Home Christian News Pakistan Eyeing More Stringent Blasphemy Law Despite Growing Outrage

Pakistan Eyeing More Stringent Blasphemy Law Despite Growing Outrage

blasphemy law
A Pakistani man reads the Quran at the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi, Pakistan. Ghazi is considered by some to be the patron saint of Karachi. The shrine serves as a pilgrimage site for many and is revered as a holy place. (IMB Photo)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (BP) – Pakistan’s lower house of parliament has passed a bill strengthening punishment for blasphemy despite international outcry and security concerns among Christians and other religious minorities there.

Blasphemy already carries punishment as severe as death in the majority-Muslim country, but the Criminal Laws Bill amendment passed Jan. 17 in the National Assembly would increase jail terms from three years to 10 years for insulting the prophet Mohammad’s companions, wives and family members, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported. Fines of more than $4,343 (1 million Pakistani rupees) would accompany prison time.

The unanimous passage of the Criminal Laws Bill on Jan. 17 makes it likely the bill will gain final passage and the president’s signature within months, Christian Solidarity Worldwide told Baptist Press.

“The ease with which it passed the lower house does not bode well,” a CSW spokesperson said. “It is likely to pass again.”

CSW Founder and President Mervyn Thomas is among many international religious freedom advocates expressing concern.

“Existing blasphemy legislation has resulted in extra-judicial killings and countless incidents of mob violence based on false accusations,” Thomas said in a press release. “Policymakers have ignored the long-standing demands of civil society organizations and minority community leaders for the repeal of the blasphemy laws or, at the very least, the introduction of procedural amendments to curb the misuse of these laws.”

At least 16 individuals received the death penalty for blasphemy in 2021, the U.S. State Department said in its 2021 International Religious Freedom Report, but added the country has never carried out its death sentences in such cases. Instead, those suspected or convicted of blasphemy, as well as attorneys representing those accused and leaders advocating for the repeal of blasphemy laws, face repercussion and death by angry mobs.

After Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province and a prominent critic, tried to reform blasphemy laws, his bodyguard killed him in 2011. Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian sentenced to death by hanging in 2010, was released from death row in 2018 after the Pakistan Supreme Court reversed her conviction. She was safety transported out of the country under cover of secrecy.

Pakistan is widely noted for religious persecution despite religious freedom stipulations in its national constitution. Religious freedom advocates cite Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and its inability to protect religious minorities from societal persecution and violence.

In its Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlights 55 individuals detained or imprisoned for blasphemy charges in Pakistan.

Among those named are Tabitha Gill, a Christian nurse accused of blasphemy in January 2021 by her colleagues and beaten and tortured by hospital staff. In December 2021, a violent mob killed and burned the body of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara over blasphemy allegations, USCIRF said.