Westerners seem kind of tired of talking and hearing about Pakistan. Yeah, they had a big flood. 1000s dead, more homeless. Yeah, they're poor as churchmice -- oops, mosque-mice. Yeah, their government is corrupt, despotic and incompetent. Ho-hum.
What should not be forgotten is that Pakistan is officially a Muslim state. That was the whole point of its creation at the partition of British India in 1947.
The Muslims didn't want to live in the same country as Hindus and Christians. They wanted their own space. And so they got West Pakistan, now just "Pakistan", and East Pakistan, once East Bengal and now Bangladesh. Both countries are blessed with Islamic laws and typical south Asian politics, as a result of which they are typical third world basket cases. [Jute baskets in the case of Bangladesh. Ed.]
Islamic religion, Islamic culture, Islamic law. Yes. That's why one of the things you can't de in Pakistan is blaspheme the prophet. Nor can you suggest that any religion other than Islam has any validity. Asia Bibi found that out the hard way.
Ms. Bibi, a Punjabi, is a 45-year-old mother of five, who happens to be a Christian. While she was working at a local farm, the Muslim women with whom she was working called her an infidel and urged her to convert to Islam. Bibi refused, saying that Christianity was the only true religion.
According to the Pakistan Christian Post the Muslim men working in nearby fields also gathered and attacked Asia Bibi on which she fled to village in her home. The angry Muslims followed her and took her out of home and started beating and raping her.
They tortured her children also, while someone informed police. The police then arrested Bibi on blasphemy charges! Following a lengthy trial, she was sentenced to death. Whether the execution would be by stoning or beheading has not been reported.
Ms. Bibi's death sentence provoked an international outcry, at least in the Christian media. You may not have heard or read much in the lamestream media because of course we wouldn't want to offend our Muslim brothers by suggesting that they are intolerant.
Now Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for minorities, has found that Bibi was wrongfully convicted, and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer has told CNN that the Pakistan president will pardon her. “I mean, he’s a liberal, modern-minded president, and he’s not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed,” said Taseer. “It’s just not going to happen.”
Or will it? Islamist leaders are reportedly planning protests throughout Pakistan if Bibi is pardoned. Attorneys in the district where Bibi is jailed are boycotting the courts to protest a possible pardon, and opponents of the release have gathered outside the jail. Islamic fundamentalist groups are threatening to kill her if she is freed, according to Fides news agency reports.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bhatti, who is also a Christian, said that Pakistan may amend its controversial anti-blasphemy law but will not repeal it, prompting the leader of the Pakistan Christian Congress to call for his resignation.
Click here to read a more detailed report from the Pakistan Christian Post.
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