
<p><br /><br />Though I could present numerous examples  of this, one that has most recently come to my attention is the predicament of  Aasia Noreen (also called Aasiya Bibi, Asia, or other transliterations in the  world press), a forty-five-year-old mother of five. In 2009, Aasia got into a  disagreement with fellow field workers in her village of Ittan Wali in Pakistan  near the Indian border. The other workers were trying to pressure her into  renouncing Christianity and becoming a Muslim. Aasia's family was the only  Christian household in the village. Aasia however, stood her ground, much to the  chagrin of at least one of the other women who also held a grudge against her  for a past land dispute. To end the bickering, the wife of a village elder  demanded Aasia go to fetch them water from a well in the Nankana Sahib district,  several miles away. Aasia complied, but when she returned, the disgruntled  Muslim woman said it was sacrilegious to drink water collected by a non-Muslim.  Aasia replied, "Are we not all humans?" The response brought another strong  rebuke and another altercation arose. <br /><br /><br />Shortly  after, the disgruntled women went to a local Muslim cleric and told him about  the incident. The cleric filed a report with the police about it on June 19,  2009, and on that same day, the disgruntled woman confronted Aasia in front of  her home accusing her of having defamed the name of Muhammad, saying she had  denied that he was a prophet. Men working in the fields nearby overheard the  altercation, left what they were doing, and forced their way into Aasia's house.  There they began torturing Aasia and her children, demanding she admit to the  blasphemy and repent. As things escalated, they tried to put a noose around  Aasia's neck ready to hang her. However, the police soon arrived and took Aasia  into custody, supposedly for her own protection. As more allegations were made,  instead of being released, Aasia was charged with blasphemy under Section 295 C  of the Pakistan Penal Code, a crime punishable by death. While awaiting trial,  Aasia would have to remain in the horrible conditions of a Pakistani prison,  separated from her family except for when they could visit. <br /><br />Aasia spent  more than a year incarcerated before her trial. Then finally in November 2010,  the accusations were heard before a judge. While the family hoped they might  finally put this matter behind them, instead of dismissing the charges because  of a lack of evidence, the judge sentenced Aasia to death by hanging and fined  her 100,000 rupees ($1,100). Because many convicted in lower courts of blasphemy  are threatened or even killed in prison, Aasia was put into solitary confinement  and all visiting rights were revoked. <br /><br />The National Commission for  Justice and Peace (NCJP) has said that up to eighty percent of such blasphemy  charges are filed to settle old grievances, which seems to be the case with  Aasia as well. In recent years, most such convictions get overturned in higher  courts. It is believed that local courts are usually pressured into convictions  by local clerics and Islamic groups. The word of such cases travels fast, and  generally angry mobs surrounding the courthouse chant slogans and demand the  death sentence as trials take place. <br /><br />In Aasia's area, the local imam  said he cried with joy when Aasia was sentenced to hang. He told reporters,  "She'll be made to pay, one way or the other. . . If the law punishes someone  for blasphemy, and that person is pardoned or released, then we will take the  law into our own hands." Despite the fact that no one has ever been executed by  the government under this law, many have been murdered after their release.  Several Islamic groups have already taken to the streets of Pakistan to let the  government know there will be anarchy if Aasia's sentence is not carried out.  Since her sentencing, Aasia's family has had to go into hiding. At the end of  that November, a hard-line Islamic imam promised to pay anyone who killed Aasia  $6,000 if she were set free by the courts. <br /><br />While the sentencing has  brought international protests, Aasia still remains in prison as of this  writing. Even Pakistani government officials have been among those who have  spoken out against the sentencing and called for Aasia's pardoning and  protection by the president of Pakistan. Doing so has placed anyone who speaks  out into the crosshairs of Islamic fundamentalists as well. <br /><br />One who  spoke out for Aasia was Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. Because of this, Taseer  was assassinated by one of his bodyguards on January 4, 2011—shot down in cold  blood in broad daylight. Several clerics and imams in Pakistan had called for  Taseer's execution after his defense of Aasia. Different religious leaders  offered a total of 50 million rupees ($579,300) for the assassination of Aasia  and any who spoke out on her behalf. The call apparently worked. The bodyguard  made no attempt at escape after gunning down Taseer, turning himself in to the  police and telling them he had killed Taseer "because of the governor's  opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws." <br /><br />Roughly two months later, the  Pakistani minister for religious minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti who had also called  for Aasia's pardoning and opposed the blasphemy laws, was gunned down in the  streets. Radical Islamists will stop at nothing to spread their hatred—a hatred  that is aimed particularly at Israel.</p>
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