A rights watchdog chronicled a record 344 new blasphemy cases in Pakistan in 2024, highlighting increased abuse of the country’s condemned blasphemy laws. Of the 344 new blasphemy cases, 70% of the accused were Muslims, 6% were Christians, 9% Hindus and 14% Ahmadis, according to the annual Human Rights Observer report issued by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). “The blatant weaponization of blasphemy laws continued to enable persecution, religious intolerance and widespread human rights violations,” the report stated. Section 298-A of the blasphemy statutes, which relates to disrespect of holy personages, including the family, wives and companions of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, and the four caliphs and is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, was the most used section. Last year, 128 people were charged under this section. “The next most frequently abused provision was Section 295-A (hurting of religious sentiments) with 106 reported cases,” the report noted. “Section 298-C, was also widely misused, with 69 accused.”
Sections 295-B (desecration of the Quran) and 295-C (disrespecting Muhammad) were also extensively used, leading to 62 individuals accused across various regions of Pakistan, the report noted. Over the course of the year, 10 people accused of blasphemy were extra-judicially killed by individuals or violent mobs. At least 2,793 persons were formally or informally accused of blasphemy in Pakistan over the past 38 years, 1987 to 2024, according to the report. Over those years, 54% of those accused were Muslims, 30% were Ahmadis, 11% were Christians and 3% were Hindus, while the religious identities of another 3% could not be ascertained. The report stated that at least 104 people were killed extra-judicially following blasphemy allegations between 1994 and 2024, which included 67 Muslims (64%), 26 Christians (25%), seven Ahmadis, one Hindu and one Buddhist, while the religion of two persons was unknown. On the issue of forced conversion of minority girls and women, the CSJ report revealed that at least 421 cases were reported between January 2021 and December 2024 in Pakistan.
The victims included 282 Hindu girls, 137 Christian girls and two Sikh girls; 71% of the victims were minors, of whom 22% were younger than 14, and 49% were between the ages of 14 and 18. Only 13% were adults, and the ages of 16% remained unverified. The CSJ report also highlighted discriminatory prison policies, where minority inmates are denied remission benefits available to Muslim prisoners. Additionally, textbooks continued to promote Islamic content in non-religious subjects, undermining minority students’ rights, according to the report. It also observed that despite the introduction of the National Commission for Minorities Bill, 2025, delays and weak enforcement persist. Out of 186 bills tabled in legislative assemblies, only 23 addressed human rights, with just one minority-related bill becoming law. Pakistan, where the population is more than 96% Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
Source: Christian Daily International
Print This Post
Comments are closed