Monthly Archives: November 2018

Asia Bibi: Pakistan’s Judicial Betrayal

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The joy over the acquittal of Asia Bibi lasted barely 24 hours. The Christian mother of five from Pakistan was forced to spend eight years in prison, much of the time on death row, ostensibly for “blasphemy,” before the Supreme Court cleared her of any offense.

“I can’t believe what I am hearing, will I go out now? Will they let me out, really?”, Asia Bibi said by phone after the historic sentence, according to AFP news agency.

Unfortunately, massive street protests by extremist Muslims immediately erupted to pressure the government to delay her release. The phone network in some areas was suspended for reasons of “security”. Rioting caused schools in Islamabad, Punjab and Kashmir to close. Roads were blocked, paralyzing parts of Islamabad, Lahore and other cities. Christian schools warned parents to come and get their children for fear of violence. Churches were put on high alert. Protesters hold placards that read: “Hang Asia Bibi“.

“There will be a war if they send Asia out of country,” warned Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), an Islamist party that supports blasphemy laws.

Threats by vigilante mobs who called for her death and warned of national unrest evidently worked. Pakistan’s government, after saying it would begin the process of preventing Asia Bibi from leaving the country, has now been accused of signing her “death warrant“.

The government apparently succumbed to pressure and signed an agreement giving in to many of the demands of Tehreek-e-Labbaik. Pakistan’s government also promised not to oppose a legal petition to reverse Asia Bibi’s release, and to put her name on the “exit control list” (ELC), a no-fly list, to prevent her from leaving the country.

“Placing Asia Bibi on the ECL is like signing her death warrant”, said Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association.

The agreement,” tweeted analyst Mosharraf Zaidi, “was a “historic capitulation“.

“It’s almost certain that Bibi will not be able to live in the country after her acquittal”, the famous Pakistani novelist Mohammed Hanif wrote in The New York Times.

“[B]arring her from leaving the country grants tacit permission to Tehreek-i-Labaik to hunt her down and murder her,” wrote Robert Spencer, a human rights activist and author of 18 books that include New York Times bestsellers.

Asia Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, just applied for asylum in the United States, Canada and England. “I am requesting the Prime Minister of the UK help us and as far as possible grant us freedom”, he said. “I am requesting the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to help us exit from Pakistan”, he added. That is why the pact between the Islamists and the government is seen as a betrayal. “The agreement has sent a shiver down my spine”, Masih said. “The current situation is very dangerous for us. We have no security and are hiding here and there, frequently changing our location”.

Meanwhile, Asia Bibi’s fate remains “uncertain“.

Read the full story from Gatestone Institute.

Asia Bibi’s family: ‘We no longer have anything to eat’

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They are pleading to be allowed to leave Pakistan

With Asia Bibi and her family fearing for their lives, her husband has called on the international community to help them leave the country.

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Ashiq Masih described how the family is still living in secret following calls for his wife to be killed after she was acquitted of blasphemy last Wednesday (31st October).

He said: “Help us get out of Pakistan. We are extremely worried because our lives are in danger. We no longer have even anything to eat, because we cannot leave the house to buy food.”

Violent protests organised by Islamist political movement Tehreek-e-Labbaik following Asia Bibi’s acquittal forced the family to remain in hiding.

In order to end the protests, Pakistan’s government agreed a deal which allowed Tehreek-e-Labbaik to begin proceedings to have Asia Bibi put on the “exit control list” to prevent her leaving the country.

The government also pledged not to object to any review of her appeal verdict.

Asia Bibi is still in prison, despite Supreme Court judges ordering her release when her sentence was overturned.

Mr Masih called for the media and the international community to continue to focus on his wife’s case: “As it is precisely this attention that has kept Asia alive to date.”

Referring to ACN events where the family has spoken about their situation, including the lighting up of the Colosseum this February, Mr Masih said: “I thank Aid to the Church in Need in particular for giving us the opportunity to speak to the world.”

Saif ul-Malook, Asia Bibi’s defence lawyer, left Pakistan due to security concerns and is now in the Netherlands. He intends to organise a press conference later this week.

Following a call to the governments of the UK, US and Canada last weekend asking them to offer asylum to the family, Mr Masih also appealed to the Italian government to offer them sanctuary.

He said: “I appeal to the Italian Government to help my family and me get out of Pakistan”.

The family has also requested asylum in Spain and France. They are hoping that all of Asia Bibi’s children will be granted asylum.

Story is here.

Scripture of the Day

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Ezekiel 16

1. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2. Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3. And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
4. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
7. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.
8. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
9. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
10. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
13. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

GOD is love, He is righteous and a GOD who loves justice. Justice requires judgment, our Father judges both personal and national sins, or a societies collective sins.

Israels backsliding is recounted throughout the Old Testament. Today people disregard those lessons & think the Divine no longer judges nations, they continue on in their own wickedness considering their own greatness while disregarding the opinion of GOD.

The Father has patience, moreso than any of us can imagine. But at some point our evil as a nation will catch up to us & like backsliding Israel, we’ll stand before a living GOD & judgment.

Scripture of the Day

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Psalms 128
Song of degrees.
1. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
2. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
5. The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.

Scripture of the Day

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Hebrews 3

11. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15. While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Scripture of the Day

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Psalms 126

Song of degrees.
1. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
3. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
4. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Scripture of the Day

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Herbrews 1

1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Scripture of the Day

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Titus 3

1. Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2. To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.