lahore, PakistanJanuary 12, 2023 (christian daily international–morning star news)
A Christian widow in Pakistan is not exempt from being forced out of her job and village, putting her life at risk, despite being acquitted of wrongful blasphemy charges.
Musarrat Bibi was acquitted on December 8 after being charged with the crime along with Muslim gardener Muhammad Sarmad. desecrate the page On April 15, I read the Quran while cleaning the warehouse of a government girls' high school in Arifwala tehsil 66-EB village, Pakpattan district, Punjab.
Bibi said he was suspended from his job after being taken into police custody, but school authorities refused to reinstate his job even though he was released on bail almost a month later.
“When I returned home after posting bail on May 12, a stranger threatened me, saying that even though the court had released me from prison, I was still guilty of blasphemy and that my life would not be spared. – an elderly widow told Christian Daily International Morning Star News by phone from an undisclosed location. “We had no choice but to take her daughter and flee the village. We have been on the run for about seven months, constantly changing locations to avoid being tracked.”
Bibi said it would be impossible to return to work given the stigma and risks associated with blasphemy charges in the 96% Muslim country.
“But I pray that God will make a way for me to get the same job in another district,” she said. “My life has been ruined by the false charges and I have been forced to take refuge in various locations since I was released on bail after my arrest on May 12th.”
While working as an administrator at the school, she also ran an independent store at the school to supplement her income.
“I was given a government job in place of my late husband Barkat Masih, who was a teacher,” said the mother of her two married eighth-grade daughters who were forced to drop out of school because of the incident. the mother spoke. “Everything was going well until I got involved in this fake case.”
Poor Bibi said that a Muslim teacher named Munira, who had a grudge against her for refusing to clean the toilet a few days before the incident, was involved in the incident.
“I simply told Mrs. Munira that I am an office worker and it is not my responsibility to clean the toilets, but she still insisted,” Bibi said.
On the day of the incident, she was sitting in the store when she was called by the principal.
“When I entered the office, the room was full of emotional staff,” Bibi said. “As soon as the principal saw me, she shouted that I had hurt their religious feelings by burning the pages of the Quran. Although I had no idea what she and the other teachers were accusing me of, , Despite my repeated pleas, some teachers pushed me out into the open, where I was surrounded by students and local villagers.”
She began to pray silently, asking Christ to give her the courage to stand up against the false accusations, she said.
“The timely intervention of the police saved my life. Otherwise, God knows what they would have done to me,” she said.
Kashif Nadeem, the complainant in the case, is Munira's cousin and said it was Munira who gathered the crowd and named her the prime suspect.
Her lawyer Lazar Allah Rakha said that Arifwala Additional Trial Judge Tariq Mahmood had acquitted the widow under Section 295-B of Pakistan's blasphemy law, which carries a mandatory life sentence. said. The judge accepted Allah Raqa's argument that the defendants had no intention of desecrating the pages of the Koran.
“The judge also noted gaps in the police investigation, as there were no personal witnesses against the pair, and the school council also acknowledged that the actions were unintentional.'' he said.
The prominent rights activist said Bibi's case shows how the police hastily registered blasphemy cases under pressure from mobs and how false charges can haunt innocent people for the rest of their lives. Stated.
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, baseless allegations of blasphemy often spark riots and violence. International and Pakistani rights groups say blasphemy charges have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal charges.
Pakistan's government has been under pressure for years to reform the country's blasphemy laws, but other political forces in the country have strongly resisted.
More than 2,000 people have been charged with blasphemy since 1987, and at least 88 people have been killed by mobs on similar charges, according to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice, an independent group that advocates for minority rights. It is said that it was done.
Pakistan ranks seventh on Open Doors' 2023 World Watch List as the most difficult region to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, please visit: https://Morning Star News.
If you or your organization would like to help Morning Star News continue to raise awareness of persecuted Christians around the world through original content coverage, please consider supporting us below. https://Morning Star News.
Photo credit: (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)/CanvaPro/@be-easy
Originally published by Morningstar News. Used with permission.
<
Listen: Let our Bible study experts help you start your new year off right.
Have you chosen a word of the year? Whether you choose a word every year or you've never chosen a word before, I think this episode will help bring order to your life in the coming year. If you don't know what your word is, today we'll hear some of the things we're promised in Christ and that in faith you can claim for yourself into His year 2024. It might be the perfect day. Keep each of these words in mind. It takes faith.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group.
Watch: 7 Lessons from Christians in South Asia
read: 10 Lessons from Navajo Christian Missionaries and Lessons learned from international women missionaries
