November 22, 2024 11:52 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
PM Modi bestowed Dominica's highest award at India-CARICOM Summit | 69-year-old Delhi man, a St. Stephen's alumnus, arrested for conning govt officers by posing as ex-IPS | 'Baseless': Adani Group denies US charges of bribery and fraud against Gautam Adani | AAP's first list of candidates for Delhi polls feature six turncoats | PM Modi is incapable to arrest Gautam Adani: Rahul Gandhi after tycoon charged with bribery and fraud in the US
Pakistan continues to use blasphemy laws to target Christian communities: Experts
Pakistan Christians
Image: Unsplash

Pakistan continues to use blasphemy laws to target Christian communities: Experts

| @indiablooms | 11 Jun 2021, 06:12 pm

Islamabad: Pakistan continues to target the Christian community with the blasphemy law despite criticisms from the international arena over the issue.

"A month ago, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, focusing especially on the case of Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel. The two were accused of blasphemy, and sentenced to death, over allegedly sending text messages. Neither can read or write," read an opinion piece by journalist Sania Arif.

"Rights activists have long noted that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been open to abuse, with both non-Muslims and Muslims being targeted by them. However, the discrimination against religious minorities has been observed to be systematic. And for many observers Christians are common targets of this discrimination, with many believing that this is because they are the largest minority in Pakistan," she said.

"Activists say that a persistent, apparently without reason, discrimination has turned into persecution against Christians. There are a lot of incidents, where Christians have been targeted over numerous allegations-mostly baseless," read the opinion piece.

In her opinion piece,  analyst Khaled Ahmed was quoted as saying by  Sania: " More than 90 per cent of the country’s Christians reside in Punjab. And 60 per cent live in villages, and in most cases are more indigenous to their areas than Muslims. Blasphemy and desecration of the Quran are used against them, but the latter is used against them collectively, followed by organised destruction of property."

The alarming uptick in blasphemy accusations across Pakistan underscores the urgency with which the draconian laws that enable abuse and risk lives must be repealed, Amnesty International had said last year.

“Pakistani authorities need no more evidence to see how dangerous the blasphemy laws are – they are abused to make false accusations that can, and have, led to unlawful killings and even whole communities being attacked and their homes burnt,” said David Griffiths, Director of the Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
Xi Jinping, Putin in Russia 22 Mar 2023, 02:56 pm
Related Videos