Wise Up & Wake Up! Keep Islam Out of YOUR
Neighborhood – The Pakistan Example
John R. Houk, Blog Editor
© April 24, 2026
I just realized my early blogging concerns relating to the
intrusion of Islam may have been re-sparked in my awareness. I’ve been blogging
and sharing on the dangers of Islam to Christians and Christian culture with a
bit more frequency lately.
After 9/11 I did a lot of reading up on Islamic doctrine and
followed a number of prominent Counterjihad writers (which seem to have
become less prominent I sense because of age). I realize in this present
age there might be extra mitigating circumstance in addition to Islam in regard
to the 9/11 attacks. For me Iean to CIA grooming of already willing Jihadists
to embark on an endless war scenario. Although Mossad might have knowledge of
CIA planning I DO NOT believe Israel (or a Jewish conspiracy) was a part
of the grooming. Obviously Israel’s national interests benefit from the endless
war scenario, yet if there is any external blame – I blame the CIA (probably
in conjunction with other American Intel agencies).
NEVERTHELESS! Islam’s revered writings (Quran, Hadith, Sira,
Sunna, etc.) that preach hatred toward all things, all people and all religions
that are not Islamic; made Jihadists an easy target for American Intel endless
war grooming.
While I was dwelling on my decades of exposing the evils of
Islam, a thought popped into my head about Asia Bibi. That is a person once
prominent in the news but since has disappeared as news worthy.
Asia Bibi was a Pakistani Christian who lived in a poverty
status of dhimmitude
is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who worked as a farm laborer.
During a work break Asia went to quench her thirst at a well which was also
frequented by Muslim women laborers. Those Muslim gals were offended a
Christian low class Dhimmi would dare drink from the same well as the Muslims.
A ruckus ensued between Asia and the Muslim gals which culminated
in the Muslims claiming Asia said derogatory things about their prophet Muhammad.
Asia denied the accusation until a beating forced a fake confession.
Keep in mind IF Asia had simply said Jesus is the Son of God
Resurrected from death to life and more important than Muhammad, those thoughts
are blasphemy in Islam worthy of death. Asia Bibi was arrested, tried,
convicted and sentenced to death according to Pakistan’s Blasphemy laws all in
2010. She spent about seven years on death row until Pakistan’s Supreme Court exonerated
her.
Asia Bibi and two of her
five children, pictured prior to her imprisonment on death row in 2010 for
"blasphemy."
Between 2010 and 2021 I followed the plight of Asia Bibi on
my blogs SlantRight 2.0
and The
Conservative-Patriot Christian Right (during the Bibi Asia
period the blog was called Neo-Conservative Christian Right – long since
abandoned Neoconservatism).
I ran “Asia Bibi” in the search bars of those two blogs and
came up with roughly seven pages of results. Some of those results are directly
related to Asia Bibi. Some results are about Islamic Supremacist persecution of
Christian Pakistanis. Pakistan is not a good place to live for Christians. The
Blasphemy Laws are used as lawfare tools against poverty stricken Christians
(left-overs from British Empire days) who often face Muslim mob beatings and
horrific mob deaths still. SEARCH BARS at SlantRight 2.0
AND CPCR.
If you choose to go down memory lane on those search bars, keep in mind many of
the source links are so old they probably will not function. Even so, the
information is crazy informative of the evil Islam is toward Christianity.
A sad note: Two prominent Christian Pakistani Journalist
were a source of the information I posted – Shamim Masih (sometimes Shamim
Mahmood) and Hector Aleem. You will probably notice Shamim did not always appreciate
Hector. I have not heard from either individual for quite some time.
I know that Hector Aleem had his own encounter with Pakistan
Blasphemy Laws and was arrested. The last information I had on Hector is he was
acquitted
of his Blasphemy charge in 2014. However I can find nothing from
Hector Aleem (cursory searching) after December 2014. Hector’s Blogger Page last
post was 12/27/14. I can’t find if Hector is alive or dead. My suspicion is
Hector has departed Pakistan for his safety. If Hector is alive, he is probably
keeping a low profile to prevent any backlash from Christian loved ones stuck
in Pakistan.
