Despite the Ordeal, Aasia Bibi Has Forgiven Those Who Wronged Her
The first time since her acquittal in October 2018 Aasia Bibi has finally given an interview to BBC and reflected upon the long years of suffering and then freedom. Promoting her book Enfin Libre! (Finally Free), Aasia spoke to BBC correspondent Mishal Hussain in France where she’s currently on a visit.
“I’m not angry at all, I’ve forgiven everyone from my heart and there is no hardness in me, there is patience in me because I learned how to be patient after having to leave my children behind,” responds Aasia when asked of her feelings about the whole incident that changed the course of her life.
Recalling back on a fateful day, Aasia maintains that it was indeed a petty fight with neighbors that turned ugly as some women accused her of insulting Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
“My husband was at work, my kids were in school, I had gone to pick fruit in the orchard. A mob came and dragged me away. They made fun of me, I was very helpless,” she speaks of when the ordeal began for her.
The next eight years were spent in the prison during which she was sentenced to death on account of blasphemy charges. After a rejected appeal in 2014, it was a finally on October 31, 2018, Aasia found freedom as Lahore High Court reviewed her case and acquitted her.
“It was my country that freed me. That makes me proud,” says Aasia who now wishes to go back to her country if ever given a chance. She currently resides in Canada – with France also offering her asylum – as she was unsafe in Pakistan.
“I left of my own volition because I was in danger there. Anything could have happened to me at any point. So that’s why I left my country. But I have the same love for my country in my heart now. I still respect my country and I want to see the day when I’m able to go back,” she adds.
Aasia also requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to look into the judicial system and ensure that no innocent suffers in jail.
“During the investigation, both parties should be questioned properly because there are a lot of problems in our investigative procedures. And it is hard to tell who is on whose side,” said Aasia.
Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, tells the BBC's @MishalHusain she always believed she would be freedhttps://t.co/TvaHGQl4Ui pic.twitter.com/gTkJyWxDIe
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 28, 2020
The book that Aasia has co-written with French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollett has been released in French last week, an English version of the book is set to come out in September.
