Activists voiced new fears for a Pakistani woman on death row for blasphemy on Friday, as religious groups launched fresh calls for her hanging after this week’s execution of a killer feted by Islamis
Activists voiced new fears for a Pakistani woman on death row for blasphemy on Friday, as religious groups launched fresh calls for her hanging after this week’s execution of a killer feted by Islamists.
Asia Bibi, a Christian mother-of-five, whose plight has prompted prayers from the Vatican, has been on death row since she was convicted in 2010 of committing blasphemy during an argument with a Muslim woman over a bowl of water.
Bibi’s lawyer Saif ul Mulook said on Friday religious groups have launched a “fresh offensive” against his client in the wake of the execution of Mumtaz Qadri.
A former police bodyguard, Qadri killed liberal Punjab governor Salman Taseer in 2011, angered by his call to reform Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, as well as his promise to help Bibi.
Qadri’s actions saw him feted as a hero by Islamists, and his funeral Tuesday brought up to 100,000 people into the streets of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, many chanting for Bibi to be hanged.
On Thursday, a statement issued from Islamabad’s Red Mosque called on the government to execute “the blasphemer Asia Bibi as soon as possible”. Christian activist Shamoon Gill, a long-time advocate for Bibi, said on Friday that Islamist groups are “putting her life in danger”, citing police who warned him to be vigilant this week. Religious groups could incite any of Qadri’s thousands of supporters to vigilante action, he warned.
