The family of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan Wednesday after nearly a decade on death row, is “living in straight terror” and seeking a Western country to grant expedited asylum in the face of violent protests calling for her death, the chairman of a charity aiding Christians in the country told Breitbart News on Thursday.
“Asia Bibi has suffered enough, she just needs a country willing to rub away any bureaucracy,” Wilson Chowdhry, the head of the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), explained, adding that Bibi herself is “totally terrified,” and her family – her husband, three adult children, and two dependent children – are currently beginning the asylum process.
Embassies take days and sometimes months to process asylum requests, however, and Chowdhry noted that, given the amount of animosity against Bibi, she may not have that much time before someone attempts to kill her.
To prevent a mob killing, Chowdhry told Breitbart News, the family is requesting that a Western country “remove protocol and just accept them for asylum in the next two days.” He notes that, given the thousands-strong protests demanding her death in Pakistan, her case is an exceptional one with little need to prove she is in danger because of her religion.
The BPCA has launched a petition demanding asylum for Bibi and her family.
The family wishes to go to the West, he added, because outside of the region, Christian persecution is sadly all too common, and her decade-long struggle for freedom is internationally known. Near Pakistan, nations like Afghanistan, India, China, and Iran have extensive histories of persecuting Christians.
Bibi, a Roman Catholic, was arrested in 2009 after a dispute with Muslim colleagues, who accused her of tainting a cup of water by drinking from it as a Christian. The prosecution against Bibi alleged that she responded to abuse from her colleagues by insulting Islam’s Muhammad, a crime carrying the death penalty in Pakistan. She was found guilty and sentenced to hanging in 2010 and remained on death row until Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted Bibi, asserting the witnesses who testified to her blasphemy had lied and, by using Islam to defame others, had committed their own crime of blasphemy. Chowdhry told Breitbart News that Bibi remains in prison while the bureaucratic process to formalize her release occurs.
In response to the ruling, thousands of Islamists, most of the radical Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan Party (TLP), took to the streets of Islamabad and other major cities demanding her death and the death of the three judges who freed her. Many schools across the country shut down amid roadblocks and violence in the streets:
Experts on religious persecution who spoke to Breitbart News agreed that, in this climate, Asia Bibi’s life remains in imminent danger.
“I definitely agree that Asia Bibi is not safe in Pakistan, nor her family … nor any of the Christians in Pakistan (or those brave Supreme Court Justices) at this point!” Faith McDonnell, international religious liberty director for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, told Breitbart News. “Yes, Asia, her husband, and their children should definitely leave the country, and the U.S. SHOULD offer asylum. This is the perfect example of who SHOULD get asylum! An extremely credible fear of persecution, since the Islamist jihadists have sworn to kill her.”
“Now that Asia is free, it’s up to other nations, especially in the West, to offer her and her family asylum. In this current environment, she wouldn’t last a week in Pakistan,” Most Rev. Joseph D’Souza, founder of Dignity Freedom Network, a group that advocates for marginalized groups in South Asia, told Breitbart News. “Her safety has now become an international humanitarian issue, and the world must respond to it.”
“In the greater scheme of things, Asia Bibi’s case is a reminder that the West must press for reciprocal religious tolerance in its foreign policy,” he continued. “How is it possible for Muslim sheiks from the Middle East and Asia to travel freely to the United States and practice and propagate their faith, yet Christians back in their home countries cannot even meet in public?”
The Associated Press reported that France and Spain have offered Bibi asylum, while some reports named Canada as a potential new home for her. Some human right advocates in India have begun pressuring their country to allow her in, as well. As of press time, reports have not yet mentioned the United States as a final destination at press time.
Muslim Mob Stones Three Christians to Death in Kenya
An eyewitness said that the killing happened at a construction site where one of the Christian victims, Fredrick Mukanda Bahati, was building a house along with two assistants. The men were mixing mortar in Elwak, Mandera, a town close to the Kenya-Somalia border, when they saw the mob arriving.
