Kevin Rafferty

Opinion | Populism, religious zealotry, social media: the unholy trinity that made a lawless mess of Pakistan

Kevin Rafferty says the blasphemy case against Asia Bibi is an emblem of a Pakistan that has broken its founding father’s promise of safety for people of all faiths, and a nation that has lost its way

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An effigy of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of blasphemy, is held up during a rally in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 21. Radical Muslims have protested against the Supreme Court’s decision to acquit the woman. Photo: EPA

Kevin Rafferty

Published: 4:45pm, 27 Nov 2018Updated: 7:49pm, 27 Nov 2018

When Pakistan’s highest court acquitted Aasiya Noreen, also known as Asia Bibi, of a false charge of blasphemy, some naive commentators hailed the judgment as a harbinger of hope for a freer Pakistan.

The judges ordered that Bibi, a poor Catholic farm labourer who had spent eight years on death row, be released immediately. But Muslim extremists reacted to her acquittal by threatening to bring Pakistan to a bloody halt and demanding that she be put to death, whatever the evidence.

Imran Khan’s government caved in to the mob, put Bibi on an exit-control list to stop her leaving the country, and allowed a review of the court’s acquittal. She is in a – supposedly – safe place, but extremists are going house to house hunting her family members.

Supporters of different Islamic groups shout slogans during a protest against Asia Bibi in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 21. Photo: EPA

Pakistan is a potentially rich country that has become an unholy lawless mess through the combined evil forces of populism, religious zealotry and mob rule.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founding father whose photograph hangs proudly in all government offices, promised that all people, of whatever religion, would be safe. He decreed: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”