Asia Bibi: Pakistani Christians march against blasphemy law at Christmas
Lahore (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Lahore High Court has not yet set a date for the hearing of the appeal for Asia Bibi, a Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy. But the battle over the controversial law goes on. On Christmas Day demonstrations for and against the law took place in Pakistani cities. And the website of Pakistan Christian Post, the main voice of Christians in the country, was down for a number of days after being hacked by Muslims. The image of a bloody angel on black background was posted to the homepage. At the centre of the screen a banner reading: " Hacked by Islamic Hacker Dragons."
In Lahore police claim to have prevented clashes between protesters for and against the blasphemy law on Christmas Day. About two dozen activists of the Islamic Tahaffuz-i-Namoos-i-Risalat (TNR) were holding a sit at Faisal Chowk against amendments to the blasphemy laws and to the pardoning of Asia Bibi. At the same time, dozens of members of Pakistan's Christian Democratic Alliance and other civil rights organizations begun to gather in the neighbourhood. They carried flags and banners and demanding that the blasphemy law be amended, and Asia Bibi released. The two protests crossed to Faisal Chowk and began to shout slogans against each other. Witnesses said that some Islamic activists tried to reach the Christian demonstrators, but were prevented by police. The protests were then dissolved peacefully.
In Karachi various social and human rights organizations, as well as trade unionists and lawyers have formed an alliance called "Citizens for Democracy, which aims to launch a national campaign to amend the controversial blasphemy law. The founding meeting took place December 26, 2010, attended by 28 different denominations. The meeting expressed its full support for the amendment bill submitted by the Parliamentarian Sherry Rehman. And it was decided to meet with the parliamentary committee dealing with bills and Parliamentary Affairs to speed up the process of change. "Most of blasphemy cases registered against minorities are not genuine, and there should be a clause in the law that provides the same penalties against anyone who frames a complaint, if it is not true, so that no one dares to lodge false complaints in the future" said one of the speakers at the conference.
The AsiaNews campaign continues at: salviamoasiabibi@asianews.it
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