A HUGE source of information about Islamic Supremacist
deplorable acts in Pakistan came from Shamim Masih (sometimes Mahmood or
Mehmood – I never understood the reason for the two names). Shamim’s
persecution story is similar to Hectors except Shamim was more a journalist
thorn in getting information out to Western outlets while Hector was more a
Christian advocate for downtrodden Pakistani Christians. I know that Shamim was
physically assaulted for reporting on the persecution of Christians in 2015 (HERE
& HERE).
Shamim’s last Blogger post 10/3/20.
Shamim had found me on Telegram informing me he was keeping a low profile in the
USA. I found him on Facebook as Shamim Mahmood 4/3/26 (birthday). The FB page sadly is absent of any journalistic advocacy so I’m not sharing the link.
The point is: Islam ruins the lives of those who choose not
to submit.
Back to Asia Bibi… Biography Central runs an
Asia Bibi bio that tries awfully hard not to aggravate Muslims in sharing her
persecution story apparently last “generated” 11/28/25
when I last looked.
So what has been going on for Asia Bibi since finding haven
in Canada? According to a New Lines
Magazine post from 3/21/23,
the Muslim persecution is absent but still living a rough life. Apparently all
her advocates have forgotten Asia Bibi. I have not been able to locate any more
recent than 2023. Below is the most recent update I found.
JRH
4/24/26
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Condemned to Death for Blasphemy in Pakistan, She Lives a
Life of Poverty in Exile
The first woman to be sentenced to execution under the
country's notorious law, Asia Bibi, gives a rare interview about her new life
in Canada
By Ailia Zehra
March 21, 2023
New
Lines Magazine
Asia Bibi, a Pakistani
Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2010, photographed in Paris
on Feb. 25, 2020. (Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images) [NLM
Photo]
After spending
more than eight years on death row over false blasphemy allegations in
Pakistan, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, managed to escape to Canada in 2019
following her acquittal by Pakistan’s supreme court. On social media,
right-wing propagandists then claimed that a life of luxury awaited her abroad
and that she was being backed by “anti-Pakistan” and “anti-Islam” powers.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In exile, Bibi has been living a life
of poverty, abandoned by both the state of Pakistan that wronged her and the
human rights groups that once avidly advocated for her release.
Over the past two years, her health has deteriorated as she
suffers from a joint ailment.
“I think I only have a few years left to live,” the
52-year-old Bibi told New Lines in her first public interview since
2020. Like many Pakistani dissidents and victims of extremism who are hounded
out of the country, Bibi’s plight continues even in exile. She works a menial
job, sometimes for over 14 hours a day, to cover her rent and her family’s
expenses. The modest financial support the family initially received from the
Canadian government was discontinued a year later. The authorities help
refugees only for a year after their arrival, after which they are expected to
fend for themselves.
In 2010, Bibi, a farm laborer who hails from a village near
the Nankana Sahib district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, became the first
woman to be sentenced to death under the country’s controversial blasphemy laws
for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with Muslim
neighbors over sharing a cup of water. She was arrested and imprisoned, then
sentenced to be executed by the local court, a judgment that was upheld by the
Lahore High Court.
When Salman Taseer, who was then the governor of Punjab
province, visited Bibi in prison and vowed to persuade then-President Asif Ali
Zardari to issue a presidential pardon for the woman on humanitarian grounds, a
hateful campaign against Taseer ensued. He was himself accused of blasphemy by
extremist clerics who declared him an apostate for supporting a “blasphemer.”
Still, Taseer remained steadfast in his opposition to the blasphemy law. In
2011, one of his own bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, shot him 27 times with an
AK-47 assault rifle near his home in Islamabad, killing him.
Similarly, Shahbaz Bhatti, who was the federal minister for
minorities affairs and belonged to the minority Christian community in
Pakistan, had extended support to Bibi and condemned the misuse of blasphemy
law. He too was assassinated in 2011, with the Pakistani Taliban claiming
responsibility.
