Asia reported to be in Canada as protests continue

There were rumours in Pakistan on Friday that Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted in Pakistan after eight years on death row for blasphemy, had flown to Canada.

The government however, denied the social media reports. Information minister Fawad Chaudhry said there was no truth in the social media gossips.

Earlier, Shan Taseer, the son of late Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, tweeted: “I’m very happy to announce that # AsiaBibi has been reunited with her husband, 2 daughters and a 2- year old granddaughter”... most probably in # Canada.

Mr Taseer’s father Salman Taseer was murdered by his security guard Mumtaz Qadri in 2011 for alleged blasphemy. Qadri was later executed under a court order.

Te h r i k - e - L abbaik Pakistan ( TLP) supporters Friday mounted rallies across the country for a second day after Pakistan’s Supreme Court in a landmark ruling overturned the 2010 conviction against Aasia Bibi for insulting Prophet Mohammed. The charge of blasphemy carries the death penalty in this majority in Pakistan.

Bibi’s acquittal posed a challenge to the government of Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan, who came to power this summer partly by pursuing the Islamist agenda. He asked protesters not to “test the patience of the state.”

Bibi remained at an ‘ undisclosed location’ where the 54- year- old mother of five was being held for security reasons, awaiting her formal release, her brother James Masih said. “She has no other option and she will leave the country soon,” he said.