June 26, 2025
Staff Report
LAHORE
Concern about the workings of the ‘Blasphemy Business Group’ made way into the National Assembly after MNA Sher Ali Arbab, an opposition member of the National Assembly raised his voice against how individuals were continuously being trapped.
The echo of worry resounded in the hall as Arbab, who is MNA from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (Peshawer) made his speech. In a passionate speech, he demanded that the federal government constitute a separate commission of inquiry into investigating the this blasphemy business group.
The reference is to what seems to be a gang, that had honey-trapped mostly over 400 young individuals in blasphemy cases. The Islamabad High Court is currently hearing petitions by families of these entrapped individuals to order the federal government to constitute a commission to probe allegations of entrapment in connivance with certain officials. The gang members are said to be linked with a religious party.
In his speech to the NA on June 25, Arbab began by referring to a Christian man who was acquitted in a blasphemy case by the Supreme Court after 23 years.
“Anwar Kenneth was acquitted by the Supreme Court after 23 years. He had been falsely charged with blasphemy,” Arbab said, adding that one of the country’s sitting provincial governors, (Punjab Governor Salman Taseer), was murdered simply for speaking in support of Christian woman Asia Bibi accused of blasphemy but who herself was later acquitted by the courts. I’m astonished that in such a large country, with such a vast political fraternity, there are so few voices willing to take this issue (of false blasphemy cases) seriously,” Arbab said.
He said these 400 individuals alleged of blasphemy, were now in jail.
“In Islamabad alone, nearly 400 individuals — most of them poor and vulnerable — are either under trial or already convicted in blasphemy cases. These young people were allegedly entrapped through coercion and deceit, targeted due to their poverty, lured into certain groups, and then accused under the blasphemy laws.” The harsh reality was that some people are literally making money off blasphemy accusations, he added.
Arbab called for the constitution of an inquiry commission by the government to investigate alleged evidence fabrication in blasphemy cases. “I appeal to this entire House: if nothing else, the government should at least set up a commission to investigate this so-called ‘blasphemy business group’ — to determine its scope and impact. That’s the bare minimum this government can do.”
The allegations stem from the report of the Punjab Police’s Special Branch in January 2024 that revealed that a suspicious gang was trapping young people in blasphemy cases and extorting money in collusion with some Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials. The report recommended that a probe be launched to “dig out discreet activities of the gang”.
The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) acknowledged these tactics in its report, stating, “Young men were targeted using female operatives under pseudonyms, entrapping them in blasphemous activities online, which led to their arrests.”
The NCHR report further highlighted procedural violations, noting that “arrests were often carried out by private individuals rather than law enforcement, and there were disturbing reports of torture during and after apprehension. Detainees’ written statements were frequently obtained under duress, compromising their legitimacy.”
In September 2024, the families of over 100 individuals jailed in blasphemy cases approached the Islamabad High Court seeking the formation of a commission to investigate allegations of fabricated evidence in blasphemy cases.
The IHC in its order of January 31st, 2025 advised the federal government to investigate the allegations of the misuse of blasphemy laws by a group of clerics, allegedly in connivance with officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
“Comprising of a retired judge of the High Court or the Supreme Court, a retired senior officer of the FIA, an enlightened and religious scholar who has known and has done works of public good, and a senior expert of information technology whose presence on the commission will greatly assist the commission members in what is a technologically complicated chain that the commission will have to understand,” the order said.
While discussing the Terms of Reference (TORs) for the proposed commission, the court suggested that the TORs could be framed based on the reports annexed with the petition and any additional evidence produced before the commission.
“The commission is to conclude whether there have been specific instances of abuse of the blasphemy laws by filing false complaints and to the extent possible to identify the means and methods by which such abuse was carried out for false implications and to the extent possible to identify the perpetrators,” the order read.