INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
blasphemy was still in prison Wednesday, with no immediate prospect of freedom.Thousands of ultra-conservative Islamists poured onto the
streets in protest after Supreme Court judges overturned Asia Bibi's conviction, in a case that has laid bare the divisions between
traditionalists and modernisers in the devoutly Muslim nation.Ultra-conservative Islamists blockaded major cities to demand her immediate
execution, in a three-day stand-off that ended when Prime Minister Imran Khan's administration agreed to allow a review of the Supreme
Court's ruling.Critics blasted the climbdown -- which came just days after Khan vowed to confront the protesters -- as another capitulation
to religious conservatives.The deal has left Asia Bibi in legal limbo -- and languishing in jail for a crime of which she has been
acquitted."Asia Bibi is in Multan jail and has not been released yet
We have not received orders to release her so far," Zawar Hussain Warraich, minister for prisons in Punjab province, told AFP."Normally we
receive orders in two days after court judgement and if relatives and lawyers of a prisoner are very active, they can bring it even within a
day, but as far as Asia Bibi is concerned, it has not happened yet," Warraich added."Supreme Court should issue a directive to send us her
We will release her as soon as we get it."He denied reports that extra security had been laid on for Asia Bibi, saying "she is already well
protected by the jail staff".An appeal has been filed with the court against Asia Bibi's release and the party that headed the protests
demanding her execution, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, has warned its hardliners were prepared to take to the streets again.Blasphemy is an
incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated allegations of insulting Islam can result in death at the hands of
mobs.The case stems from an incident in 2009 when Asia Bibi was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields
Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl, and reportedly a fight erupted.A local
imam then claimed Asia Bibi insulted the Prophet Mohammed -- a charge she has consistently denied.Asia Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih has
appealed for Britain or the United States to grant the family asylum, while her lawyer has fled to the Netherlands.Ashiq Masih said the
delay in releasing his wife, a mother of five, was adding to the family's agony."The daughters are weeping
They still haven't seen their mother
The family is totally shattered," he said.
