As expected, the Judiciary has again stalled resolution of the blasphemy case of Christian woman Asia Bibi. In doing so, the Judiciary continues to bow down to Muslim fundamentalist groups, and fails to provide justice to vulnerable members of society.
Two days prior to the hearing of Asia Bibi’s appeal in the Supreme Court, fundamentalist organisations published advertisements and video clippings, warning the Judiciary not to accept Bibi’s appeal. The Judiciary received the message loud and clear.
Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy, has had her appeal adjourned after one of the judges refused to hear the case.
She filed a review petition before the Supreme Court against her death sentence by the Lahore High Court in 2014, and it was kept pending for two years. It finally came up for hearing in the highest court on October 13. Alas, the judges surprised no one in ensuring the whole matter remained in abeyance. In fact, one of the judges, Justice Hamid-ur Rehman, has taken this opportunity to recuse himself from the three-member bench hearing the appeal, on the grounds of “conflict of interest”.
The message from fundamentalists and from proscribed terrorist organizations appears to have suddenly activated the memory of the judge. Their threat appears to have reminded Justice Rehman that he was a part of the Bench that was hearing the case of Salmaan Taseer. Justice Rehman informed the court that Asia’s case relates to that of Taseer. The court was later adjourned indefinitely. Asia’s lawyer, Saif-ul-Mulook, said it would probably take weeks or months for a replacement judge to be found and for the appeal to be rescheduled.
If the decision of the lower court is going to be retained and Asia is hanged, she will be the first blasphemy accused to be executed by the State. Most blasphemy accused are lynched by angry vigilante mobs. Proponents of reform in the blasphemy law, including lawyers and judges, have been threatened, attacked, or even killed. Prominent amongst those are ex-Governor Punjab Salman Taseer and ex-Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Shahabaz Bhatti. They were killed for speaking against the blasphemy law and supporting Asia Bibi.
Orthodox religious zealots have also pressurized the government to deny Asia Bibi her right to medical treatment. Since June 2015, Asia has been suffering from intestinal bleeding. Jail authorities have denied her access to treatment, because extremist organizations are demanding that Bibi be executed immediately. The Judiciary is reluctant to defend Asia fearing dire repercussions from mullahs, who have been allowed full impunity by the State and are used as non-State actors to subjugate the general masses.
Asia’s case is a classic example of a society marked by intellectual bankruptcy, one that manifests a cumulative failure as a nation to protect its vulnerable. The case has already resulted in two high profile murders and one hanging. Yet, it remains in the doldrums and there is no sign of relief for Asia and her family despite a lapse of seven years.
The judges are apprehensive; if they acquit Bibi, their lives, as well as that of their families are in danger. Mob vigilantism is the reality of the country; mobs dispense their idea of instant justice to any one uttering a single word deemed blasphemous. The mob spares no one, be they young or old, as witnessed in Kasur in 2014, when a Christian couple, along with their unborn child, was burnt alive over alleged blasphemy. No one has been convicted to date for the horrendous Kasur murder.
A criminal justice system rife with loopholes allows anyone to wrongly accuse a person of blasphemy and get away with it. The alleged accused is however made to rot behind bars for years, even if they are innocent. Even when the case does proceed, it takes many years before a judgment is pronounced, and in most of the cases it is not favourable for the accused. This is partly because of the pressure exerted by fundamentalist religious groups and partly because the legal jurisprudence on blasphemy has still not been clearly established, ever since the promulgation of the notorious Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The miscarriage of justice on the issue is a far cry from the reality of its application, as enunciated by several edicts on the issue, where a single unfortunate, ill-informed, ill-judged alleged utterance can lead to a conviction under the law, and to the death penalty.
Unknown to many contemporary pseudo-religious Scholars, a fatwa (religious edict) issued by more than 450 reputed religious scholars from different schools of thought has clearly stated that a non-Muslim blasphemer cannot be killed unless he/she is “habitual in the offense”. Hundreds of leading ulema from South Asia have declared that non-Muslims cannot be killed for a single offense of blasphemy and their pardon is acceptable unless it becomes a habitual and high frequency offense.
The founder of the sect that Mumtaz Qadri, murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, belonged to, also endorsed pardon for non-Muslim blasphemers and the view that non-Muslims cannot be killed for a single offense of blasphemy.
Incidentally, the co-founder of the Deoband school of thought, another orthodox group that favors death penalty for the offence, Mahmood Hassan Deobandi, is also signatory to the said edict.
Going by the edict, Asia should have been acquitted, as she has begged pardon a number of time, and is not a habitual offender. According to Asia’s husband Ashiq Masih
“Even if Asia is released, there is a bounty on her head so their lives could never return to how they once were. Thousands have protested against her and said they would kill her if she were ever released – including the imam in her own village.”
The verbal brawl that started seven years ago has destroyed the life of Asia and her five children; the family lives under constant threat and is forced into a fugitive life. Asia herself is kept in solitary confinement; to keep her safe from other inmates who might kill her. As per her lawyers, it has been a year since she has seen the open sky.
By adjourning the cases indefinitely, the judges have tried to avert the pressure on them; however, for Asia, it will mean more years of incarceration and solitary confinement. Her misery has been compounded by the inaction of the Judiciary, which is dragging its feet in her case. No judge wants to be embroiled in the mess that can ensue following her acquittal. Even on the occasion of the hearing of the case, the government had to deploy thousands of security troops to avert any violence outside the Supreme Court.
The government of Pakistan, in its effort to appease religious fundamentalists and proscribed militant organisations also does not want to appear unjust in the commune of nations; it wants Asia to die in jail rather than to be blamed for hanging her itself. To date, other inmates or guards on duty in jail have killed five accused of blasphemy on death row. Several rights defenders fear for Asia’ s life. They demand that she must be acquitted of all charges.
The Asian Human Rights Commission calls upon all parties to refrain from violence and demands justice in Asia’s case. The AHRC also calls upon the State to repeal the draconian law with retrospective effect. The State must assert its writ over the fundamentalist religious groups, as was envisaged in the National Action Plan (NAP). Religious fundamentalism will have to cede permanently for the nation to become pluralistic and tolerant.
