On Sunday I wrote about the 11 year old girl who had been arrested in Pakistan for blasphemy. The British Pakistani Christian Association held a demonstration on Wednesday outside the Pakistani Embassy demanding her release. See a full report at their blog where they quote the 1947 inaugural speech of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali, the founding father of Pakistan:
"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of 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."As the BPCA rightly say,
He would be turning in his grave right now if he knew how the apparatus of the Pakistan State is being cynically used against defenceless minority faiths.Thanks be to God, the blogs have generated media interest in this outrage and the Pakistani Government has had to take notice.
The band Ooberfüse which I have mentioned before on this blog released a new song "Turn the Tide" which they performed live outside the Pakistan Embassy.
As they sang: SET HER FREE!
3 comments:
Thank you for continuing to keep this case in the public eye.
There appears to be a deafening silence on this issue from the British Government although the French Government has spoken out
This silence may or may not be surprising.
In May 2012 our Prime Minister Mr Cameron met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan to conclude a series of bilateral agreements on trade and education
See http://shar.es/72jyM
One would hope that the British Government is working quietly behind the scenes exerting pressure on the Government of Pakistan using the Foreign Office and the quasi government and non government bodies in the UK and Pakistan who stand to benefit from the agreements concluded in May of this year
Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the accords was "Bringing children together" bewteen the two nations, the plight of this eleven year old disabled girl would appear to be a test as to whether the accords were indeed meaningful or just a lot of hot air
Dear Fr Finigan,
I wanted to email you about this but I couldn't find any contact information on your blog.
I wondered if you would be willing to add this blog (http://friendsoftheoppressed.org)to your list of blogs on the right hand side of your page.
It is relevant to the Rimsha case because they chart the plight of Christians in Pakistan.
Best wishes,
Michael
Michael - I'll put your blog on the sidebar and thank for your publicising the atrocities perpetrated against Christians.
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