“From a distance, I saw the men hurling construction stones towards Fredrick and his coworkers,” the unnamed witness said.
“The three managed to flee into a nearby hotel for safety, although they had been badly injured. The Muslims relentlessly followed them up and stoned them to death,” he said.
The witness said that the mob was chanting “takbir, takbir, takbir,” the title for the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is greatest).
The brutal killing has left the local community stunned and angry.
“We are not safe at all and this incident shows how Muslims hate believers in Christ,” said a local Christian pastor, who said he was “shocked” at the attack.
“We have known it is the armed militants belonging to the al-Shabaab that kill people, but now we have discovered that even our close Muslim friends can commit atrocities against us.”
Wycliffe Mukanda, Fredrick’s brother, expressed his sorrow over the incident, as well as distress over the inability of law enforcement to protect local citizens.
“This is a sad day in our family,” Mukanda said. “We have lost a man who was skilled in construction and loved all of us. He always reminded us to pray and trust God even in difficult times. That is what is keeping us going after losing him.”
“We were expecting to see him before the end of the year but now what we have is the memories, a widow, and two children to take care of,” he said.
“Where were the police to protect [them]?” he asked.
Christians have often been the targets of Islamist violence in Kenya, despite the nation’s Christian majority.
Earlier this month, jihadists of the Al-Shabaab terror group hijacked a bus heading to Garissa and ordered all the passengers to exit the vehicle. The assailants asked for identification cards, then proceeded to separate the Muslims from the Christians.
When two Christians refused to recite the Islamic statement of faith, or Shahada, they were executed.
International Christian Concern (ICC) said it has been following up with the families of these two murdered Christians.
“This group’s intense hatred and violence has caused massive pain for many families and friends of Christians like these two,” the group said.
“The Kenyan and Somali governments must continue to work to end the horrible atrocities that this evil organization commits and protect the lives of Christians in Kenya,” they said.
Selected Comments:
barack HusseinObama’s place of birth!!
The true God says to “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
The enemy of the true God says: “Fight until all is for Allah”.
That they hate followers of Christ, is all that is needed to be said about islam.
Meanwhile, down in Angola, the government outlawed islam and tore down all the mosques.
And… over in Myanmar, the Burmese people are doing their best to expel the ‘Rohingya’. Now you know why.
The world cannot much longer permit this homicidal religion to dwell among us
In another incident, 2 Christian Teachers were Murdered as Islamic Radicals Ambush Kenyan School in ‘Heinous Act of Cowardice’
Two Christian teachers in Kenya were murdered on Wednesday when Islamic militants ambushed a school, severely injuring three others.
International Christian Concern reported that the attack occurred at Arabia Boys School in Mandera East in the early morning of Oct. 10, with the militants bombing the teachers’ house. The two victims were identified as Johnstone Okumu and Simon Wekesa.
“We have lost two teachers to a terrorist attack early this morning at Arabia Boys School. We are already pursuing the attackers in collaboration with our forces in Somalia in case they have crossed the border,” a senior police commander in Mandera told ICC.
Local teachers noted that Islamic radicals continue to target non-locals, often times Christians who live and work in northeastern Kenya.
“It is painful to lose our colleagues through such a heinous act of cowardice. Our hearts bleed because even after dedicating our time and professionalism in serving this community, they still hate Christians,” said Martin Kamutu.
A church leader, identified only as Rev. John, said that terrorists are killing Christians because of their faith.
“This is another bad example of what religion can do. We are losing Christians at a very high rate in Mandera. Last month we lost five to terrorism and now again we have lost two teachers. We ask the international community and human rights groups to get involved in northern Kenya,” he said.
While it has not yet been revealed which Islamic group Wednesday’s assailants belong to, the Somali-based Al-Shabaab has been active in the country for years, specifically hunting down and killing Christians.
The militants executed two followers of Christ in September after they stopped a bus and separated the Muslim and Christian passengers.
The radicals reportedly forced the passengers with non-Muslim names to recite the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, and shot dead the two passengers who failed.
