— Family’s guardian, his family also granted asylum by Canadian govt
ISLAMABAD: Aasia Bibi’s daughters have emigrated to Canada and are residing in the capital Ottawa, media reports stated on Friday.
Bibi’s daughters were living with their stepmother during her detention. As per further media reports, the family’s longstanding guardian and his family were also granted asylum by the Canadian government.
On October 31, 2018, the apex court had acquitted Aasia Bibi, who was facing a death sentence for blasphemy and ordered to release her from prison immediately, dismissing the Lahore High Court (LHC) judgement.
Following the acquittal verdict, protests had erupted in several cities.
Enraged masses had blocked several routes across the country for two days, while at some places they had also set fire to vehicles. The demonstrations saw the closure of schools, colleges and universities, as well as cancellation of examinations.
The government and the protesters from different religious groups, led by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Rizvi, reached an agreement two days later on November 2.
The law enforcement agencies had rounded up around 1,800 individuals by Monday night. The Ministry of Interior had said that the arrested suspects had been booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
Although the government decided to take action against miscreants involved in vandalism, torture and arson during the demonstrations across the country, it later showed leniency by dropping the cases against the TLP workers.
Separately, the Supreme Court (SC) fixed a review petition against its verdict acquitting Aasia Bibi in the country’s most high-profile blasphemy case last year.
The case will be heard by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel on January 29.
The review petition has been filed by Qari Muhammad Salaam.