Pakistan inherited its blasphemy laws from the British, who
codified them in 1860. More than a century later, in the 1980s, as part of his
Islamization policy, Pakistan’s military dictator, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, introduced
a number of clauses that made the laws more stringent. Following this, the
number of blasphemy-related cases skyrocketed. Between 1987 and 2014, over
1,335 people were accused of blasphemy. Prior to the new clauses, only 14 such
cases had been recorded.
After the murders of Taseer and Bhatti, Bibi’s case garnered
global attention, highlighting the growing violence toward Pakistan’s religious
minorities and those who stand up for them at the hands of uncontrollable mobs
of extremists. Her fate, observers said, would in part determine the future of
religious minorities in the country.
When Bibi was finally absolved of blasphemy charges in 2018,
a wave of violent protests erupted across Pakistan, led by right-wing groups,
most prominently the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP — “I Am Present
Pakistan”). Protesters brought the country to a standstill, setting fire to
rickshaws and cars. Traffic blockades due to the riots forced authorities to
shut schools in most parts of the country. Shoes were hurled at pictures of the
then-chief justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, while extremist clerics leading
the protests called for mutiny in the armed forces. Police were given no clear
instructions by the government on how to deal with the protesters and seemed
unable to handle the mobs.
Two days later, as the unrest expanded across the country,
the government — led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI – “Pakistan Movement
for Justice”) party — signed an agreement with the TLP by which the government
agreed to “initiate a legal process” to place Bibi’s name on the country’s Exit
Control List, or ECL, a government-maintained roster of suspected criminals who
are barred from leaving the country. It also vowed not to oppose a review
petition filed against the supreme court’s verdict acquitting Bibi. The
countrywide protests were then brought to an end and the TLP celebrated the
agreement as its victory. The official actions were seen by many as an act of
capitulation by the government.
Though the government did not put Bibi’s name on the ECL, it
kept her in protective custody for six months after her release from prison.
Posters calling for her execution continued to be displayed in public places,
and the TLP’s social media team ran hateful hashtags against her.
Six months later, she was flown out of the country in secret
and reunited with her husband and two daughters in Canada, where the family was
granted asylum. International human rights watchdogs, as well as the European
Union, were reportedly in touch with the government of Pakistan to ensure
Bibi’s safe exit from the country. The government released no information about
her departure.
Despite being cleared by the country’s highest court and
having spent eight years in prison, Bibi was forced to leave Pakistan in the
manner of a criminal.
“When I landed in Canada three years ago, the first thing I
thought was that I am here because I was thrown out of the land of my birth,”
Bibi tells New Lines, her voice breaking. Her husband is unemployed, as
he is on heavy medication and cannot work without falling sick. Her two
adolescent daughters are disabled. She also has three other children still in
Pakistan. Bibi could not meet with them or her father, who is over 100 years
old, before leaving Pakistan. Her mother passed away while Bibi was in prison.
“My biggest sorrow is that I could not get to meet my father
before coming to Canada. I will carry this grief in my heart for the rest of my
life,” she says, tears welling up in her eyes.
Bibi misses her three children who could not join her in
Canada because the support she was offered at the time of her departure was
limited. She now has no one to advise her on how to bring them to the country.
“I wonder if I will ever see my children again,” she sighs.
Even after three years, Bibi and her family have not truly
adjusted in Canada, due to the language barrier, cultural differences and an
overall lack of support.
“My husband and I are illiterate,” Bibi says. “Our children
could not get an education either. You could imagine how hard it would be for
someone like us.” Neither Bibi nor her husband knows how to read and write in
English or French. They speak Urdu but cannot write or read fluently in it.
Even though there are government-run programs available for
her children and husband in Canada, it is all too overwhelming for her to
handle on her own. Being a laborer on a farm in a small village in Pakistan,
Bibi had never imagined she would be living and managing her family in a
foreign country all by herself.
