Aasia Bibi
The daughters of Aasia Bibi hold a photo of their mother outside their residence in Ittanwalai, Pakistan, Nov. 13. ReutersSee Dec. 14th and other Updates below...
Because there's so much injustice the US has rained down on the world, including with the recent sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years and she's now in Texas - an horrific prison with a history of abusing women - I hesitate to bring up another woman's heart-wrenching case in another land. (Since we don't know how to get the motes out of our own eyes)...but we are ONE HUMANITY...and are ALL needed to stand against the death penalty and a harsh sentence to life behind bars no matter what. What should it matter to us whether our stand is for a Muslim woman or a Christian one no matter our own persuasian?
In PAKISTAN, Christians, Muslims and NGOs are mobilizing for Asia Bibi...Increasingly, people are speaking out against the blasphemy law as a tool for personal vendettas and fodder for extremism. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions in favor of Asia Bibi's life. Still she and her family wait, wondering. Catholic and Protestant leaders as well as Muslim scholars and non-governmental organizations have slammed a court’s decision to impose the death sentence on this Christian women convicted on blasphemy charges. She is the first woman sentenced to death for such an offense, and many Pakistanis are pressuring the government to change or repeal the country’s “obscene” blasphemy legislation. (This and following intro is from Asia News)
Chair Anis HaroonJust as activists, scholars and many others in America speak out when it comes to the death penalty, so do many in Pakistan. Among them, the Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Anis Haroon said the commission was concerned about Aasia Bibi’s security. She said minorities were not harming the interests of the country. Former chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology Dr Khalid Masood said there was ‘religious illiteracy’ even among the literates. He said nowhere in the Holy Quran there is mention of death sentence for those committing blasphemous acts.
Aasia Bibi was arrested in the village of Ittanwalai under Section 295 C. Judge Naveed Iqbal imposed the death sentence almost year after the offence took place.
Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, 51, told AsiaNews that he would appeal her sentence, which must be upheld by the Lahore high court, the highest tribunal in Punjab before it can be carried out. Asia and Ashiq have two sons and three daughters.
"Aasia is innocent, the villagers are taking out a personal revenge", Sadiq Masih a close relative told AsiaNews. In the meantime, Life for All has launched a nationwide ‘Save Bibi’ campaign. In a week, it got 76,000 signatures. Another NGO, Peace Pakistan, has reached 51,000 signatures.
...Muhammad Hafiz, an Islamic scholar, spoke to AsiaNews about it: “The death sentence of Asia Bibi came as a shock to me” because “Islam teaches us to protect religious minorities,” he said.
****************
The following article is by Noel Irwin Hentschel who is extensively involved in Interfaith work as a Fransciscan and has spent time in area of Asia Bibi's family:
Pakistan: The Shame and the Promise
The world is shocked by the death sentence imposed in Pakistan on Aasia Bibi, a young Christian mother of five, imprisoned under the country's controversial blasphemy statute. This inhumane act paradoxically occurred while devout Muslims fulfilled their Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca where they prayed for Allah's mercy. This punishment is contrary to Islamic teachings on justice.
How can the benevolent act of sharing water, the source of life, undertaken by this Pakistani Christian woman toward her Pakistani Muslim co-worker lead to a death sentence? The co-worker refused to accept water drawn from the same barrel as a non-Muslim sparking a callous and controversial case.
Court documents indicate that the encounter provoked two unmarried women to accuse Bibi of making an offensive remark about the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. Bibi denies this allegation testifying that she never defiled the Prophet or commented against Islam. She maintains her innocence but asked forgiveness and after already serving 15 months in prison received an astounding response by the judge who condemned her to be executed. Leaving one to ponder, where is Islamic justice?
This harsh Blasphemy Law, forced upon Pakistan by former President Zia ul Haq, was one of the first examples by extremists in Pakistan to manipulate and exploit Islam for their own political gain. In Zia's case, it was consolidation of power. Later his supporter Nawaz Sharif, known for ordering the Pakistan nuclear tests in 1998, now heading the hardliner Pakistan Muslim League PML(N), continued the politicization of Islam. Equally disturbing are the actions of former self installed President, Pervez Musharraf, who defends the cruel Hadood ordinances that force women to produce four witnesses when they are raped or be arrested for adultery.
