An 11-year-old Christian Pakistani girl could face the death penalty under the country’s notorious blasphemy laws, after she was accused by her neighbours of deliberately burning sacred Islamic texts.
Rifta Masih was arrested on Thursday, after complaints against her prompted angry demonstrations. Asif Ali Zardari, the president, has ordered the interior ministry to investigate the case.
As communal tensions continued to rise, about 900 Christians living on the outskirts of Islamabad have been ordered to leave a neighbourhood where they have lived for almost two decades.
This is truly shocking. I will do what I can to raise awareness in my parish of the plight of Pakistani Christians. But the sad fact is that there is virtually no leverage that we can bring to bear against the Pakistan government. It is virtually a failed state. A (Muslim) governor was assassinated when he supported a poor woman accused under the blasphemy law; the (Christian) Minister of Minority Affairs was also murdered. The country is tottering, with rule of law minimal, and a poorly educated, xenophobic population imagining all kinds of accusations against Christians. Where to go from here? Perhaps lobby our governments to cut aid – but that might in turn impact on the fight agains the Taleban. Even so, I think it is more evidence that it is time to get out.
Prayers ascending for the girl, the mob, and for the country.
I wouldn’t give up hope, Fr. Tee (and I write that with great respect for your witness). I can’t say how, but I am sure that your work to raise awareness, and your prayers, will be effective in some way that God can see even if we can’t.