June 27, 2024
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
The participants of a conference on theme “Addressing religiously motivated violence” demanded that the government should immediately establish a Commission of Inquiry to probe into the factors behind the escalating violence, particularly the abuse of Sections 295-A, B, and C and 298-A, B, and C, and determine the scale of abuse, identify factors behind it, propose remedies, and way out of this situation.
The speakers at the conference expressed that there was an organic link between pervasive religious intolerance and certain lopsided policies and laws, most notably blasphemy laws. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) which has been collecting data for several years, presented an assessment of crimes against religious minorities and the recent developments including a factsheet on the abuse of blasphemy laws.
The conference welcomed the passage of resolutions condemning violence in the name of religion and supporting the right to life, in the aftermath of brute violence exemplified in the incidents of mob violence in Sargodha and Swat by the National Assembly, Senate, and Punjab Assembly.
Aftermath of Jaranwala & Sargodha incidents
There had been at least 200 arrests made by the police in the aftermath of the Jaranwala incident, however most of them have now been released, aside from a handful of others. This includes the man who made the announcement on loudspeaker for people to collect, and a couple of other men from the Christian community, informed Salman Farooq from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Farooq also added that HRCP ground reports had revealed that those who had taken part in orchestrating the riots had been released on bail and had been hailed as heroes upon their return.
“When we went there for our fact finding report we realized that a lot of Christians had been complaining of police detention and torture,” said Farooq. “Apart from this, the families have not been completely rehabilitated and while the government promised compensation money, not every household has managed to acquire this because in some households there are multiple families staying after their homes were destroyed and the less powerful residents of that household have not been able to take the money. At least 50 families have not received the money. And when they go to the local administration, they get no help.”
He said social relations between the Christian and Muslim community after the Jaranwala incident were not cordial. “Christian workers are being fired from their workplaces including factories in and around that tehsil and in Faisalabad as well. Children are facing discrimination in schools from other children as well. Its a sad situation,” he said.
Maheen Pracha also representing HRCP said when they led the fact finding mission in Sargodha after the mob attack on Nazeer Masih, they were told by the Christian community that even if security was provided to them, they could not live there freely any longer.
“There was an air of fear which they knew would never dissipate,” informed Pracha. “The trauma of the mob attacks cannot just disappear. The tragic and scary part was that the mob also included women this time around.”
Pracha said there was an atmosphere where there was no rule of law, attacks were usually taking place because of one slight blasphemy allegation and all ofthese attacks were orchestrated. “The role of the police should be questioned in these incidents -why was Nazeer Masih, an old man, not protected by the police? Why was there no preservation of crime scene integrity?”
Resolutions
The panelists stated that the recent resolutions passed by the National Assembly (NA), Senate, and Punjab Assembly (PA) condemning violence in the name of religion and supporting the right to life were important but these resolutions had to seep into the policies of the government as well. The Federal Cabinet has also recently approved of a military operation ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’, promising that the government will take into confidence the political parties to address their reservations regarding the operation.
It was also specified that there is an organic link between pervasive religious intolerance and certain policies and laws, most notably blasphemy laws.
“While these resolutions were being passed out by the assemblies, a judge in Sargodha was actually acquitting those who had taken part in killing Nazeer Masih,” said Samson Salamat, an activist and chairman of the Rawadari Tehreek. “Till these resolutions are not transalated into policies, and till mainstream political parties as a whole do not come forward and condemn this violence, it is all just eyewash.” Salamat said that the government has to stop supporting the radical group that who was using blasphemy laws as a tool. “This has been made into a political party, they are contesting elections, they are roaming around with impunity after orchestrating violence in society,” he said.
Worrying Statistics
While CSJ’s count of persons accused of blasphemy since 1987 is nearly 3000 reported cases, the actual scale of abuse of these laws may be three to four times higher, considering the following trends in different data sets:
Hundreds of accused were incarcerated in jails during 2023 in Pakistan, with 552 detained in Prisons of Punjab alone. In June 2024, at least 350 persons are behind bars. According to CSJ, 103 new persons had been accused of blasphemy between January and June 2024.
