Misuse of Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan

All it takes is an accusation to be put on death row in Pakistan. It’s as simple as their word against yours. The blasphemy law is yet another colonial footprint left by the British Raj in the 1860’s. Originally devised to prevent religious rioting between Hindus and Muslims, the blasphemy laws of Pakistan today seldom fulfills its sincere purpose of upholding the integrity of Islam. Instead, it is often misused to settle personal disputes and the target often befalling upon the heads of religious minorities in Pakistan -- namely Christians, Hindus and/or Ahmadis.

In 1986, under the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, several reforms were made towards Pakistan’s blasphemy laws which were bolstered and made more stringent to entail harsher sentences and breed intolerance for non-Muslim minorities. Since then, religious hardliners have been emboldened to take action themselves usually by threatening, injuring, or even killing the accused even before the law can take its course. The blasphemy laws are more than often simply an excuse to disguise targeted persecution or other ulterior motives.In 2014, then-pregnant Shama and her husband Shahzad Masih, a poor Christian couple were burned alive after rumours spread that Shama had allegedly burned the Holy Qur’an when disposing items; later, investigators from the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan found that the killing was driven over a monetary dispute. In 2017, Mashal Khan, a student at Abdul Wali Khan University, was lynched by a mob over allegedly posting blasphemous content online; investigating officers deemed no evidence of such, concluding that the killing was premeditated murder for speaking against the university’s administration. In 2018, Qutub Rind, a National College of Arts graduate, was beaten to death by his landlord and his accomplices over fake blasphemy charges hiding the real issue being a rental dispute. There are too many cases to list over the targeted persecution of the Ahmadiyya religious minority for their faith where accusers have even resorted to fabricating their complaints in some instances. Since 1990, around 70 people have been killed by vigilantes over blasphemy accusations.

In cases where enforcement arrives before a mob lynching can take place, the police are granted the right to arrest the accused even without having the need to conduct thorough fact-checking of the incident. This often leads to the police throwing the accused individual unjustly in prison cells where they are usually denied bail to then endure a long and unfair trial. Those who prompt for change and reforms to the laws are threatened or even killed. Intimidation by armed vigilante groups further makes it difficult for anyone to laud support for the often wrongly accused, especially defense lawyers who compromise their safety and security to be able to represent them. In 2011, Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer was assassinated by his own body guard for publicly condemning Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and supporting Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death after being accused of blasphemy. In 2014, advocate Rashid Rehman was given threats in court and later gunned down for trying to “save a blasphemer”.

Even when the accused are acquitted by the law of any and all blasphemy charges, they still face threats to their life. Although the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld Asia Bibi’s acquittal after she endured eight years in prison on death row, radical groups still pressured calling for her death. Asia Bibi had to flee the country and seek asylum in Canada for the safety of her and her family.

Pakistan was founded on the grounds that members of every community and religious minority be treated as equal citizens of Pakistan with the same rights and privileges be granted to all. As a nation, we have become vehemently intolerant and oppressive to our minorities who instead, should be safeguarded and protected. How, then, can we voice against the persecution of Muslims being killed and oppressed globally by other nations when we can’t even take care of our own minorities?