Ashiq Masih, husband of Christian woman Asia Bibi who faces the death sentence for blasphemy, leaves the Supreme Court in Islamabad. AFP
Ashiq Masih, husband of Christian woman Asia Bibi who faces the death sentence for blasphemy, leaves the Supreme Court in Islamabad. AFP

Asia

Husband of convicted Pakistani woman says family receiving no help from government

Asia Bibi was acquitted of charges, sparking protests

Haroon Janjua

November 06, 2018

Pakistan's government has failed to provide support to the family of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy, the husband of Asia Bibi told The National.

Ms Bibi, 47, was convicted in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam. On Wednesday she was acquitted of all charges by Pakistan's Supreme Court, sparking protests by Islamist hardliners Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) who paralysed the country for three days blocking roads and disrupting traffic in major cities.

The protesters, however, ended their action on Friday night after Prime Minister Imran Khan's government reached a controversial deal to put Ms Bibi on the no-fly list and saying it would not object to an appeal against the verdict, which was filed earlier in the Supreme Court. TLP spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told The National there would be nationwide protests if the government allowed Ms Bibi to leave the country.

“We are at the losing end, even after winning the case, the agreement made by the state with Islamists has really disappointed us," said Ms Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih on Monday. "No government institution has contacted us for our safety and shown any sympathy to us."

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Read more:

Pakistan agrees to review of Asia Bibi acquittal after protests

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Blasphemy is a massively inflammatory charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can provoke death at the hands of vigilantes.

The father of four on Sunday called on President Donald Trump to help the family leave Pakistan.

“My daughters' ask: when we will go to meet our mother? And I had no answer,” said Mr Masih.

The family has been under added pressure following the departure on Monday of their lawyer Saif-ul-Malook.

Mr Malook, who has fled to the Netherlands, said he contacted a United Nations official in Islamabad after violence erupted following the Pakistani Supreme Court's acquittal of Ms Bibi.

"And then they (the UN) and the European nation ambassadors in Islamabad, they kept me for three days and then put me on a plane against my wishes," the lawyer told a press conference in The Hague. The lawyer said a UN official in Pakistan told him "we are taking care of her" but that "when I said which country, they said we can't say.

Ms Bibi's family member Qamar Rafiq told The National they had been kept in the dark regarding the state of their jailed relative. "Since the verdict has been announced, we've demanded access to her and...security for ourselves," he said.

Despite Mr Khan's agreement with Islamist hardliners and the latter's review petition, the court's judgement has not been suspended, Osama Malik, a legal expert at Islamabad High Court, told The National. "The last line of the unanimous judgement authored by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Saqib Nisar, that sets aside Asia Bibi's conviction, states:She be released from jail forthwith, if not required in any other criminal case."

“Despite that, Asia is not free. She is still in custody, and has not been allowed to travel or to even get a passport, in clear contravention of the Supreme Court's orders,” Mr Malik said.

Ms Bibi’s case has hugely divided Pakistan, even leading to the murder of two politicians who defended her. One of them, Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was killed by his bodyguard in Islamabad in 2011.

Ms Bibi's saga reflects the challenges faced by Pakistan's Christian minority - which comprises just 2.6 per cent of the Muslim-majority country of 208 million people - amid growing intolerance and radical Islamist groups.

"The country's foundations were based on the minorities' rights with religious freedom, the state needs to take a bold step in the Asia Bibi case to ensure the rights declared in the constitution of Pakistan and help minorities of the country to feel secure," Kapil Dev, a minorities rights activists told The National.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”