LAHORE: One of the most frightening things about Pakistan’s blasphemy law is that the simplest act can spiral into charges that can bring the death penalty. In the case of Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, it started when she brought water to her fellow women workers on a farm.
On that hot day in 2009, Bibi had a sip from the same container and some of the Muslim women became angry that a Christian had drunk from the same water. They demanded she convert, she refused. Five days later, a mob accused her of blasphemy. She was convicted and sentenced to death. Later this month, the Supreme Court is expected to hear her appeal.
Pakistan is under new international pressure to curb Islamic extremism, and activists at home say one place to start is by changing its blasphemy law.
In January, the US State Department cited the law as one of the reasons as it put Pakistan on a watch list of countries accused of “severe violations of religious freedoms.”
The move came as the Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Islamabad, freezing security aid until it cracks down on militant networks operating from its soil to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Moreover, the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental agency that combats money laundering and terror financing, has given Pakistan until June to show how it will tackle radicalism or else be put on a black list, a step that could hurt its international financial ties.
Opponents of the blasphemy law say it has turned into a force corroding Pakistani society, feeding extremism, implicating the justice system in radicalism and ultimately undermining rule of law.
Often the law is used to punish rivals in personal feuds. Just making an accusation is enough to convince neighbors or others in the community that the defendant is guilty and must be punished, whipping up a vengeful anger even if the courts find the accused innocent. Authorities are often too afraid to push back against the public fury. In at least one case, officials have kept a man acquitted of blasphemy in prison, fearing riots if he is freed.
Militant groups have embraced the law, using it to cultivate support and attack those who try to break their power.
“It has become much more dangerous over the last few years. The reason is that they have created a sense of fear,” said Zahid Hussain, a political analyst and the author of two books on militancy in Pakistan. “It has become a ready tool not only against non-Muslims, but also against Muslims, who do not agree with their world view.”
According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, 71 countries have blasphemy laws — around a quarter of them are in the Middle East and North Africa and around a fifth are European countries, though enforcement and punishment varies.
Pakistan is one of the most ferocious enforcers.
At least 1,472 people were charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws between 1987 and 2016, according to statistics collected by the Center for Social Justice, a Lahore-based advocacy group. Of those, 730 were Muslims, 501 were Ahmedis — a sect that is reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics — while 205 were Christians and 26 were Hindus. The center said it didn’t know the religion of the final 10 because they were killed by vigilantes before they could get their day in court.
While Pakistan’s law carries the death penalty and offenders have been sentenced to death, so far no one has ever been executed.
A key test will come when Pakistan’s Supreme Court rules on the case of Aasia, whose world was turned upside down after a mob of villagers accused her of insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad after the water incident.
Aasia’s case even reached the Vatican, where Pope Francis last month met with her husband, Ashiq Masih, and daughter Eisham, who traveled to Rome to witness the Colosseum being bathed in red light in a sign of solidarity with persecuted Christians around the world.
During the emotional encounter, Eisham gave the pope a kiss that she said her mother asked her to deliver.
“The blasphemy law is misused in Pakistan,” Masih told The Associated Press in a rare interview. “It has nothing to do with the Holy Prophet or Islam, it is just to settle grudges.”
He spoke at a small Christian-run school in Lahore which Eisham and a younger, disabled daughter, attend. The school’s principal and owner, Joseph Nadeem, has become a guardian to Masih and his children.
Masih, who said his wife was innocent, points to his arm where a bullet struck him, fired by a protester outraged with his wife’s alleged crime. He never lives in one location too long, because it is potentially dangerous, he said.
Aasia’s lawyer, Saiful Malook fears the Supreme Court will buckle to extremists’ pressure and reject his client’s appeal when it hears it later this month. Her only hope in that case would be a presidential pardon, he said.
Just defending her is dangerous. Malook’s home in Lahore is protected by police. He also is a target because he prosecuted Mumtaz Qadri, the elite police guard who killed Punjab’s provincial governor, Salman Taseer, in 2011, after Taseer defended Aasia Bibi and criticized the misuse of the blasphemy law.
Qadri was hanged for his crime, but he has since become a martyr to millions, who make a pilgrimage to a shrine erected in his name by his family outside the federal capital. Giant posters of Qadri emblazon buildings not far from the school where The AP interviewed Aasia Bibi’s husband.