This pattern of perversion of Islamic principles in Pakistan now rivets the world's attention as it did when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated three years ago. Bibi and her family fear that she will be murdered as well while waiting for justice to be served. The death sentence against Asia Bibi for blasphemy is not only directed against her and her family, but in a broader sense against all of Pakistan, a nation whose international reputation hangs by a thread.
The Blasphemy Laws of Pakistan are antithetical to the protections to minorities guaranteed in Pakistan's Constitution and the very concept of religious freedom on which Pakistan was founded in 1947. A study by the National Commission for Justice and Peace reports that a total of 964 people have been charged under this ordinance: 479 Muslims, 340 Ahmedis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus and 10 of other religions. Thirty-two people charged with blasphemy have been murdered through extra-judicial killings. In the case of Asia Bibi, the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court said, "the treatment meted out to the woman was an insult to humanity."
Fortunately the current elected President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has taken a forthright stand, reiterating "Pakistan is a nation of many religions and all Pakistanis, no matter what their faith, are equal under the law." Zardari recently indicated that if his action is necessary, he "will grant clemency to Bibi to insure that she is neither incarcerated nor harmed." However, Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) does not have the necessary votes in Parliament to repeal these dysfunctional blasphemy statutes and there is pressure for him to acquiesce to radical extremist factions. It is wrong and unjust that Nawaz Sharif, head of the second largest party in Pakistan, refuses to join with Zardari to change this discriminatory law.
It is unacceptable that billions of dollars of US economic aid are flowing to a nation that is persecuting minorities. The blasphemy edicts send a message to the international business community that Pakistan is an unwelcome place to invest and to do business. The blasphemy laws do not only undermine justice and decency in Pakistan, but subverts Pakistan's place in the community of nations. My visits to Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi, working with people of Pakistan from various fields, validates the potential promise of Pakistan, but only if these unjust and malevolent laws are repealed.
The Holy Qur'ān demands that Muslims bring about justice with benevolence (ihsān), "Surely God enjoins justice and doing good to others (ihsān) (16:90)." According to Mohammad Hashim Kamali, author of Foundations of Islam: Shari'ah Law "Justice must be attempted in the spirit of ihsān, that is, even when it is not demanded by anyone; the attempt should be in equity and good faith which would gain the pleasure of God." The responsibility of justice by Muslims to non-Muslims is found in Ibn al-Qayyim's teachings in Al-Turuq al-Hukmiyah, "Any path that leads to justice and fairness is an integral part of the religion and can never be contrary to it." Muslims towards non-Muslims are directed in the Qur'ān to act justly with benevolence, "God forbids you not to do good and be just. God loves those who have strived for justice (60:8)."
My lifework is to advance economic opportunities and support for those in need with initiatives that bring people of all religions together for peace. Inspired and mentored by Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity; I travel to far regions of the world supporting their ministry of universal love. As a mother, it was heart wrenching seeing the tears of sorrow on Bibi's 12-year-old daughter, Isham Masih and to hear this child's agonizing pleas for her mother's life...
READ MORE here
14 December UPDATE
Research Brief Pakistan's Jinnah Institute here and another case brought up on the online institute site here
Amnesty International Report/OPed here
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2nd December 2010 UPDATE:
Like the US, Pakistan fails in some significant ways on rights...Although we are in a tough position to point fingers - the anti-death penalty movement universally brings light and makes neutral our concerns. Petitions are easily available online on behalf of Aasia Bibi and this just in from Human Rights Watch:
From: HRW Press
Sent: Thu 02/12/2010 09:59
To: HRW Press
Subject: Pakistan: Allow Pardon for Blasphemy Victim
For Immediate Release
Pakistan: Allow Pardon for Blasphemy Victim
High Court Overreaches in Barring Presidential Pardon
(New York, December 2, 2010) – A Pakistani court’s order to bar President Asif Ali Zardari from pardoning a woman sentenced to death for blasphemy contravenes Pakistan’s constitution and should be withdrawn immediately, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Lahore High Court in Punjab province issued an order on November 29, 2010, barring Zardari from exercising his constitutional authority to pardon Aasia Bibi, an illiterate farmhand who had been convicted by the Sheikhupura District Court of blasphemy and sentenced to death. Zardari had ordered a review of the case in mid-November, after domestic and international outrage over the sentence. A ministerial inquiry concluded on November 25 that the district court verdict was legally unsound.
