No case highlights the fervour and frustration associated with blasphemy more than that of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who was falsely accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 2010. Today she is in Canada, free at last, after eight years on death row in her home country. It’s been hailed as a victory for justice - but she should never have been behind bars in the first place.

Asia Bibi’s case became a symbol of the extreme injustices caused by Pakistan’s so- called ‘blasphemy laws’, which affect hundreds of people every year. So how did we get here? We examine the policies, politics and prejudices that make the country what it is today.

Pakistan is an Islamic republic, but the constitution guarantees freedom of religion or belief for all - and specifically protects religious minorities. It’s also one of the few Muslim-majority nations to fully accept the UN’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Despite this, the situation for freedom of religion or belief in the country is dire. A number of factors combine to create an atmosphere of tension and fear, where the country is continually on high alert, staggering from one violent tragedy to another.

Rising hate speech by extremists encourages violence against religious minorities, including Shi’as and Ahmadis. 9 March marks the anniversary of one of the worst incidents of this kind of violence, when in 2013 over 100 homes were burned down in the Christian neighbourhood of Joseph Colony, Lahore. More generally, terrorist attacks are commonplace.

In schools across the country, children learn from biased textbooks that distort history and encourage discrimination against religious minorities. We recently saw a breakthrough in our campaign for fairer education.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Hindu and Christian girls each year are abducted from their families or schools, forced to marry Muslim men and convert to Islam. Most are never returned to their families.

‘A death sentence even if released’

The blasphemy laws are often indiscriminately used against Muslims and non-Muslims to settle personal scores or business disputes. Since 1987, over 700 Muslims and 200 Christians have been accused of blasphemy, and the consequences are often tragic, with violence being meted out by extremist vigilante mobs against the victim and their family. Zohra Yusuf of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says, ‘Anyone even accused of blasphemy practically carries a death sentence even if they are released.’

If they are not released, they are left languishing under long jail sentences - some on death row - which are prolonged when cases are adjourned without a hearing. Such delays occur because of the palpable fear surrounding hearings: many lawyers and judges are reluctant to take on cases due to extremist groups threatening and sometimes attacking their families.

Various individuals including MPs have tried to reform these laws, but enormous societal opposition from extremist groups and religio-political parties means these attempts have met with little to no success and in fact, puts those who attempt reforms in serious danger. The former governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, was an outspoken critic of blasphemy legislation, calling it a ‘black law’. He was assassinated in 2011, and his killer said he was motivated by Mr Taseer’s opposition to the blasphemy laws and his support of Asia Bibi. Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, was shot by Islamist extremists on 2 March 2011 for his opposition to the country’s blasphemy laws and his support of Asia Bibi.

A way forward?

International condemnation has had little impact on the conservative Islamic thinking behind blasphemy legislation. However, research by Engage Pakistan, an NGO working on reforming the blasphemy law, found that every Qur'anic and other theological text used by parliament to support claims of consensus on capital punishment for blasphemy, in fact reveals a caveat that non-Muslims should not be killed for insulting the Prophet.

In order for reform of the blasphemy laws to take place there needs to be a considerable shift in the public’s thinking and the extremist mindset of some, to create space for discussion. The government must also be reminded that the blasphemy laws are wholly incompatible with Pakistan’s commitments under international law, and with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of a ‘New Pakistan’ where religious minorities are protected and afforded equal rights under the constitution.

Asia Bibi’s case shows that justice is possible, so let us continue to pray and campaign for all those falsely accused of blasphemy who are still waiting for justice. 

Read more about the blasphemy laws at csw.org.uk/pakistanblasphemy