Fear of being connected with a blasphemy case is so strong that Nasreen Abid, a Christian woman, moved out of earshot of others and whispered as she told the AP her family’s story. She spoke outside Lahore’s Mayo Hospital, where she was waiting to learn the condition of her son, Sajjid, who suffered multiple injuries, including two broken legs, after he jumped from a third-story window of a police investigation unit.
She said the police called in Sajjid after his cousin, Patras Masih, was arrested on accusations of sharing a blasphemous picture on Facebook. Police wanted to check Sajjid’s phone but found nothing, said his mother.
Then police stripped Sajjid and his cousin, taunted them and told them to have sex with each other, she said. Instead, her son flung himself out the window. Police say they are investigating the incident.
“There shouldn’t be this law,” Abid said. “Now look at us. We shouldn’t be treated like this. We are citizens of Pakistan. We are being treated wrongly because we are poor and we are weak.”
In Jand Wala Saroo, a small village near Pakistan’s border with India, Razia Bibi wonders whether she will ever again see her brother, Muhammad Mansha.
Mansha spent nine years in jail accused of blasphemy until the Supreme Court acquitted him last year, saying the evidence was insufficient. But he remains imprisoned because authorities say his release would start a riot in the village.
“I pray the village will forgive him, but no one wants him back here,” Razia said, sitting on a traditional rope bed surrounded by her many children. “All the villagers are agreed. He shouldn’t come back. Some even said they would kill him.”
Two local men accused Mansha of destroying pages of the Qur’an at a mosque, though neither witnessed the alleged act. The only purported witness was a child who can neither hear nor speak.
One of the complainants, Allah Ditta Nadeem, told the AP he was at home when people came and told him what had happened. He said he then went to the mosque, where the child explained with hand gestures. Still, Nadeem said he was convinced of Mansha’s guilt.
Hussain, the analyst and author, said most Pakistani politicians privately acknowledge the need to change the law, but are too afraid. Also they often use religious groups when they need them to win elections.
“Neither the military nor the civilian government has a clear strategy how to deal with extremism or militancy in this country,” said Hussain. “For me this is the biggest existential threat to Pakistan because if extremism is not controlled or contained . . . it is going to destroy the social fabric of this country.”
Pakistan under pressure to rein in blasphemy law
Pakistan under pressure to rein in blasphemy law
US congressional committee releases sealed Brazil court orders to Musk’s X, shedding light on account suspensions
RIO DE JANEIRO: A US congressional committee released confidential Brazilian court orders to suspend accounts on the social media platform X, offering a glimpse into decisions that have spurred complaints of alleged censorship from the company and its billionaire owner Elon Musk.
The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday published a staff report disclosing dozens of decisions by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordering X to suspend or remove around 150 user profiles from its platform in recent years.
The 541-page report is the product of committee subpoenas directed at X. In his orders, de Moraes had prohibited X from making them public.
“To comply with its obligations under US law, X Corp. has responded to the Committee,” the company said in a statement on X on April 15.
The disclosure comes amid a battle Musk has waged against de Moraes.
Musk, a self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist, had vowed to publish de Moraes’ orders, which he equated to censorship. His crusade has been cheered on by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who allege they are being targeted by political persecution, and have found common cause with their ideological allies in the US
De Moraes has overseen a five-year probe of so-called “digital militias,” who allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats to Supreme Court justices. The investigation expanded to include those inciting demonstrations across the country, seeking to overturn Bolsonaro’s 2022 election loss. Those protests culminated in the Jan. 8 uprising in Brazil’s capital, with Bolsonaro supporters storming government buildings, including the Supreme Court, in an attempt to oust President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from office.
De Moraes’ critics claim he has abused his powers and shouldn’t be allowed to unilaterally ban social media accounts, including those of democratically elected legislators. But most legal experts see his brash tactics as legally sound and furthermore justified by extraordinary circumstances of democracy imperiled. They note his decisions have been either upheld by his fellow justices or gone unchallenged.
The secret orders disclosed by the congressional committee had been issued both by Brazil’s Supreme Court and its top electoral court, over which de Moraes currently presides.
The press office of the Supreme Court declined to comment on the potential ramifications of their release when contacted by The Associated Press.
“Musk is indeed a very innovative businessman; he innovated with electric cars, he innovated with rockets and now he invented a new form of non-compliance of a court order, through an intermediary,” said Carlos Affonso, director of the nonprofit Institute of Technology and Society. “He said he would reveal the documents and he found someone to do this for him.”
