Islamabad, Aug 6 (IANS) Pakistan continues to persecute minorities through its controversial blasphemy laws, particularly targetting the Christian community, a report has detailed. The pattern of religious intolerance and violence against minorities, it said, stems from Pakistan’s adoption of an Islamic Constitution in 1973 and provisions of Sharia law in its Civil Code as, under the Pakistani constitution, the right to free speech is limited to uphold “the glory of Islam”.
“Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to target minority groups, but Christians are disproportionately affected. Indeed, roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians, who make up just 1.8 per cent [of the population]. Blasphemy laws carry a death sentence. While this is seldom carried out, people accused of blasphemy are vulnerable to attack or murder by mobs. In June 2024, an elderly man was killed by mob violence after being accused of desecrating the Quran,” wrote Brussels-based European Conservative quoting a report of international advocacy group Open Doors.
According to the report, a 72-year-old Christian in Pakistan named Anwar Kenneth was recently acquitted by the country’s Supreme Court after 23 years on death row over blasphemy charges.
The report stated that in July 2002, a Lahore court sentenced him to death after he was arrested in 2001 for sending letters deemed “blasphemous” towards Islam.
In June 2025, following a hearing, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court announced that “a person of unsound mind could not be held liable for such a crime”.
Addressing reporters, defence counsel Rana Abdul Hameed said, “It is very unfortunate that an elderly man has languished in various prisons for over two decades despite his mental health condition”.
The European Conservative highlighted another incident of violence against the Christian minority in Punjab province. It mentioned that Pervaiz Masih was accused of writing blasphemous content, which later triggered violent riots in the Jaranwala region in August 2023. Subsequently, this year on April 18, he was handed the death penalty along with other severe punishments.
“The Jaranwala incident that destroyed at least 20 churches and forcibly displaced hundreds of Christians in August 2023 is just one illustration of violence resulting from the blasphemy laws,” the report detailed.
According to a report of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a record 344 new blasphemy cases in Pakistan in 2024 exposed the rising abuse of the country’s blasphemy laws. It stated that at least 10 individuals accused of blasphemy were extrajudicially killed by individuals or violent mobs in 2024.
“The blatant weaponisation of blasphemy laws continued to enable persecution, religious intolerance, and widespread human rights violations,” the report stated.
–IANS
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