"..in countries where this law has been applied,it has often been used to settle political and personal disputes and vendetta..."

In India dowry law has been used to settle personal scores; you can search article 498a on google and find for yrself.

So as I said any law can be misused, be it against terror, against rape et all. So my point is lets discuss in principle whether blaspheming a religion is a grave crime or not and whether this deserves the strictest of punishment.

Also you mentioned "...most effective deterrent to the religion being questioned and ..."

Islam does not discourage asking questions; nor does it support forcing it down the throat. As i said earlier it is the way you question that is important.

There are decent ways to express your views and there are ways which is out of the realm of decency...