Even after the acquittal, Pakistan does not give up

"The friends of the blasphemists must die", we heard last week in the streets of Pakistan. Proponents of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) blocked streets, burned carloads of goods and were furiously driven to the street after the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday accused blasphemy, Christian Asia Bibi after eight years of imprisonment still released.

The protests have borne fruit: Bibi is not allowed to leave the country at the moment, his case is recurring, his lawyer has fled Pakistan and Bibi's husband has applied for asylum for his wife, the five children and himself. the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Pakistan Febrile

And although the verdict of the judges raised the hope that something would change in Pakistan. The country is a laboratory where political developments speak volumes about the rest of the world, wrote the author Mohsin Hamid in an essay several years ago: if Pakistan has a fever, the whole world is cold.

Positive signals seemed to be there. Because one hundred and fifty radical protesters were arrested against the acquittal of Bibi. Because Bibi and his family initially seemed able to leave the country ("Once you have been arrested for blasphemy, you can not live in this country anymore," his BBC lawyer said Wednesday). And because – although this acquittal obviously does not immediately lead to greater freedom of expression -, especially among Christians in Pakistan, the hope of seeing the blasphemy law of 1987 To relax was born. As a result, the number of blasphemy charges has risen to more than 1300 over the last thirty years, whereas there had been only seven in total sixty years before its introduction.

Nothing has turned out to be less true. The government has decreed that the approximately three million Christians in All Souls on Friday would not be able to visit the burials of their loved ones, as a large number of Christians could give rise to attacks.

The TLP informed Peer Afzal Qadri, one of the leaders of his party, The Guardian that the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan had accepted all his demands. This means that Bibi is forbidden from traveling until the case is examined. The protesters were released and the government accepted the TLP's apology for the damage caused by the demonstrations, without any consequences. "If Bibi leaves the country, we'll go back to the streets," Qadri said. TLP leader Khadim Hussei told the Reuters news agency: "There will be a war if they let Asia out of the country."

The TLP participated for the first time this summer and is the fifth party in Pakistan. With over two million votes, she has not even had a seat in the national parliament, but she still has great political influence. The party was founded in 2015 to "protect" the blasphemy law, which is still popular with many Pakistanis.

Prime Minister Khan also used it during his election campaign. The playboy and cricket harp said he wanted to fight corruption in his country and stressed that he was a strong advocate of the blasphemy law. He also thanked his victory in July.

The case against Bibi, who in 2010 had already killed a governor when it was pronounced in favor of Bibi, is not the only time Khan seems to respond to objections TLP. During the demonstrations organized by this party against the cartoon cartoon Mohammed PVV leader Geert Wilders, Khan was also loyal to this party and he said: "Europeans do not understand the love of Muslims for Muhammad . " Khan also comes as far back as in 2017. During TLP protests against a swearing-in of elected officials, who would be blasphemous, six were killed because the protesters were separated. The then government asked for help from the army, but that did not burn to the fingers and did not intervene. The government searched for sails and the TLP won a victory.

In Wilders' cartoon contest, the TLP also realized what he wanted and, less than two months later, this small radical party seemed to be shooting the longest.