- in different jails across Pakistan according to reliable sources. The probable reason behind this discrepancy is the different definitions of blasphemy laws.
- The government data submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee under CCPR (2024) presented an exponential increase (30% from 2019 to 2020 and a further 62% from 2021 to 2023). The government report acknowledged that 53% of all complaints were false allegations (398).
- The government data about complaints in the years 2018–2023, acknowledges that the conviction rate under blasphemy laws was around 1%, with seven acquittals against every single conviction. Nevertheless, all convictions so far have been overturned by the high courts and supreme courts of Pakistan, indicating that even one percent of convictions lacked merit, moreover the ratio of Muslim accused was 98.40%.
- About 100 persons have been killed in connection with blasphemy allegations including 63 Muslims, 26 Christians, 7 Ahmadis and 1 Hindu, 1 Buddhist, the religion of 2 persons was not known.
- There has been an upsurge in killings and lynching in the past two years. In 2023, at least six persons or individuals were killed by private persons after the alleged blasphemy accusations. Along with two extrajudicial killings, another three persons alleged of blasphemy died in jail between June 2023 and 2024. Hence, a total of 11 persons alleged of blasphemy have lost their lives in the past 18 months, including the latest incident in Madyan, Swat.
- Giving FIA the powers to investigate cybercrimes related to blasphemy laws and Anti-terrorism Courts to prosecute cases under Section 295-A PPC, has resulted in abuse of authority and miscarriage of justice. Therefore an exponential increase in the number of alleged blasphemy cases with FIA. On the other hand, the perpetrators of mob violence in particular get away with through the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.
- Recent incidents based on religion for instance Mandi Bahuddin, Sargodha, and Swat have instilled a sense of insecurity and fear among the religious minorities.
Recommendations
Cognizant of the fact that Pakistan faces many crises, which require urgent redress of the issue at hand. Moreover, reviving the country from this situation necessitates a social transformation and legislative reforms supported by internal and external stakeholders in synergy.
Acknowledging that societies in history and contemporary times have overcome religious bigotry by employing consistent efforts and inclusive narratives, Repairing this situation should begin with an acknowledgment that there are flaws in both the content of the blasphemy laws as well as their application and understanding. Hence, all stakeholders, particularly the federal government and provincial governments, particularly the Punjab government need to take responsibility to prevent further violence from happening and also adopt policy improvements for sustainable peace and order.
On behalf of the civil society of Pakistan, the CSJ presents the following specific recommendations to the government of Pakistan:
- Constitute a highly empowered Commission of Inquiry to probe into the issues, particularly the offenses under Sections 295-A, B, and C and 298-A, B, and C, to determine the scale of abuse, identify factors behind it, propose remedies, and way out of this situation.
- This Commission should take into account various judgments delivered by the Higher and Superior Courts, including the recommendations of the Judicial Inquiry into the incidents of Shanti Nagar-Khanewal (1997) and Gojra (2009) and bill to amend laws moved by Senator Sherry Rehman (2010).
- The Commission of Inquiry should make its report public within six months, including recommendations regarding legal, administrative, and educational measures for introducing effective safeguards to prevent the use or abuse of blasphemy laws.
- Provide reparations to innocent victims wrongly accused of blasphemy. Moreover, prosecute and punish the perpetrators for abusing the blasphemy laws and inciting people to violence.
- Ensure adequate protection for the accused, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and witnesses in cases involving blasphemy charges.
- Investigate the role of FIA in the registration of false against hundreds of accused in recent years and reconsider the role of Anti-Terrorism Courts in the trial of the blasphemy and cases of mob violence. Anyhow, CSJ does not recommend the creation of special procedures/courts, these cases should be tried in normal courts with guarantees for fair trial.
- The initiative of Education emergency should prioritize the elimination of multiple discrimination on the basis of religion in the education system.