ISLAMABAD: Stressing on the fact that Pakistan’s government had very few legal and political options to deal with protestors seeking a reversal of the Supreme Court’s verdict acquitting a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, in a blasphemy case, experts said on Friday that the best way forward would be to resolve the issue through dialogue.
Sharafat Ali, a Supreme Court senior advocate, told Arab News that the government is not a complainant in the blasphemy case and therefore it can do little to “legally meet any requirements of the protesters”.
Bibi, a 51-year-old woman and a mother of five, was accused of blasphemy in 2009 in Sheikhupura and was awarded the death sentence by the lower courts. She had been in prison ever since. The country’s top court on Wednesday acquitted Bibi of blasphemy charges, reasoning that the prosecution had categorically failed to prove its case.
Shortly after the verdict, activists of a far-right religious party, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) took to the streets in all major cities of the country, including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, and blocked the main arteries, thereby disrupting public life. They have also been accused of inciting followers through fiery speeches against members of the army and the judges who passed the verdict.
Ali said that the government should have charged the leaders of the protesting parties with “treason”, specifically the TLP’s wheelchair-bound leader, cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, and his associates, for the incitement against state institutions.
“If the government fails to register cases against some key clerics leading the protests under incitement and treason charges, this will further embolden the extremists,” he said.
Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House on Friday, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi said that the government was negotiating with the party leaders and “there will soon be a positive progress.”
He, however, categorically said that the government will not use force to disperse protesters. “We don’t want any bloodshed,” he said.
Tahir Malik, an academic and a political analyst, said the government is caught in a catch-22 situation as protesters have refused to back down from their demand under the verdict was reversed.
“Dialogue seems to be the only option to resolve the issue peacefully,” he told Arab News.
“If the government uses force against protesters, a considerable segment of the society can move against the authorities and further complicate the issue,” he said.
Malik said that there is a need to devise a long-term strategy to de-radicalize the society through the teachings of Islam. “Entire political leadership should join hands to ostracize extremists and ideology of extremism in the society,” he added.
Government caught between a rock and a hard place with ongoing protests
Government caught between a rock and a hard place with ongoing protests
- Seeks to resolve issue amicably, even as demands for death continue for Christian woman
- Lawyers urge authorities to charge protest leaders with incitement of violence and treason
Pakistan rejects Amnesty claims of Israeli spyware use, calls reports ‘disinformation’
- FO denies any link with Israel, says Pakistan has “absolutely no cooperation” on surveillance tools
- Islamabad accuses India of delaying clearance for relief aircraft bound for flood-hit Sri Lanka
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected an Amnesty International report alleging the use of Israeli-made invasive spyware in the country, calling the findings speculative and misleading.
Amnesty’s investigation, published Thursday under the title Intellexa Leaks, cited the case of a Pakistan-based human rights lawyer who reported receiving a suspicious WhatsApp link in 2025. According to Amnesty International’s Security Lab, the link bore signatures consistent with Predator, a spyware product developed by Israeli manufacturer c
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi dismissed the suggestion that Islamabad had deployed the tool or maintained any technological cooperation with Israel.
“These are all media speculations. These are all rumor-mongering and disinformation. There is absolutely no cooperation between Pakistan and Israel on anything, let alone a spyware or these kinds of tools. So, I would reject it quite emphatically,” he said at a weekly briefing.
Andrabi also accused India of obstructing humanitarian operations, saying New Delhi delayed flight clearance for a Pakistani relief aircraft carrying aid to flood-affected Sri Lanka.
“The special aircraft carrying Pakistan’s relief goods had to wait for 48 hours, in fact more than 48 hours, around 60 hours, while the flight clearance from India was delayed,” he said.
He added that the eventual conditional flight window was too narrow to be workable.
“The partial flight clearance which eventually was given after 48 hours was operationally impractical, time-bound just for a few hours and hence not operable, severely hindering the urgent need for the relief mission for the brotherly people of Sri Lanka,” Andrabi stated.
“Humanitarian assistance is like justice, if it is delayed, it is denied.”
Responding to India’s claim that clearance was granted within four hours, he said Pakistan has documentary proof contradicting New Delhi’s version.
On a separate question about reported delays in the arrival of a Turkish delegation aimed at mediating between Islamabad and Kabul, Andrabi said Pakistan welcomed Ankara’s initiative but was unaware of the cause of postponement.
“We stand ready to receive the Turkish delegation. That delegation has not arrived as yet. And I’m not aware of any schedule. Pakistan is ready to hold negotiations, discussions,” he said, adding that the delay may be linked to coordination with the Afghan side.
