False hopes and real danger for Asia Bibi, a victim of Pakistan’s unjust blasphemy laws

Beaten, fined and sentenced to death, hopes are fading for Asia Bibi, a 45 year-old Christian mother of five and the first woman to be charged with blasphemy in Pakistan.

Things were looking up for Asia last week when it was rumored that President Zardari would pardon her quickly and that a repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws was being considered. It now appears that both steps were thwarted by extremist voices within the government. In addition, the Lahore High Court blocked Asia's pardon, a move which undermines the constitutional power of the President to issue pardons and commute any sentence.

The incident behind Asia’s conviction arose from a ‘trivial tussle’ between Asia and her fellow field labourers. Reports state that the other women working in the field refused to drink water that Asia had collected, saying it was unclean because she was Christian. Asia challenged their assumptions of religious superiority by allegedly saying "the Quran is fake and your prophet remained in bed for one month before his death because he had worms in his ears and mouth. He married Khadija just for money and after looting her kicked her out of the house". While anyone would agree that such a comment would be offensive to Muslim people, it is harder to agree that such offence should be punishable by death.

One might be reassured to learn that Pakistan has never actually executed a person on a charge of blasphemy. One shouldn’t be: blasphemy charges act as a free license to kill. Last July, two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy were shot dead outside the court house in Faisalbad. These murders are only the latest in over twenty pre-conviction murders since 1998, with killings of children among them. As Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, head of the Barnabas Fund, a charity dealing with Christian persecution, puts it:: "Some Muslims feel they are entitled to enforce the death penalty themselves."

Asia’s family, her disabled young daughter among them, have been forced to go on the run due to the danger they face. Even if Asia were to be pardoned, anonymous callers and the Imam in Asiai’s village have made threats to the family that they "will take the law into their own hands."

Blasphemy prison sentences are lengthy, often exceeding ten years, and hefty fines may be imposed on top. The accused can languish in jail for months, sometimes years, before their trial is even heard. Asia was held for 15 months before she was convicted. Earlier this year, Pakistan's Supreme Court released a woman who had been held in jail for 14 years for blasphemy even though "no evidence" had been found against her. The laws are vaguely phrased and open to abuse; often used to settle personal vendettas.

It is bad enough that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws unduly restrict freedom of speech and freedom of religion but what’s worse is that they are used against some of the most disempowered sections of society – religious minorities, especially Christians, heterodox Muslims and the poor.

Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said that the laws cannot be repealed for fear of fueling militancy -- but that the government are looking into amending the law. Former Minister for Information and Pakistan People's Party legislator Sherry Rehman on Thursday made the brave step of submitting a private member bill in the National Assembly Secretariat seeking to remove the most abusive provisions of the blasphemy laws. It is brave because such a move is enough to put Rehman in personal danger from those who support the laws.

Islamic scholar, Akbar Ahmed adds a religious voice to those who call for repeal. Ahmad claims that the blasphemy laws are at odds with Islamic law itself which teaches that "there is no compulsion in religion", while Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch claims that "no serious religious scholar without a political axe to grind has spoken out in favour of these appalling laws". Even the Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer states that these laws are political and not religious, imposed by a military dictatorship for cynical purposes, and has supported Asia’s clemency petition.

Let’s hope that the Pakistani authorities take heed of these calls. In the meantime, Asia’s five children remain motherless, while her family attempt to save her and themselves from Pakistan’s corrupt and prejudiced legal system.