in Pakistan,[10] and authorities shut down his social media account over material deemed controversial.[8][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Who is Ayaz Nizami? Triggering The Blasphemous Spark, Again!". Muhammad Usman Awan - Social Activist from Pakistan. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  2. ↑ "Blasphemy crackdown: FIA arrests 2 suspects from Karachi". The Nation. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Details on the cases of Ayaz Nizami and Rana Noman". Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. 2017-03-28. Archived from the original on 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dawn News website, In a first, three get death for ‘cyberspace blasphemy’, by Malik Asad, January 9, 2021
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "My Recent Correspondence with 'Ayaz Nizami' – #FreeAyazNizami". CONATUS NEWS. 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  6. ↑ "'Ayaz Nizami' Needs Far More Attention, as a Human Rights Case Study". News Intervention. 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  7. ↑ "جراتِ تحقیق - ہمتِ کفر ملے جراتِ تحقیق ملے". Archived from the original on 2015-08-29.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "When Atheism becomes Terrorism in Pakistan – Extra Newsfeed". Extra Newsfeed. 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  9. ↑ "Pakistan Detains Three Bloggers On Blasphemy Charges". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  10. ↑ "Dangerous situation for Freethinkers and Humanists in Pakistan" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "42 Christians told 'to convert to Islam or face death penalty'". The Independent. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
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