Affonso, also a professor of civil rights at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said that the orders are legal but do merit debate, given users were not informed why their accounts were suspended and whether the action was taken by the platform or at the behest of a court. The orders to X included in the report rarely provide justification, either.
The Supreme Court’s press office said in a statement Thursday afternoon that the orders do not contain justifications, but said the company and people with suspended accounts can gain access by requesting the decisions from the court.
While Musk has repeatedly decried de Moraes’ orders as suppressing “free speech” principles and amounting to “aggressive censorship,” the company under his ownership has bowed to government requests from around the world.
Last year, for instance, X blocked posts critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, in February, it blocked accounts and posts in India at the behest of the country’s government.
“The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment,” X’s global affairs account posted on Feb. 21. “In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts.”
Brazil is a key market for X and other social media platforms. About 40 million Brazilians, or about 18 percent of the population, access X at least once per month, according to market research group eMarketer.
X has followed suspension orders under threat of hefty fines. De Moraes typically required compliance within two hours, and established a daily fine of 100,000-reais ($20,000) for noncompliance.
It isn’t clear whether the 150 suspended accounts represent the entirety of those de Moraes ordered suspended. Until the committee report, it wasn’t known whether the total was a handful, a few dozen or more. Some of the suspended accounts in the report have since been reactivated.
On April 6, Musk took to X to challenge de Moraes, questioning why he was “demanding so much censorship in Brazil”. The following day, the tech mogul said he would cease to comply with court orders to block accounts — and that de Moraes should either resign or be impeached. Predicting that X could be shut down in Brazil, he instructed Brazilians to use a VPN to retain their access.
De Moraes swiftly included Musk in the ongoing investigation of digital militias, and launched a separate investigation into whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization and incitement. On April 13, X’s legal representative in Brazil wrote to de Moraes that it will comply with all court orders, according to the letter, seen by the AP.
Affonso said the committee’s release of de Moraes’ orders were aimed less at Brazil than at the administration of US President Joe Biden. The report cites Brazil “as a stark warning to Americans about the threats posed by government censorship here at home.”
Terms like “censorship” and “free speech” have turned into political rallying cries for US conservatives since at least the 2016 presidential election, frustrated at seeing right-leaning commentators and high-profile Republican officials booted off Facebook and Twitter in its pre-Musk version for violating rules.
“The reason why the far-right needs him (Musk) is because they need a platform, they need a place to promote themselves. And Elon Musk needs far-right politicians because they will keep his platform protected from regulations,” said David Nemer, a Brazil native and University of Virginia professor who studies social media.
In the US, free speech is a constitutional right that’s much more permissive than in other countries, including Brazil. Still, the report’s release seemed to invigorate Bolsonaro and his far-right supporters.
Late Wednesday, soon after the court orders were released, Bolsonaro capped off a speech at a public event by calling for a round of applause for Musk.
His audience eagerly complied.
Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested from New York’s Columbia campus
- University President Nemat Minouche Shafik said she authorized police to remove tents set up by protesters for the safety of the campus
- Protesters clashed with police, bringing back memories of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at Columbia more than 50 years ago
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Wednesday on the campus of Columbia University after its president authorized New York police to clear an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik, who a day earlier came under fire from Republicans at a House of Representatives committee hearing on antisemitism on campus, said she had authorized police to clear an encampment of dozens of tents set up by protesters on Wednesday morning.
“Out of an abundance of concern for the safety of Columbia’s campus, I authorized the New York Police Department to begin clearing the encampment ... ” Shafik said in a statement.
Shafik said the protesters had violated the school’s rules and policies against holding unauthorized demonstrations, and were not willing to engage with administrators.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said police made over 108 arrests, adding “there was no violence or injuries during the disturbance.” Adams added students had the right to free speech but not the right to violate university policies. Police officials said the arrests were related to trespassing.
Columbia said it had started to suspend students who had participated in the tent encampment, which the school considers an unauthorized protest.
“We are continuing to identify them and will be sending out formal notifications,” a spokesperson of the university said in an email.
At least three students have already received suspension notices from Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia, for participating in the encampment, Institute for Middle East Understanding, a pro-Palestinian advocacy group, said.
The three students were Isra Hirsi, Maryam Iqbal, and Soph Dinu, the institute said. Hirsi is the daughter of US Representative Ilhan Omar, who had expressed support for protesters during the hearing at which Shafik testified on Wednesday.
“Those of us in Gaza solidarity encampment will not be intimidated,” Hirsi said on social media after being suspended.
