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

AAAP
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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 Dawn News website, In a first, three get death for ‘cyberspace blasphemy’, by Malik Asad, January 9, 2021
  5. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 "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". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 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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