“The Lahore high court has overstepped its constitutional authority by preventing President Zardari from pardoning Aasia Bibi, who was unjustly convicted under a discriminatory law,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The court has blocked Zardari from promptly correcting a cruel wrong and instead has disgraced Pakistan’s judiciary.”
Aasia Bibi was charged under the blasphemy law after a June 2009 altercation with fellow farm workers who refused to drink water she had touched, contending it was “unclean” because she was Christian. On November 8, the Sheikhupura District Court found her guilty, ruling that there were “no mitigating circumstances.”
She is the first woman in Pakistan’s history to be sentenced to capital punishment for blasphemy, though others have been charged and given lesser sentences.
Pakistan’s constitution is unequivocal in providing the president with the power to pardon, Human Rights Watch said. Article 45 of the constitution states that, “The president shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve, and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority.”
Prior to the action of the Lahore High Court, senior Pakistani government officials had indicated to Human Rights Watch and to the media that Zardari was likely to use his constitutional prerogative to pardon and free Aasia Bibi.
The court stated in its interim order that any pardon would be “premature” as Aasia Bibi’s appeal of her conviction was pending before the court. Senior Pakistani lawyers, including Asma Jahangir, a prominent human rights advocate and president of the prestigious Supreme Court Bar Association, the country’s most influential forum for lawyers, have publicly criticized the Lahore High Court order.
Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for repeal of the blasphemy law and other discriminatory provisions in Pakistan’s penal code. International and Pakistani human rights organizations have long called for the repeal of the blasphemy law, as section 295-C of the penal code is known, which makes the death penalty mandatory for blasphemy. The law has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks as a consequence of the Aasia Bibi case. In 2009, authorities charged scores of people under the law. Many of them remain in prison.
“Not only do those charged under the blasphemy law suffer persecution, it is evident the ill effects of discriminatory laws are compounded by unsympathetic courts,” Hasan said.
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Pakistan, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/pakistan
For more information, please contact:
In Lahore, Ali Dayan Hasan (English, Urdu): +92-300-842-5125 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)
In Jakarta, Elaine Pearson (English): +62-812-8222-3591 (mobile)
In London, Tom Porteous (English): +44-20-7713-2766; or +44-79-8398-4982 (mobile)
Here's one petition begun by Pakistanis and friends and signed globally. Please add your own.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gopetition.com/petition/40649/sign.html
Be aware that MANY Pakistanis and Muslims are deeply concerned along with Christians, socialists and many other sympathizers of Aasia in Pakistan and beyond. Many have said and are aware of the intent of these certain laws which are vulnerable to being twisted into personal vendettas.
A Safe World for Women are two of several international groups working with humanitarian and human rights leaders/groups in Pakistan for Aasia Bibi (and there are many others including within Pakistan working for Aasia and her family.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/opinion/429-asia-bibi-the-world-waits.html
http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/word/word-pakistan.html
Connie,This law which you have called harsh in this post of yours is one of the laws of Islam.And Pakistan was made for Islam.
ReplyDeleteSecondly,this law has been there for more than 3 decades ,and more than 2000 cases has been filed under it,including Muslims, Hindus,ahmadis and Christians.
But NOT ONE death sentence was given to any.
Which show this isn't any other law which could be used to take revenge.
This lady has admitted her sin in front of a court of justice in Pakistan and her words are on record.
It's after international interference that she has changed her motive and the entire story.
As per her children and human-pity,well that's another issue.There are many ppl executed despite the fact they had children.
So,the court doesn't see that.