The clash, reminiscent of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at Columbia more than 50 years ago, is the latest in a series of demonstrations on US university campuses since the latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on Oct. 7. Anti-war protests have been staged near airports and on bridges in New York, Los Angeles and other cities, while vigils and marches have taken place in Washington and elsewhere.
Alongside the proliferations of protests, human rights advocates have also pointed to a rise in bias and hate against Jews, Arabs and Muslims in recent months.
The congressional committee on Wednesday accused Shafik of failing to protect Jewish students on campus, echoing accusations leveled against three other elite university leaders at a hearing last year that sent shockwaves through higher education.
She responded by saying the university was facing a “moral crisis” with antisemitism on campus, and Columbia had taken strong actions against suspected perpetrators.
Protesters at Columbia have demanded a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza enclave and an end to US military assistance for Israel, as well as divestment by the university from companies that profit from Israel’s incursion into Gaza.
The encampment was organized by a student-led coalition of groups, including Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Separately on Thursday, a march was also planned at the University of Southern California in support of Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student whose valedictorian speech was canceled by the university, which cited safety concerns.
Tabassum and her supporters say the university sought to silence her because of her opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza, which has killed over 33,000 people, according to the Gazan health ministry, and displaced nearly all its 2.3 million population.
Israel’s assault was triggered by the Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Teenager charged with terrorism over stabbing attack on TikToker Sydney bishop
- Police said the boy had traveled for 90 minutes to reach the church from his home and stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at least six times
- The 53-year-old Assyrian Church bishop has a popular youth following on TikTok and has been a target of criticism, hate and online trolling
SYDNEY, Australia: A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offense for allegedly stabbing an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney during a church service, Australian police said on Friday, as investigations continued into a riot after the knife attack.
Police from the joint counter-terrorism team questioned the boy, who is in a hospital under police guard recovering from injuries, on Thursday and charged him with committing a terrorist act. If convicted, he could get a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.
He has been refused bail and is expected to appear before a bedside court hearing on Friday, New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said during a press conference.
Police will allege the bishop was stabbed as many as six times and that the boy had traveled for 90 minutes to reach the church from his home, Webb said.
A riot broke out outside the church soon after the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel after an angry crowd demanded the suspected attacker be handed over to them. More than 50 police officers were injured and 20 police cars were damaged.
The 53-year-old bishop has a popular youth following on TikTok and has been a target of criticism, hate and online trolling. His sermons range from homilies on the Bible to fiery criticisms of homosexuality, COVID-19 vaccinations, Islam and the election of US President Joe Biden.
Bishop Emmanuel, in an audio message on social media on Thursday, said he had forgiven his attacker and that he was recovering quickly.
Two knife attacks within three days — at a mall near Bondi beach that killed six people on Saturday and at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s west on Monday — have shocked residents of Australia’s most populous city.
The incidents have sparked calls for greater public security in Australia, where gun crimes and knife attacks are rare due to tough laws.
The shopping center will reopen for business on Friday, while a candlelight vigil will be held on Sunday to mourn the victims. The attacker, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, was shot to death by police inside the mall.
Ukraine seeks urgent G7, NATO help for battered air defenses
- NATO chief says working on a solution
- UK seeks ‘creative’ deal on seized Russian assets
CAPRI, Italy: Ukraine warned foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major powers on Thursday they had to change strategy if they wanted Kyiv to withstand increasingly destructive Russian air assaults.
The G7 ministers meeting on the island of Capri acknowledged the need to get more air defense systems to Ukraine and applauded Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as he joined them on the second day of their three-day gathering.
The G7, comprising Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Britain, the United States and European Union representatives, has been fiercely critical of Russia’s two-year long invasion of Ukraine.
However, military aid to Kyiv has slowed in recent months, with European partners apparently running low on ammunition and vital US funding blocked by Republicans in Congress.
Speaking to reporters as he arrived in Capri, Kuleba bemoaned the fact that while US, British and French forces had intervened on Saturday to help prevent Iranian missiles from hitting Israel, his own country lacked vital defenses.
“The strategy of our partners in Israel seems to be in preventing damage and death. ... In the last months, the strategy of our partners in Ukraine seems to be in helping (us) to recover from damage,” he said.
“So our job today is to find a way where our partners will design a mechanism, a way that will allow us also to avoid death and destruction in Ukraine.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also took part in Thursday’s G7 meetings, telling reporters beforehand that the military alliance was actively seeking to send more air defense systems as quickly as possible.
