Pakistani Blasphemy Case against Christian Woman Reignites Civil Strife

The Pakistani Supreme Court delayed its final hearing for Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman accused of blasphemy, on October 13. Bibi, who has been awaiting trial since 2010, prepared to have her last defense appeal until one of her judges resigned from his post. On the day of the hearing, Pakistani security forces deployed upwards of 3,000 personnel outside the Supreme Court. The government’s precaution represents the magnitude of the controversy around blasphemy in Pakistan.

Bibi’s case began in June 2009 with a dispute over a container of water. Bibi, whose real name is Asia Noreen, went to fetch water for herself and a few others from a local well. She was then reprimanded by local women for drinking from the same vessel as Muslims. Bibi responded with indignant remarks in defense of her Christian faith, while also making comments about Islam.

These statements caught the attention of a local Imam, who accused Bibi of blasphemy. She was later arrested and charged under Section 295-C, the main anti-blasphemy law in Pakistan, though she consistently denied making blasphemous claims against Islam. In November 2010, a local court in the Punjab region sentenced Bibi to death by hanging.

In 2015, after years of legal strife, Bibi’s case reached the Pakistani Supreme Court, which suspended her death sentence. By then, the case had sparked great national conflict over Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which are reportedly used to persecute religious minorities in the predominantly Muslim country.

The 2011 murder of Punjab governor Salman Taseer over his support for Bibi’s cause contributed to even greater controversy. Many Pakistanis rose up in support of Taseer’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, who viewed both Bibi and Taseer as blasphemers.

Tensions between hard-line Muslim Pakistanis and religious minorities continue to remain a threat to Pakistani society. Bibi is only one among countless Pakistanis who have been convicted for blasphemy. And, although some are  proven to be innocent, many remain imprisoned for extensive periods of time. Judicial and legislative reform will act as critical factors in mitigating religious persecution in Pakistan. Human rights and liberal groups look to reform Pakistani blasphemy laws, while conservatives and religious hard-liners hope to maintain them.

If convicted, Bibi will be the first person to be executed for blasphemy in the country’s judicial history. The Bibi case may, therefore, determine the future of human rights policy in Pakistan, along with that of relations between Pakistani Muslims and minority religious groups.