LAHORE, 3 Nov 2018:
A Pakistani Islamist party yesterday said it will call off protests over the acquittal of a Christian woman who faced hanging on blasphemy charges, striking a deal with the government to end three days of protests in major cities.
Under the deal, the government agreed to seek to bar Asia Bibi – a mother of five who has been on death row since 2010 – from leaving the country, according to a document of the agreement shared by the ultra-Islamist Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) group.
“We have reached on an agreement with the government,” said Ejaz Ashrafi, spokesman for TLP. “An announcement will be made shortly by our leadership.”
The government confirmed the agreement, with religious affairs minister Noor-ul-Qadri telling Geo TV “the protest will end tonight”.
Bibi’s case has outraged Christians worldwide and been a source of division within Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to help Bibi were assassinated.
Islamist parties such as TLP, whose rallying cry is for blasphemers to be killed, have framed Bibi’s release as Pakistan’s government caving into Western demands.
Bibi was accused of making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. But a three-judge panel set up to hear the appeal, headed by chief justice Saqib Nisar, ruled the evidence was insufficient.
The top court’s decision had enraged TLP, whose leaders have taken to the streets to call for the death of the judges who made the decision and the ouster of the government.
Bibi’s whereabouts were not known yesterday. Her family has been in hiding this week, with speculation rife she would be secretly sent out of the country by the authorities.
The prospect of Bibi being allowed to leave Pakistan was unacceptable to the TLP’s political chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi. “There will be a war if they send Asia out of the country,” Rizvi said.
As part of the agreement, anyone arrested during the protests would also be released and legal steps would work to place Bibi on Pakistan’s “exit control list”, which means she would be barred from leaving the country.
“TLP apologies if anyone is hurt without any reason during this incident,” the agreement adds.
During the three days of protests, TLP blockaded major roads across the coastal metropolis of Karachi, eastern city of Lahore, and capital Islamabad. Other cities were also affected.
Pakistan yesterday suspended mobile phone networks in major cities and many schools were closed.
Separately in CAIRO, gunmen yesterday killed at least seven Christians who were returning from baptising a child at a Coptic monastery in Egypt – the most serious attack on the minority in more than a year.
Six of the dead were from the same family, and another 18 people, including children, were wounded, the Coptic Church’s spokesman said in a statement.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the ambush in Minya province in central Egypt, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said, without providing evidence of its involvement.
“The jihadists targeted them with light weapons and killed 13 people and injured 18,” the group said in a statement released much later in the evening.
“This operation comes as revenge for our chaste sisters that were arrested by the apostate Egyptian regime, and we promise more attacks to all who aid it.”
Egyptian security forces on Wednesday night detained six women, including the daughter of former presidential candidate and senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater.
The Muslim Brotherhood has denied any links to Islamic State.
The attackers opened fire mid-afternoon on two buses near the Monastery of St Samuel the Confessor in Minya, 260km up the River Nile from Cairo, the church spokesman said.
Footage posted on social media showed bodies inside a bus with apparent gunshot wounds. Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the pictures.
The attackers then fled, a witness at the monastery said.
Local resident Hilal said he rushed to the scene after hearing about the attack and saw the militants on the road.
“Some of us came to try and block the road. There were three four-wheel drive vehicles and the militants opened fire … The militants wore white thobes and chequered head-dresses.”
Islamic State and affiliated groups have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Christians, including one that killed 28 people in almost the same spot in May 2017 here
Egypt’s army and police launched a crackdown on the militant groups in February, targeting the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he mourned the victims as martyrs and vowed to push ahead with the campaign. “I assert our determination to fight dark terrorism and to pursue the perpetrators,” he said on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Kuwait all condemned the attack. The EU said it was a “stark reminder of the security challenges that Egypt is facing”.
Egypt says fighting Islamist militants is a priority to restore stability after the years of turmoil that followed the “Arab Spring” protests in 2011.
The public prosecutor said a team of investigators has been despatched to the scene of the attack.
– Reuters