Don’t let the mob rule on Bibi’s fate
THE question that arises is, what’s the point of our asylum system if we can’t help a persecuted woman? (Mail). The list of considerations impeding Britain from intervening in the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy, includes the possibility of the British High Commission in Pakistan being burnt to the ground. Such a prospect is enough to paralyse any government, but should it? The rioters and fanatics are beyond rationality. The facts of the Bibi case have long since disappeared in a welter of emotion. It is no different from the witch trials of Salem in 1692, the Salman Rushdie case of 1989 and the Dreyfus case that shook France between 1894 and 1906. Mrs Bibi is only the most recent Christian victim of fabricated charges in Pakistan. Should we yield to the threat of riots? Is an insufficiently integrated minority to enjoy a veto over our asylum policy? This would set an appalling precedent. The best solution would be for Pakistan to avoid making a decision until the disturbances die down and the Bibi family can be quietly sent abroad.
MARgARET BRoWn, Burslem, Staffs. I CAN’T believe we give a backward and violent nation hundreds of millions of pounds in foreign aid. This should be stopped until Mrs Bibi is escorted safely out of Pakistan. This case cements my belief that religion is bad for your health. R. MACDonALD gRuTE, newquay, Cornwall. CALLS for the UK to offer asylum to Mrs Bibi are laudable, but misplaced. The proper action is for the government of Pakistan to guarantee her safety from the hysterical calls for her to be put to death. Pakistan proclaims itself to be a democracy, so this is a test for new Prime Minister Imran Khan to prove to the world his nation respects religious difference and is capable of upholding the decision of the nation’s Supreme Court. In today’s world where secularism rules, it might be considered inappropriate to use Mrs Bibi’s faith as a lever for asylum.
DES MoRgAn, Swindon, Wilts. AFTER the Islamist terrorist bombings, stabbings and car attacks in Britain, the Prime Minister said our country would never kowtow to intimidation and fear. But when we have the opportunity to help a Christian in danger from Islamists, we become a nation of cowards. Have we not learned the lesson that if you let bullies go unchecked as a compromise for peace, then even this will be taken from you.
D. BIZLEY, Downham Market, norfolk. IF THERE is such an overwhelming case to grant asylum to Asia Bibi, then surely it is the responsibility of the Vatican, not Britain. MICHAEL SMYTH, Berwick-upon-Tweed, northumberland.