PROTESTS by radical Islamists have apparently delayed the release of a Christian woman in Pakistan who was acquitted eight years after being sentenced to death for blasphemy.
Islamists who want Asia Bibi publicly hanged held rallies across Pakistan on Friday to denounce Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned her 2010 conviction for insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a conflict with her neighbours.
Her family have always maintained her innocence and say she never insulted Islam’s prophet.
For most of the past eight years, Bibi has spent her imprisonment in solitary confinement.
Since the landmark ruling, radical Islamists have blocked major roads and damaged or set fire to dozens of vehicles to pressure the government to stop Bibi’s release from an undisclosed detention facility.
On Friday, 5000 Islamists rallied in the capital Islamabad and nearly 4000 staged a sit-in in Lahore, demanding that the verdict be overturned. Similar rallies were also held in the north-western city of Peshawar.
More than 2000 demonstrators blocked a key road linking Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi, causing traffic jams. Hundreds also blocked another key motorway connecting Islamabad with other major cities.
No violence was reported during the rallies.
On Thursday, a lawyer representing a local cleric who had raised the initial blasphemy charges against Bibi petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse its acquittal.
Pakistan shut down schools and colleges after cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, announced that “talks” between his deputies and the government about Bibi’s fate had failed.
Before dawn on Friday, Rizvi told an emotionally charged rally in the eastern city of Lahore that one of the government negotiators threatened his deputies during the talks that security forces would kill them if they did not disperse peacefully.
He asked his supporters to continue sit-ins as authorities summoned paramilitary troops to restore order.
“We are ready to die to show our love for the prophet,” he said.
Rizvi’s envoys had demanded that Bibi be barred from leaving the country but information minister Fawad Chaudhry rejected the demand, saying the government will not accept any demands.
Ghulam Mustafa, a lawyer representing a provincial cleric in Punjab who filed the initial blasphemy charges, petitioned the Supreme Court, requesting the judges review her acquittal.
The court has set no dates to take up the petition, but Bibi’s release could be further delayed by the process. Pakistan’s Supreme Court has not been known to reverse decisions but court reviews typically take years.
Interior minister Sheharyar Afridi said officials were trying to persuade Islamists to disperse the rallies peacefully.
Authorities also stepped up security near an undisclosed detention facility where Bibi is being held for her safety. On Thursday, prison officials said two inmates were arrested last month for planning to kill Bibi by strangling her. They said the men were still being questioned.
Bibi’s family had expected her release by Thursday night. Her husband Ashiq Masih returned from Britain with their children in mid-October and was waiting for her release so they can fly out of Pakistan.
The family has not disclosed the country of her destination but France and Spain have offered asylum, with others claiming that Bibi should be granted asylum in the UK.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here