“We are working at the possibility of (dispatching) more Patriot batteries to Ukraine. We are in dialogue with some specific countries,” he said.
In Washington, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told reporters that Ukraine had asked for additional air defense equipment and another Patriot missile battery, adding that Kyiv was looking for a minimum of seven Patriot systems.
Shmyhal declined to say how many Patriot systems Ukraine had currently, saying that was classified information.
He said US and White House officials had assured the Ukrainian delegation that weapons would be supplied in a matter of weeks, not months, once a $60.8 billion US aid package for Ukraine was approved by Congress.
“We hope it will take days, but not more than weeks,” he said.
Domestic political wrangling has delayed delivery of the US aid, but the US House of Representatives might finally get to vote on the package this weekend, bringing some hope to G7 ministers.
Looking to Washington
Germany has already said it would hand over one Patriot system. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged other EU nations to do likewise to help stave off concerted Russian attacks on vital Ukrainian infrastructure.
“Otherwise the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, online, for everything,” he told reporters in Capri.
“In these turbulent times, it is a hopeful sign that there are now signals from the Republicans in the US that support for Ukraine can be continued intensively,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told a news conference.
Another key issue under review is how to use profits from some $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets held in the West to help Ukraine, as European Union member states hesitate over concerns about the legality of such a move.
“It’s important we try and get agreement. ... That’s what we’re discussing here. I’m in no doubt we will find a way, but we’re going to have to be creative. We’ll have to be flexible,” said British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
Shmyhal told reporters in Washington that he had detailed discussions with US and G7 officials about how to use the frozen Russian assets, and he expected some results on that front this year.
Kuleba said he hoped to get immediate pledges this week on the delivery of more Patriot and SAMP/T air defense systems and also new Western sanctions targeting Iran’s production of armed drones, which are being exported to Russia.
Hours later, the United States and Britain announced they would introduce new sanctions on Iran targeting its drone program in retaliation for the April 13 strike on Israel.
But some G7 ministers also urged Israel not to exacerbate an already tense situation with a major retaliation of its own.
“Our appeal is always for prudence and de-escalation,” said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. “We hope that Israel’s response, which will probably come, will be a targeted response and not something that provokes escalation.”
REVIEW: Netflix’s ‘Crashing Eid’
Shying away from the traditional, comedy television show “Crashing Eid” presents quite a progressive viewpoint — but certainly not an uncommon one.
The four-episode series follows the story of Razan, an independent young Saudi woman who fled her old life and built a new one in London along with her teenage daughter Lamar — only to find herself in love with a Pakistani Brit, Sameer.
The show opens with a surprise spin as Razan takes it upon herself to initiate a proposal to Sameer, who she has known for two years. She and her daughter then plan to take a short trip back to hometown Jeddah during Ramadan, without her family knowing that she has no plans to move back home — or that she is engaged.
Sameer decides to return the surprise by showing up to her family’s home, only to be met by Razan’s father, who mistakes him for a maintenance worker. This spurs the show into a flurry of misunderstandings and awkward interactions that surface some rather crucial unresolved family issues and traumas.
As Saudi has become more global in its population, in many ways including international marriages, the issues in “Crashing Eid” have become more vital to discuss than ever.
Rather than focusing on the difficulties that come with marrying a foreigner, such as lengthy legal procedures and official marriage approvals, the show hones in on societal acceptance. The aspects of honor and locality of marriage are brought to the surface.
The show also uses the main plot to dig up some underlying issues prevalent in any society, not just in Saudi Arabia. Through Razan’s homecoming, she is forced to revisit the reality of her previous marriage to Lamar’s father, who had been physically abusive. Choosing to leave him and start a new life abroad, she is met with societal condemnation and victim blaming.
While Razan’s brother Sofyan battles divorce and child custody issues, the family reveals the challenges of generational gaps. It also demonstrates the common shift to the globalization of younger generations and the tight hold on traditions within older ones.
The show has a unique way of making difficult or rather taboo topics palatable for a general Saudi audience. It sets the table for conversation, at the very least.
Sure, some of the acting seemed fairly novel, reminiscent of early 2000s sitcoms sans the laugh track, and the show also had a peculiar style of direction and editing.
But certainly, “Crashing Eid” must be applauded for its bold statements, proving that it is not afraid to rock the boat for the chance to tell authentic Saudi stories. For anyone looking to get a deeper sense into the modern-day Saudi household, the show is a must-watch.
