Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, was sentenced to death for blasphemy after a dispute with her Muslim coworkers. She drank from the same water source they did.
Dear President-elect Trump,
Congratulations on winning the election. We are praying for the success of your administration in bringing restoration and renewal of democracy, freedom and prosperity to the United States, and in taking leadership in critical global issues.
Your recent phone call with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been widely reported in the media. In a statement released by Pakistan’s Press Information Department, you were quoted as telling Prime Minister Sharif, “I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems.”
Mr. President-elect, we appreciate your desire to work on outstanding problems in Pakistan. From our perspective and in the belief of millions who helped you to win the election, one of those issues is Pakistan’s unjust blasphemy law. This law prescribes the death penalty for blasphemy against the Muslim prophet Muhammad and the Islamic faith, as well as for the desecration of the Quran. Christians, other religious minorities in Pakistan, and even Muslims have suffered unimaginable and egregious violations of human rights because of this law.
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Faith McDonnell is the Director of Religious Liberty Programs and of the Church Alliance for a New Sudan at the Institute on Religion & Democracy.
Darara Gubo is a human rights activist working on behalf of the persecuted church, and is the author of Blasphemy and Defamation of Religions in a Polarized World: How Religious Fundamentalism Is Challenging Fundamental Human Rights (Lexington Books, December 16, 2014).
Photo Credit: iStockphoto and Flickr/καρλο, via The Stream.