STATEMENT

Aasia Noreen, better known as Aasia Bibi, a Christian, after spending a decade in prison, most of it under the death sentence for ‘blasphemy’, has finally been acquitted and ordered released from jail by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The time from when the ‘blasphemy’ took place to when the F.I.R. (First Information Report) was filed by the police – time during which the story against her could be finessed – the contradictory statements of the witnesses and Aasia’s ‘confession’ to the police were found to be problematic by the three-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar.

Aasia would have been the first person to be hanged for this ‘crime’. The reaction, especially in the west, particularly when Pakistan, in extremely difficult financial straights, is seeking a large bail out from the IMF, might have been on the mind of this quite ‘political’ court when it voted for acquittal. Although, to be fair, the judges made their decision knowing full well that the fanatics would be calling for their blood if they acquitted her.

Aasia, her five children and her husband must be generously compensated financially by the government for the agonies they have

suffered over the past ten years. Her fellow farm workers, who had just had a quarrel with her, the local mulla who egged them on, the police officials and others who took part in perpetrating this gross act of injustice should be severely punished. Lower level judges who first, found her guilty and sentenced her to death and subsequently affirmed it, less on the basis of flimsy evidence, more on their own religious biases, or fear of the wrath of fundamentalists, should also be relieved of their positions.

Over 1,400 people (50% of them from religious minorities which make up less than 3% of the population) are in prison under the ‘Blasphemy Laws’ imposed by the brutal, fundamentalist dictator General Ziaul Haq almost thirty years ago. 62 people have been killed, for alleged blasphemy, before the charges against them could be heard in court. In January of 2011, the Governor of the Punjab Salman Taseer, and a couple of months later, (Clement) Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, and Federal Minister of Minorities were assassinated by religious fanatics because they expressed opposition to the Blasphemy Laws.

Religion is used by ruling elites to make the masses themselves voluntarily accept their hardships and difficulties in the prevailing status quo; to make their rule easier by sowing divisions among the people; to distract their attention from the real issues facing them; to combat egalitarian, progressive and social justice oriented thinking.

Extremist organizations like the Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan and others like it serve the above functions. Think of the major problems facing Pakistan: skyrocketing inflation; massive corruption; a high level of unemployment; a bloated military budget; crippling debt servicing payments; mass illiteracy and poverty, a dire shortage of schools and hospitals, the ever growing gap between working people and the 1% and on and on.

Is anyone talking about these issues? Are people being united to tackle these problems? The TLP and others of their ilk have made sure that that does not happen. That is why these organizations – supported by powerful forces from within Pakistan and powerful patrons abroad – can publicly call for the murder of the Supreme Court judges who exonerated Aasia Bibi without being brought to account. That is why the government has cravenly given in to their demands that Aasia Bibi, justifiably fearing for her life from vigilantes, not be allowed to leave the country. Or, that all their members who were arrested causing mayhem and destruction in the protests against the acquittal be released without charges.

What is needed is the banning of these fundamentalists and their venomous, reactionary, hatred filled views. Funding of religious seminaries and fundamentalist organizations from Saudi Arabia must be stopped. Religious madrasas should be taken over by the government and free, quality, science and rationality based education must form the basis of their curricula.

What is needed is a constitution based on secular, not theocratic, principles. State and church must be separate; People must have the right of religious belief and practice – so long as it is not injurious to society or others. There must be no discrimination based on creed, gender, nationality or ethnicity. Everyone must be equal under the law.

– Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians