ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani Christian woman acquitted in a blasphemy case faced uncertainty on Saturday after the government put her on the exit-control list (ECL), which prohibits her from leaving the country, and told religious hardliners that it would not object to an appeal against her acquittal.
Asia Bibi’s lawyer left Pakistan on Saturday after threats to his life. Bibi, who had been on death row since 2010, was acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, triggering three days of protests that blocked roads and disrupted traffic in major cities.
The protests ended on Friday night after the government reached a deal to put Bibi on the ECL and said it would not object to an appeal against the verdict.
The Supreme Court acquitted her on Wednesday and ordered her immediate release, saying the prosecution had “categorically failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
Christian activist Anjum Paul told Arab News: “The government unfortunately gave in to the extremists, and this isn’t a good sign for the state. It has been four days since the court verdict, and Bibi is yet to be released from prison.”
Paul demanded her immediate release, saying: “The agreement is tantamount to giving license to religious extremists to continue their activities against minorities with impunity.”
He added: “Pakistan is for everybody. It doesn’t discriminate against people on the basis of their religion, though a small segment of extremists does, which needs to be controlled through strict enforcement of the law.”
An allegation of blasphemy is enough to get a person killed in Pakistan.
According to the court ruling in Bibi’s case, at least 62 people have been killed for alleged blasphemy since 1990 “even before their trial could be conducted in accordance with the law.”
Prof. Tahir Malik, an academic and analyst, told Arab News that the government should have resisted the “fundamentalists” instead of “capitulating to them.”
He said: “A dangerous trend has been set to let the fundamentalists go scot-free, even if they incite violence and hatred against state institutions.”
Malik added: “The writ of the state was virtually trampled in the three-day protests, but the government is celebrating its so-called success in dispersing them.”
He urged the government to register cases under incitement and treason charges against leaders of Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), and make them pay compensation to those whose properties were vandalized.
“The state should get its act together as early as possible to avoid any future hooliganism,” he said.