It follows the law.
There's a law in the nation,whether u like it or not you have to accept it that the only way I suppose.
But if she really is innocent,she won't be harmed,that's my confidence in Pakistani system of justice.
Dear Syeda,
ReplyDeleteThanx for coming! So sorry to miss this comment earlier.
Your comments are important and do provide us with lots of facts we need to help round out the story. I have read that NOT ONE death sentence was given to any under this law. So your point is well taken.
In the US executions happen often REGARDLESS of the person's guilt.
At the same time, go through this site and you will find that we at The Journey of Hope don't go for even the threat of death EVEN for the MOST guilty. As you can see in the case of Aasia, her family including children have to run from place to place feeling unsafe.
So of course Aasia, her children and her family have already been harmed forever and the only thing which may help now is her freedom and mercy toward her...(that is the same for the US federal treatment of Aafia Siddiqui and her family and children.)
This is one of many reasons we work to END ALL death penalty - because the innocent (family-children of the accused) as well as the innocent (or not) become enemies of all who would mistreat their loved ones.
Nevertheless, I haven't checked recently, but could be the US executes more than Pakistan? And be aware China beats us all put together - yet maybe not if we count all the US-stimulated extrajudicial assassinations, torture and those US military helps encourage abroad such as in your country.
Now is the time that we all work together for the healing of humanity worldwide. We are definitely ONE HUMANITY.
Let's stay in touch as I have SO much to learn from you, my dear gifted sister.
hmm...this is a very good article...only few minor changes will make it a perfectly acceptable in Pakistan too.
ReplyDeleteI would like to take permission to use this article or part of it in my new article for a newspaper or my blog?
Thanks for bringing out the facts.
Thanx for the comment and DO let me know where I perhaps may best edit or provide any correction. OF course you are always welcome to take any part or all you wish as I know you will put the same to helpful use.
ReplyDeleteUmm..Connie,you are absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteBut don't you think there's a Big difference in Asia and Aafia..?
I'm not mentioning the religious difference of course.
Aafai was aressted from her own homeland and then did (they say) a crime in another country (afganistan) and she's been tried in another.
Whereas Asia has committed a crime,accepted it as well and sentenced as well in her own nation,where she knows the law.
Well,as far as your all against death penality,well.I'm against that too.
But she can't be given a free ticket as well.
Bty,the punishments are made to make ppl afraid.
For instance one who has 4,5 children then would easily commit some crime and plea for mercy..!
The law and order in the nation would become a joke.
Adding another point,my country has done one one good thing,during last 3 years NO death sentence has been taken place.
Thanx for coming again, dear Syeda.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm so glad to hear that you are against the death penalty. And of course, if guilty, there may be NEED be some humane lessons involved. Yet guilt is SO hard to ascertain.
In my experience prisons are for those quite dangerous and should still be humane. IF for protection of prisoner, our prisons on both sides need VAST improvement.
IF she is better off behind walls, than she should be in a place where she will not be harmed as Dr. Aafia has been.
Of course there are MANY DIFFERENCES between Aafia and Aasia including that Aasia is very poor and uneducated...
Some similarities have been mentioned and include near the top the way BOTH cases have been portrayed by our media (both differently depending on which country).
Often public gets false conclusions because the most loud are inciting hatred or at least suspicions while the more balanced interpreters are quieter.
(In each of our nations, toward the OTHER or so-called "enemy" - in other words, our compatriots are getting different view from one another quite entirely unless we ALL dig deeper.)
Similarities may well include for EACH unfair trials and treatments with prejudices toward the fact they are women and toward each their own beliefs. (
I know that IS true of Aafia and you may be a better judge of whether or not Aasia has been permitted to have a fair trial?)
As with our nation she may have been threatened to say the facts differently than they really are in large or small part and may have been threatened by someone to misrepresent even self? Aafia was threatened harm to her children if do as asked. (BOTH our officials have been guilty in this.)
I know that many of our detainees have thus said things untrue of themselves at threat of family member harm - this can be proven.
