REUTERS
Aasia Bibi was sentenced to hang in November for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. Last week, an outspoken liberal politician was killed by his own bodyguard for campaigning for her release.
The assassin has since been hailed as a hero by many in this Muslim majority country where a harsh, often unforgiving, brand of Islam is growing in strength.
Prison guard Ansaar Jameel, at the Sheikhpura prison where Bibi is held, summed up widespread sentiment after the killing of Punjab province governor Salman Taseer: “What happened was justified.”
Taseer’s death — and the lionising of his killer — have struck more fear than ever in the mostly Catholic and Protestant Christian community accounting for about two per cent of the population of 170 million.
The self-confessed assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, has been showered with rose petals after court appearances. Hundreds of lawyers have offered to defend him for free.
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