I first acquainted myself with Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s work with Among the Believers. A startling documentary, the film revolves around the coming-of-age of kids enrolled in the Red Mosque, where the objective is to indoctrinate the youth with radical jihadist philosophy. Next, for his film Insha’Allah Democracy, the filmmaker turned to another controversial Pakistani subject- the exiled former president Pervez Musharraf, in the run-up to the general election of a country with a plagued democracy.
Guilty until proven innocent
Continuing to earn remarkable access and focus on taboo topics, in The Accused: Damned or Devoted? Naqvi turns his lens to Pakistan’s blasphemy law and examines how it’s been exploited for political gain. It’s the riskiest film I’ve seen in a long time because it simply wills to listen to the other side, a perilous endeavour because the de facto law is that the accused is guilty until found innocent.
Structured like a miniseries, Naqvi’s film investigates the actions and reactions to the law by looking at four distinct cases. They are; Asia Bibi, who allegedly made derogatory statements about Islam during an argument with her co-workers and went on to become the first woman sentenced to death for blasphemy; Patras Masih, a student who apparently shared blasphemous content online; Gulalai Ismail, a human rights activist with a target on her back for promoting a “western agenda”; and Mashal Khan, a student who was killed by a mob at his university after he was accused of publishing blasphemous content on Facebook.
Level of access only a trusted filmmaker would get
Allowing legal figures and family members of these victims to speak to the camera and to each other about how the incidents have affected them, we get to really understand the horrible impacts of bandwagon bias and the spread of sourceless information, particularly when certain rhetoric from politicians encourages such narrow groupthink. That might sound very familiar, but not even Trump’s prejudiced obsession for building the wall matches the anti-blasphemy screed of Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the founder of hardline religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), who is said to have inspired murderers.
We see footage from his rallies and it’s very clear that this is a guy who would eradicate democracy if he was elected head of the state. His “shoot first, think later” approach has charmed an alarming number of people and there’s been nothing in the way of apologies for damaging the lives of those whose charges proved to be irresolute. No concrete evidence was found in the case of Mashal Khan after he was brutally murdered and Asia Bibi was eventually acquitted. She then left Pakistan, as did Gulalai Ismail.
Both sides…
On the other hand, this film doesn’t let the leading incumbent of Pakistan’s 2018 election, current PM Imran Khan, off the hook either, showing how he fully supported the law and gained the trust of Pakistan’s far-right. When protests occur after Bibi is acquitted under Khan’s government, the response from the Prime Minister almost feels like the Sister Souljah moment that the country needed to hear to realise that murders and mayhem are taking place under the pretext of being loyal to Islam. It’s the deadly influence of the TLP figurehead.
The comparing and contrasting in this cinematic essay draws us to pessimistic conclusions about the present and future of Pakistan, particularly that of non-Muslims or Muslim minorities (which was also an issue explored in Insha’Allah Democracy through Naqvi’s personal optics as a Shia Muslim), and it’s also uncomfortably easy to assume that this film would be suppressed by the country’s censors despite its indispensable value in the discourse on blasphemy law.
The Accused: Damned or Devoted?: Conclusion
What social impact The Accused will have is yet to be determined but, most importantly, it’s an extremely well-constructed film. Brilliantly observed, excellently researched, and sensitively made, Naqvi’s intimate access gives way to creating a nuanced dialogue around the issue at heart and the cardinal opportunity to put a human face to the victims and their families, who would otherwise be permanently consigned to their perceived misdeeds. This is one of the best films to have probed the difficult relations between religion, politics and human rights.
What are some of the most insightful films about the link between religion and politics? Let us know in the comments below.
The Accused: Damned or Devoted? is available now on BBC iPlayer in the UK with a USA release date yet to be confirmed. It is currently on the festival circuit and will next be screened at CPH: DOX.
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