Aafia has been unusually strong and consistent but MANY detainees/prisoners with integrity have spoken lies to please and to save the torture threatened to be given to their family if not.
The hatred incited by SOME of our leaders and authorites may include how Muslims and Christians/ Americans and Pakistani are incited to consider one another when in fact, we have SO MUCH in common.
So whatever we may do for understanding and giving benefit of doubt may be the best any of us can do and wait to see the facts for the most part.
Your nation probably gets some better marks for not so many executions...and you would do well to continue that pattern.
Both our nations, on the other hand are KNOWN by many human rights groups to NEED vast improvements on how prisoners are treated and how their families are also treated by the "mob" or officials.(including children - including Aafia's children - both sides have not been and should be protected.)
Hope this makes some since...have to write quickly today.
More in a few days, Insha Allah.
KhudaAllah
Peace,
Connie
I agree with Syeda Zahra.rest, you know my opinion.I have very strict views about it.
ReplyDeleteif laws are to be abolished like this, then you are not going to get hold of your criminals ever.
you must know criminals donot desrve kindmess!they ought to reap what they sow!
Of course we need laws and we need them to be fair, just and effective.
ReplyDeleteLIKE what has happened to Aafia, the treatment of Aasia and the effect for BOTH the families, their cultures and those who follow each their religions is causing an outcry of injustice and anger which may be hard to end.
If either are guilty, they've already reaped the whirlwind. Yet I don't believe EITHER are guilty nor criminals.
Determining guilt before there is even a trial, arresting/kidnapping before any sort of reasonable charge with EITHER - how is this a true democracy in EITHER Pakistan OR America?
Even if they were - either of them - guilty, hanging, be-headings, disappearances, mistreatment, years or life in inhumane cells EVEN before a fair trial and the fear of their families of mistreatment of their CHILDREN are not that different and definitely UNFAIR and INHUMANE.
Consider how MERCY and LOVE are two of the highest and most beautiful names of ALLAH/ OUR ONE God. And how could they ever be detached from the God of Justice? They must be part of His nature as ONE. Otherwise we'd have a multitude of different gods rather than ONE.
Otherwise, we'd ALL be behind bars according to even justice alone.
While this item is more well-rounded than many toward Muslims as it shows that there is an extremist view and not. Also this shows the respect many Christians have toward Muslims in Pakistan. At the same time there's a large group of Muslims who are working actively and behind the scenes for either an end to the Blasphemy laws OR to more compassionate use of the same.
ReplyDeleteLet's remember the many versions of rulings, humiliations and imprisonments as well based on some sort of "blasphemy laws" used by various religions and countries.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Christmas-in-Pakistan:-Christian%E2%80%99s-demonstrations-postponed-for-fear-of-clashes-20338.html
May this season and the GRACE and SPIRIT which is OVER ALL be given FULL sway so that justice, mercy, love and peace for ALL will reign.
Umm..
ReplyDeletewell,well,you are a wonderful person Connie with a even better heart.
Sorry for reading your reply to comment so late,
and I think there's something I might disagree with.
I talked about differences between Aafia and Aasia and u talked of her been illiterate.
Well,most of the crimes are done by such ppl.
And You did don consider the biggest difference that Aasia did a crime in her own country.
This is big thing.
She was a Pakistani national,she must and had signed a document saying that she is bound to follow and obey the rules of the constitution which includes the sentence imposed upon her.
So I can't find any similarities between her and Aafia.
Both been women,well they aren't been targeted cuz of that.
But talking of religions,you got a point.
First lemme tell u that maybe a decade ago we thought of America's courts to be free and just.
But after 9/11 and US's war on terror we think otherwise.
The courts do take pressure in US,whereas here,after the long march the court is the most powerful institution of the nation,even making the president anxious and feel as if some one's got a watch on him too.
I don't think there was any unfair judgement in Aasia case.
And after all it wasn't a complicated one too,cuz when you get a clear confession then there's no problem in giving the sentence according to the constitution.
Apart from this,Aafia wan't a US national,and didn't sign any thing which showed her agreement to the US constitution or rules.
That's a huge difference.
