Pak court orders Govt to form panel to investigate misuse of blasphemy laws

ISLAMABAD, July 16: A Pakistani court has directed the central government to constitute a probe commission within 30 days to investigate the alleged misuse of the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.
The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are widely feared, as accusations often lead to mob violence or targeted killings, regardless of the legal process.
Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan on Tuesday ordered the formation of the probe body to investigate the abuse of the laws, which were strengthened during the 1980s by military ruler Ziaul Haq, apparently to safeguard the sanctity of the Prophet and the Quran but also seen as a move to win over religious groups.
The court passed the order while hearing a case involving multiple blasphemy complaints, with allegations of repeated patterns.
It has been alleged that some officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), lawyers, and other individuals conspired to honey-trap innocent people into sharing content deemed blasphemous, later using it to extort money by threatening legal action.
Those who refused to pay were reportedly prosecuted under blasphemy laws, exposing them to vigilante violence. Over the years, several individuals accused of blasphemy have been killed extrajudicially by religious extremists.
The petition was first filed in September last year, and the court held at least 42 hearings before issuing Tuesday’s directive to the federal government to form the probe commission within 30 days.
Justice Khan said the commission must complete its inquiry within four months, although it could request an extension from the court if necessary.
According to data from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) think-tank, 701 blasphemy cases were registered between 1947 and 2021, with 1,415 persons accused — including 1,308 men and 107 women. At least 89 people were killed and 30 injured in related violence. Among those killed were 72 men and 17 women.
The data showed a sharp rise in cases following the 1986 amendments introduced by Ziaul Haq, which made blasphemy a capital offence. Before those changes, only 11 cases had been reported, and three individuals had been killed.
The National Commission for Human Rights, in its latest report covering the period from October 2023 to July 2024, raised alarms over a surge in blasphemy charges, allegedly fuelled by entrapment through pornographic and blasphemous websites.
“The investigation’s findings highlighted a troubling trend: a sharp increase in registration of blasphemy cases, the majority of whom were initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime unit, frequently in collaboration with a private entity,” it said.
The commission linked the rise in cases to the implementation of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act of 2018, noting that young men were targeted through entrapment tactics involving female operatives with fake identities who lure them into blasphemous activities online, resulting in their subsequent arrests.
“This pattern, which has escalated significantly over time, calls for a comprehensive review of the roles and accountability of both government and private entities involved in such cases,” it said in the report.
The commission also said in the report that 11 blasphemy cases were reported in 2020, 9 in 2021, 64 in 2022, 213 in 2023, and 767 until July 2024.
The accused and victims of blasphemy include people from all faiths, but the majority of them are Muslims.
The data compiled by the CRSS showed that those accused of blasphemy between 1947-2021 include 947 Muslims and 421 non-Muslims, while the fate of 47 was not known. Among the non-Muslims accused, the majority 225 were Christians, followed by 174 Ahmadis, 20 Hindus, and one each Sikh and Buddhist.
In one of the most high-profile cases, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by his own security guard in 2011 after he publicly called for reforming the blasphemy laws.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the court also expressed concern over the “disappearance” of a woman named Komal Ismail, alias “Iman”, who is believed to be a central figure in several ongoing blasphemy-related cases. She was allegedly used to honey-trap several people accused of blasphemy.
Komal went missing in November last year, two months after the petition was filed. The court had earlier ordered the blocking of her national identity card and barred her from leaving the country after she failed to appear before the court.
“Her life may be in danger. What action can the agency (government) take in such a situation?” the judge asked, expressing concern over her safety. (PTI)

The post Pak court orders Govt to form panel to investigate misuse of blasphemy laws appeared first on Daily Excelsior.

News