This morning I woke up to a press release from the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) that contained some unexpectedly good news. Asia Bibi, the Christian farmworker who was accused by Muslim co-workers of ‘blasphemy’ for drinking from the same well as Muslims and in the view of the Muslims, ‘contaminating’ the water source, has now left Pakistan. The BPCA has said that Ms Bibi is now on her way to Canada where she will join her family.
The BPCA said:
Pakistan’s most famous blasphemy law victim Asia Bibi was finally released from her homeland where she has become the most hated figure in the country despite law courts exonerating her from the false charges that had kept her incarcerated in solitary confinement for almost 10 years.
In the early hours of the morning today(1am) BPCA received confirmation from a British diplomat that Asia Bibi had safely exited Pakistan. Asia Bibi bravely held on to her faith through the most brutal of incarcerations that involved her having access to sunlight for two hours per month. Now she finally travels to Canada to be reunited with her children.
Asia a berry-picker was beaten and raped for an alleged blasphemy offence in June 2009 when she reacted to the abusive treatment she was receiving for drinking from the same well as Muslims. While she was being beaten and berated by women colleagues she simply uttered the words ‘my Christ died for me what did Muhammed do for you?’ The men workers from her berry field then began their attack and returned with a mob a few days later to lynch her.
Other local Christians called the police to get her put into safe custody but then a local Imam (Islamic preacher) then accused her of blasphemy and stated that he had personally witnessed the blasphemy despite being at neither event where the alleged crimes took place.
Asia Bibi was failed her High Court Appeal in November 2016, however on 31st October 2018 a Supreme Court Appeal exonerated her original charges and although the decision was made through Pakistan’s Apex Court, she was forced to remain in the country to address a petition to her Supreme Court decision submitted by extremist group Tehreek-e-lebaaik. This was after the country’s prime minister Imran Khan capitulated to the demands of extremists whose riots had brought the country to a standstill.
On 29th January, three months after her acquittal by the Supreme Court, the court finally quashed the petition by Tehreek-e-Labaaik in essence finally declaring Asia Bibi free and freeing her from her original charges completely.
This is excellent news and I hope that Ms Bibi gets the new life in freedom that she deserves when she reaches Canada. She has been put through hell by the Pakistani authorities and by the many ordinary Pakistanis who despise Christians with a warped passion.
It was only by way of intense and sustained international pressure that Ms Bibi was released. It is also this attention by decent people across the world that she did not suffer the fates of either lengthy imprisonment or death that members of religious minorities live in fear of in Pakistan.
Whilst I welcome the release into freedom of Ms Bibi, I am conscious that she is not the only individual victimised by the intolerant ideology of Islam that dominates Pakistan. There are thousands upon thousands of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and heterodox Muslims such as the Ahmadiyya, as well as Christians, who live in terror of a trumped up and baseless ‘blasphemy’ accusation by Muslims. Non-Muslims and those Muslims who wish reform of Islam are treated very much as if they are second or third class citizens and in many cases are given the worst and most demeaning jobs to do. Pakistan is a nation where a religious Apartheid system operates and it is one where non Muslims are very much at the bottom of the social pile.
Even though we should quite rightly celebrate the release of Asia Bibi, we must be mindful of all the other non-Muslims in Pakistan who also face similar or worse treatment to that which has been meted out to Ms Bibi. Those opposed to the disgraceful way that Pakistan treats its non Muslim citizens should not rest on their laurels but should keep fighting and keep pointing out and highlighting the plight of these people. Pakistan is a complete hell hole for non-Muslims and although the release of Ms Bibi is welcome, there is still much more to do before Pakistan’s religious minorities can truly be considered to be free.