Her case also highlights how difficult it is for people who
have fled violence and trauma to acclimatize to life in a completely different
environment like Canada. The country grants asylum to high-profile oppressed
individuals. Yet the care offered to such individuals in many instances does
not extend to supporting them through their trauma and PTSD. This was
highlighted when the Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazi died by suicide in
2020 after being given asylum in Canada.
Asked if the Pakistani Consulate in Canada ever reached out
to her, Bibi says she does not expect them to offer her any support, because
back home she is still considered a blasphemer. During the riots that broke out
after her acquittal, banners seeking her execution were openly displayed as
protesters chanted hateful slogans against her and the Christian community.
Incitement to violence and hate speech is a crime in Pakistan, but extremists
groups are able to get away with it.
“Tehreek-e-Labbaik was asking the government to kill me,”
she says. “Under such circumstances, how can the government offer me support?”
Bibi’s death sentence drew international outrage, prompting
strong condemnations from organizations defending persecuted Christians as well
as human rights groups. Pope Benedict XVI issued a public call for clemency for
Bibi. In addition to the extensive media coverage, a number of campaigns were
organized through online petitions, social media trends and concerts the world
over. There were songs dedicated to her, along with books and documentaries.
Bibi’s acquittal and subsequent escape from Pakistan were likewise covered
globally, but when the media attention eventually subsided, she was left with
little or no support.
“Many individuals who used my name to make money have also
forgotten me,” she says.
Bibi says she was uncertain as to whether she would gain
freedom even after the acquittal. “After my release, I felt like I had been
moved from a small jail to a bigger one. During the six months I spent in
protective custody, I feared I would be killed or sent back to jail.”
The type of persecution Bibi survived is an ongoing
phenomenon in Pakistan and continues regardless of the government in power.
According to news reports, at least 80 people have been extrajudicially killed
in connection with blasphemy allegations in the country since 1990. Last month,
a mob in Punjab’s Nankana Sahib district lynched a prisoner accused of
blasphemy after attacking the police station in which he was held. His body was
later set on fire. In December 2021, the case of the Sri Lankan national Priyanta
Kumara, who was burned to death in Sialkot over blasphemy allegations, sparked
global outrage.
Governments in Pakistan tend to capitulate to extremist mobs
every time they take to the streets. Public figures, including state officials,
who are accused of blasphemy are quick to avow their faith and issue
clarifications to avoid the dreadful fate of Taseer. The TLP, the group that
led violent protests against Bibi’s release, is still going strong and
continues to hold violent protests on a regular basis.
Far from doing anything to curb this violence, Pakistan has
made efforts to strengthen the blasphemy law. In January, the National Assembly
passed a bill seeking to increase the punishment for blasphemy committed
against the prophet’s companions and his progeny, which is already a crime in
Pakistani law under Section 298-A. The bill proposes an increase in the period
of confinement from three years to at least 10 years, extendable up to lifetime
imprisonment as well as a fine of 1 million rupees (about $3,600). If the bill
is signed into law, blasphemy will become a non-bailable offense in Pakistan.
While rights defenders celebrated Bibi’s safe departure from
Pakistan, the persecution once meted out to her remains a reality for many
others. In January 2022, a 27-year-old woman, Aneeqa Ateeq, was sentenced to
death by a court in Rawalpindi over a “blasphemous” message sent over WhatsApp
and Facebook. She claims her accuser used the messages against her as revenge
after she rejected his sexual advances.
Junaid Hafeez, a Fulbright scholar and academic who taught
at a university in the city of Multan, has been languishing in prison on
blasphemy charges for nine years. The blasphemy campaign against him was
initiated by a religious group at his university opposed to his liberal ideas.
In 2019, Hafeez was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death. About 40
people in Pakistan are currently on death row or serving life sentences after
being convicted under the blasphemy law.
As the fate of the victims is left hanging in the balance,
Bibi still longs to return home one day. [Blog Editor 2026: Why would any
Christian consider Islam-infested tyranny home?]
“I know the people who want to kill me are still very
powerful in Pakistan, but I don’t want to stop hoping.”
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