Free Asia Bibi! Christian Woman Sentenced to Death in Pakistan under 'Blasphemy Law'

By Deacon Keith Fournier

11/9/2010

Catholic Online

Christian Woman to Die for sharing her Faith in Pakistan!

We call on our readers to join with us in praying for our Christian sister Asia Bibi, sentenced to death for bearing witness to Jesus Christ in Pakistan. We must raise our voices and demand that she be freed! We also join with Bill Donohue and the Catholic League in opposing a U.N. Resolution allegedly condemning defamation being proposed by Pakistan! We have witnessed what such resolutions can mean for Christians such as Asia Bibi. They are designed to persecute Christians and criminalize Christianity.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Catholic Online) - The Pakistani Christian post is one of several news sources carrying the horrific story of the death sentence handed down against a Christian woman named Asia Bibi (Christian woman sentenced to Death on accusation of Blasphemy) They reported:

"A Christian woman named Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by District and Session Courts after year long trial on accusation of blasphemy filed by Muslim villagers of Ittanwali, where she was residing from generations. While working in farms with other Muslim women, Asia Bibi was dragged in religious dialogues on June 19, 2009, when Muslim women termed her an "Infidel" and Christianity a "Religion of infidels" and pressed her to embrace Islam. Asia Bibi who is married and have two children, defended Christianity with her little knowledge and told Muslim women that Christianity is only True religion on which Muslim women made a roar and accused her defiling Prophet Mohammad".

"The Muslim men working in nearby fields also gathered and attacked Asia Bibi on which she fled to village in her home. The angry Muslims followed her and took her out of home and started beating her. They tortured her children also but meanwhile some one informed police. The police took Asia Bibi to police Station and filed FIR against her under section 295-B and C of Pakistan Penal Code but showed it a protective custody to other Christians of Ittanwali village. Section 295 B and C PPC are subject to life in prison or death sentence but it is first judgment in history of Pakistan when a woman is sentenced to death."

Highly reliable Asia News added further facts in their report Tuesday, November 9, 2010 out of Islamabad. It confirmed the story and added that Asia Bibi was severely beaten by Muslims before being arrested. They noted that "blasphemy charges were brought against Bibi because of pressure from local Muslim leaders" and that "according to the National Commission on Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Church, between 1986 and August 2009, at least 974 people have been charged for defiling the Qur'an or insulting the Prophet Muhammad." This Christian woman was beaten, imprisoned and has now been sentenced to die because she shared her faith in Jesus Christ!

This so called "Blasphemy Law" is in actuality an instrument of oppression with which Christians and other religious believers are persecuted by Islamic supremacists. The use of so called "Blasphemy" or "Religious Defamation" laws to persecute is not confined to Pakistan. On Tuesday, November 9, 2010 the Catholic League issued the following Press Release:

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U.N. ANTI-BLASPHEMY RESOLUTION IS FLAWED

A vote on the proposed U.N. resolution condemning religious defamation is expected to take place this week. Catholic League president Bill Donohue explains why it should be resisted:

"The Catholic League is an anti-defamation organization that uses such First Amendment guarantees as freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly to protest Catholic bashing. But it is one thing to issue a news release, conduct a letter-writing campaign, call for a boycott or hold a street demonstration; it is quite another to criminalize offensive speech.

"It is not just that this U.N. resolution is poorly worded, it is the intent behind it: it is being promoted by member states that are known for disrespecting human rights, including, most spectacularly, religious liberties.

"Since 1999, Pakistan has been pushing for this anti-blasphemy resolution. Joined by nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the resolution is not a check on religious defamation: rather, it is designed to give Islamist nations the right to plunder the religious rights of non-Muslims-under the guise of fighting religious intolerance!

"There is a reason why the Christian community in the Middle East has shrunk to less than two percent of the population-they've been driven out. Just recently, the Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad was the scene of violence that left 58 dead and at least 75 wounded. Their crime? They were Catholics.

"The Catholic League supports all democratic remedies that thwart religious intolerance, but it will never support fascistic laws. These Muslim nations already kill Christians and Jews with impunity; they don't need any further encouragement to bring their idea of justice to the shores of other nations. This resolution, "On Combating Defamation of Religions," is an affront to religious liberty and deserves to be voted down."

We call on our readers throughout the world to join with us in praying for our Christian sister Asia Bibi, sentenced to death for bearing witness to Jesus Christ in Pakistan. We must raise our voices and demand that she be freed! We also join with Bill Donohue and the Catholic League in opposing this U.N. Resolution. This resolution, allegedly condemning defamation, is being proposed by Pakistan! We have witnessed what such resolutions can mean for Christians such as Asia Bibi in Pakistan. They are designed to persecute Christians and criminalize Christianity.