And,if it's the innocent faces of the women is making pity her,then I got pictures of 9 beautiful daughters of Salim yousafzai,the woodcutter that was killed in a Drone attack on my nation,six months ago.
And all the US said was Sorry,the intended target got away in the jeep and the woodcutter came in the way. Sorry..!
Ironic.
Secondly,before
Umm..
ReplyDeletewell,well,you are a wonderful person Connie with a even better heart.
Sorry for reading your reply to comment so late,
and I think there's something I might disagree with.
I talked about differences between Aafia and Aasia and u talked of her been illiterate.
Well,most of the crimes are done by such ppl.
And You did don consider the biggest difference that Aasia did a crime in her own country.
This is big thing.
She was a Pakistani national,she must and had signed a document saying that she is bound to follow and obey the rules of the constitution which includes the sentence imposed upon her.
So I can't find any similarities between her and Aafia.
Both been women,well they aren't been targeted cuz of that.
see below............
But talking of religions,you got a point.
ReplyDeleteFirst lemme tell u that maybe a decade ago we thought of America's courts to be free and just.
But after 9/11 and US's war on terror we think otherwise.
The courts do take pressure in US,whereas here,after the long march the court is the most powerful institution of the nation,even making the president anxious and feel as if some one's got a watch on him too.
I don't think there was any unfair judgement in Aasia case.
And after all it wasn't a complicated one too,cuz when you get a clear confession then there's no problem in giving the sentence according to the constitution.
Apart from this,Aafia wan't a US national,and didn't sign any thing which showed her agreement to the US constitution or rules.
That's a huge difference.
And,if it's the innocent faces of the women is making pity her,then I got pictures of 9 beautiful daughters of Salim yousafzai,the woodcutter that was killed in a Drone attack on my nation,six months ago.
And all the US said was Sorry,the intended target got away in the jeep and the woodcutter came in the way. Sorry..!
Ironic.
The above comment may have been by Mr. Hamza as his name was attached to several the same as one by Syeda. Either way, if the comment I just made doesn't come through, I will re-write.
ReplyDeleteBoth Hamza and Syeda, I hope you realize how much I detest the drones and their terror? Do send anything you can to me on the human face and suffering involved as I want to keep track and write more about these detrimental actions.
Meantime, You may want to see the special message here which includes comment on the laws in question and more:
http://www.blip.tv/file/4552703#
and See: http://www.humanrights.asia New Years Wishes from The Asian Human Rights Commission and their local partners
You both have other points which I need to address soon, InshaAllah.
ReplyDeleteBest of New Years, dear friends.
Opps ,well,zehra was commenting but apparently the comment wasn't been accepted,
ReplyDeleteso she asked me to comment.
Bty,this is lovely and serious discussion,i would love to take part in it,when you are free after ur holidays.
Happy X-mas and a very happy new year.
Thanx for your clarification and well-wishing, Mr. Hamza!
ReplyDeleteIt's my holdiday schedule and preparations yet now I will try to be more present online and on blogs once again. YES, let's keep this going, if you'd like or comment any other way with me. I am most enriched and educated often by your input and Zehra's as well.
And always I KNOW that you both desire deepest peace worldwide on all issues.
I haven't been following the progression for a week or so but I wanted readers here in America/Pakistan and elsewhere to be aware of the many voices inside and outside opposed to the possible hanging of Aasia Bibi:
ReplyDeletehttp://marvisirmed.com/
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2010/11/30/‘blasphemy’-death-sentence-controversy-another-wakeup-call-for-pakistan-government/
http://www.dawn.com/tag/aasia-bibi
Hamza,
ReplyDeleteYou sent this:
And,if it's the innocent faces of the women is making pity her,then I got pictures of 9 beautiful daughters of Salim yousafzai,the woodcutter that was killed in a Drone attack on my nation,six months ago.
And all the US said was Sorry,the intended target got away in the jeep and the woodcutter came in the way.
I REALLY want these photos as I consider these ExtraJudicial Executions/Assassination and the world and the US public need to know!
Connie oneheartforpeace@gmail.com