Human rights abuse continues in Pakistan, number of blasphemy cases against minority communities rises: GHRD report

Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) in its latest report has raised serious concern on Human rights abuse in Pakistan. Systemic misuse of blasphemy in Pakistan has terrorized the minorities in Pakistan and blasphemy law continues to embolden the radicals who use it as a coercive measure to enforce their ideologies on minority communities in Pakistan. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan's appeal on various social media platforms proved futile as the law continues to shelter the guilty.

“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has not deterred Pakistan government from discriminating against minority communities; it has rather exposed the bigot in the Pakistani society. Saylani Welfare Trust (SWT), a leading welfare organization, denied food packets to members of Hindu community in Lyari area. It was reported that the distributors refused to give food aid to members of Hindu community after looking at their National Identity Cards. Similar incident occurred in Korangi where Christians were denied food rations by the same organization,” siad GHRD report. 

The GHRD report also expressed concerns on gross misuse of the draconian blasphemy law complemented by an equally bigoted political setup encouraging the atrocities against minorities in every possible way. Not only Hindus,there has been a spurt in the number of blasphemy cases against members of Christian community. A couple from the community has recently been sentenced to death on account of blasphemy. A church in Kala Shah Kaku area in Punjab province was vandalised and the Holy Cross was desecrated by radicals.

 “The State's apathy towards this community stands vindicated by a discriminatory job advertisement stating that sanitary jobs were reserved for non-Muslims only. As per reports,80% of Pakistan's sanitary workers are from Christian community though they constitute only 1.5% of the country's total population,” mentioned the GHRD report.

In June 2020, India had slammed Pakistan for using blasphemy law to terrorize the minorities in the country. New Delhi expressed concern after the forceful conversion of two Hindus and one Christian girl into Islam. 

"The recent fate of two Hindu girls in Sindh, one Christian girl in Lahore, one Ahmadi lady in Chaleki, two professors from Khairpur are the examples of systemic targeting of minorities through blasphemy laws. The state of Pakistan is well manifested in the impunity in the murder of 65 transgenders in Pakistan since 2015," said Senthil Kumar, the First Secretary of India's Permanent Mission to UNHRC.