Rimsha has exposed the tyranny of Pakistan's blasphemy laws to the world

A few days ago I was very pleased to hear the comments of religious scholar, Allama Tahir Ashrafi regarding Rimsha Masih, a Pakistani Christian girl who has been accused of blasphemy. Ashrafi said that she is Pakistan's daughter and she will get full justice.

He gave a few impressive Islamic references in support of Rimsha, but on Thursday the mood turned sour again when her accuser's lawyer, Rao Abdul Rehman, challenged the medical report which gave her age as 14 and stated that she was, as reported, mentally impaired.

Nobody was expecting any opposition and it was assumed that Rimsha would be granted bail as Christians all over the world have been praying for her security and her release. Now everything has changed.

Does the lawyer really have an objection to her age? Or is it her religion that is the real issue here? I can't help but feel the latter is true.

It is my hope that on Saturday, when her court hearing takes place, that Rimsha will be granted bail. Otherwise we may see more unexpected actions by Islamists and Islamabad's lawyers and a repeat of previous cases where pressure has been put on judges and threats have been made against Christian lawyers.

It is not easy to forget what happened to Judge Pervez Shah, who sentenced Malik Mumtaz Qadri to death. Qadri freely admitted to and even boasted of killing the Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer. The lawyers opposed the verdict, surrounded the court, threatened the judge and demanded his removal.

There are regularly false accusations of blasphemy made against Christians, as well as attacks – sometimes deadly - on churches and Christian villages. These have caused relations between Christians and Muslims to deteriorate and have brought a bad name to Pakistan on the international level. Pakistan is now associated not only with terrorism and extremism, but with religious intolerance and blasphemy too.

A few days ago I was very pleased to hear the comments of religious scholar, Allama Tahir Ashrafi regarding Rimsha Masih, a Pakistani Christian girl who has been accused of blasphemy. Ashrafi said that she is Pakistan's daughter and she will get full justice.

He gave a few impressive Islamic references in support of Rimsha, but on Thursday the mood turned sour again when her accuser's lawyer, Rao Abdul Rehman, challenged the medical report which gave her age as 14 and stated that she was, as reported, mentally impaired.

Nobody was expecting any opposition and it was assumed that Rimsha would be granted bail as Christians all over the world have been praying for her security and her release. Now everything has changed.

Does the lawyer really have an objection to her age? Or is it her religion that is the real issue here? I can't help but feel the latter is true.

It is my hope that on Saturday, when her court hearing takes place, that Rimsha will be granted bail. Otherwise we may see more unexpected actions by Islamists and Islamabad's lawyers and a repeat of previous cases where pressure has been put on judges and threats have been made against Christian lawyers.

It is not easy to forget what happened to Judge Pervez Shah, who sentenced Malik Mumtaz Qadri to death. Qadri freely admitted to and even boasted of killing the Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer. The lawyers opposed the verdict, surrounded the court, threatened the judge and demanded his removal.

There are regularly false accusations of blasphemy made against Christians, as well as attacks – sometimes deadly - on churches and Christian villages. These have caused relations between Christians and Muslims to deteriorate and have brought a bad name to Pakistan on the international level. Pakistan is now associated not only with terrorism and extremism, but with religious intolerance and blasphemy too.