Source: ET
In 2009, a member of the Christian minority, just 1.6 per cent of the total population of Pakistan, Aasia Bibi was brazenly charged for blasphemy. As narrated by her daughter, Esham, her mother toiled in the heat of Sheikupura picking berries and as she sipped water to quench her thirst, Aasia was caught up in a fight — the reason being: the cup belonged to Muslim women who refused to share the cup with a Christian. What followed later was the accusation of blasphemy by a neighbour and later the implicated 47-year-old was beaten up, tortured and publicly agonised and later found guilty of the crime which awarded her the death sentence by the Lahore High Court.
“Under Pakistan’s archaic blasphemy laws, insulting Islam is a crime punishable by death”, Meera Shoaib, the granddaughter of Salmaan Taseer shared her views on the subject which has shook her family to the core.
