AFTER the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, governor of the Punjab province in Pakistan, human rights activists now say they fear for the safety of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who allegedly blasphemed Islam and was sentenced to death.
Bibi, a mother of four, was sentenced to deathfor allegedly insulting Muslim’s prophet Muhammad. She has been in solitary confinement for the past month. Last November, she was sentenced to hang for blasphemy.
Christians say Bibi could be killed by some Muslim zealot in the jail just like Taseer was shot by his own security guard. Taseer was Bibi’s most prominent defender.
Their fears are not entirely misplaced. Since 1990, at least 10 Pakistanis have been killed while awaiting trial on blasphemy charges.
Mustafa Qadri, the policeman who killed Taseer, is being treated like a hero by seminary students and lawyers whenever he is brought to the court in Islamabad. They shower him with rose petals for his ‘patriotic’ act. Qadri shot Taseer 17 times before surrendering.
He told police that he killed Taseer because the Punjab governor wanted to amend the controversial blasphemy laws used to jail Asia Bibi and several other minority Pakistanis. The governor had called the legislation a ‘black law.’
The killing has made the issue complex, according to observers in Pakistan. The country’s judges are conservative and the killing of Taseer will play heavily on their minds when they hear Asia Bibi’s appeal comes up for hearing.
