Update on Asia Bibi

Asia Bibi is the subject of a Fox News report.

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Pope Francis has called for clemency for Bibi, and last year, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called for an end to U.S. aid to Pakistan, noting the persecution of young women and Christians in the nation, and citing Bibi in particular. Last month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom pressed the Obama administration to designate Pakistan a “country of particular concern.”

Those who have spoken up for Bibi from within Pakistan have done so at their own peril. Two, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister of minority affairs, were assassinated after defending Bibi and speaking out against the blasphemy laws.

Read Asia Bibi's own words.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi and her family. Also, please pray for those who are risking their lives to free her.

Update on Asia Bibi

Asia Bibi's lawyers will appeal her case to the Supreme Court.

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Two people associated with Bibi's defence have been assassinated. Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was murdered by a member of his security team in January 2011 for opposing the blasphemy laws.

Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of Pakistan's cabinet, was shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car in March 2011. He had spoken in defence of Bibi, and said he was "committed to the principle of justice for the people of Pakistan."

Read Asia Bibi's own words.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi and her family. Also, please pray for those who are risking their lives to free her.

Update on Asia Bibi

The Baptist Press has an article on how the brother of Shahbaz Bhatti has been forced to flee the country.

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Paul Bhatti's efforts to bring the killers of his brother, Shahbaz Bhatti, to justice could be thwarted by the Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorist organizations.

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's minister for minority affairs, was assassinated in March 2011, two months after Punjab Gov. Salmaan Taseer, a Muslim, was slain. Militants targeted both men for their criticism of the country's blasphemy laws and their defense of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming Islam's prophet. Bibi has been waiting for three years to have her appeal heard.

Read Asia Bibi's own words.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Mark Kellner writes about the presecution of religious minorities.

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Farahnaz Ispahani, a former member of the Pakistan parliament who is now a scholar at the D.C.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, says there has been a “steady decline in religious tolerance in Pakistan over the last 65 years. At the time of the [1947] partition [from India], non-Muslims comprised 25 percent of the population; now, they comprise only 5 percent.”

Forced conversions of Hindus and Christians to Islam are frequent, Ms. Ispahani said, citing a statistic quoted by Rep. Brad Sherman, California Democrat, who spoke of “20 to 25 kidnappings every month” in which victims are forced to convert

One of those who did not convert, a 42-year-old farmworker and mother named Asia Bibi, is perhaps one of the most famous Christian persecution victims in Pakistan. Three years ago, Ms. Bibi was accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death; her execution is on hold, but two of her defenders, Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, a Muslim, and government Minorities Minister Shabaz Bhatti, a Christian, were assassinated in 2010. Ms. Ispahani said the killings were carried out, at least in part, because of their defense of religious minorities.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Former minister Sherry Rehman has been appointed Pakistan's ambassador to the United States. Rehman has worked to reform Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws.

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A British newspaper had reported that with two of three Pakistani politicians who opposed the blasphemy law assassinated, friends of Sherry Rehman now fear for her life. She has been advised by government ministers to leave Pakistan, the report said. (Note: the two murdered political leaders are Punjab governor Salman Taseer and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti)

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani minister who was murdered by Muslim extremists because of his opposition to the country's blasphemy's laws, will not be honored by President Zardari. However, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer (who was also murdered) will be honored. Both men defended Asia Bibi - and paid with their lives for it.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

The Commission for International Religious Freedom wants Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to declare Pakistan a “country of particular concern.”

Key quote from the article:

"As human-rights concern with serious security implications, the need for greater respect for religious freedom and related rights should be an integral issue in the U.S. bilateral relationship with Pakistan," USCIRF Chairman Leonard Leo and its commissioner Felice Gaer said in an op-ed in The Hill. "We have identified this as a problem, and the U.S. should be devising and demanding solutions. While it is complicated and awkward to do so in the case of an ally, the abuses and threats posed by a growing religious extremism threaten both countries," they wrote.

The USCIRF also brought up the case of Asia Bibi and the two Pakistani political leaders who were killed while defending her:

Both [federal minister for minorities Shahbah] Bhatti and [governor of Punjab province Salmaan] Taseer had angered extremists by demanding a review of the controversial blasphemy law in light of the case of Asia Bibi – the first woman to be sentenced to death under the blasphemy law in Pakistan. Bibi, a Christian mother of two and stepmother to three others, was accused of blasphemy against Islam’s prophet. Although she has denied speaking ill of the Muslim prophet, she was beaten and has been imprisoned since June 2009. Bibi is still in prison and waiting for a court hearing date for her appeal.

At a time when the secular media is promoting intolerance and hatred of Christians in the USA, it is important for Christians to remember that the persecution of their brothers and sisters in places such as Pakistan may one day come here. Jesus warned us, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18). The fact that Christians in America are not being imprisoned, tortured and murdered for their faith is no guarantee that it will not someday happen here. For a long time the secular media has turned a blind eye towards the fate of Christians like Asia Bibi, and there is little indication that they will suddenly change their ways.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Paul Bhatti, the brother of the slain Pakisani minister Shahbaz Bhatti, believes the investigation into his murder is finally moving forward. Shahbaz Bhatti opposed the blasphemy laws that Asia Bibi was convicted under.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Asia Bibi is worried that, in the wake of the murders of Shahbaz Bhatti and Salman Taseer, she will be next.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari confirms Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, as Minister of minorities. This might be a positive development since Bhatti has spoken in favor of changing Pakistan's blasphemy laws and has also called for Asia Bibi to be released.

For those who do no know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

The Pakistani government seems to be at odds with itself. Deputy information minister Samsam Bokhari has said there will be no changes to the country's blasphemy laws. This contradicts earlier promises made by Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs, to review these laws.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Update on Asia Bibi

Pakistan’s minister for minority affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, calls for a thorough investigation of Asia Bibi's case.

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“We have requested the Punjab government that the trial should be fair in the high court. She must also be provided security in jail,” he said.

Given the sway Islamic extremists have in the Pakistani government, this may not amount to much. However, it does seems to represent a break in the case.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.