By Sher Ali Khalti in The News,Dec 01, 2023LAHORE: Nineteen children were arrested on charges of blasphemy from across Punjab between January 1, 2023 and October 16, 2023. According to data available with The News, 6 out of these 19 children are in prison charged with blasphemy while the others were acquitted. These figures have been made public by the Inspectorate General of Punjab Prisons in an appeal submitted to the Punjab Information Commission by…
Posts tagged as “blasphemy”
Report in Dawn, November 3rd, 2023TOBA TEK SINGH: A youth allegedly involved in a blasphemy case was shot dead on Thursday in Makdoompur Pahuran town in Khanewal district. Police said Umair Ali was arrested after he uttered some offensive words and showed disrespect to certain religious figures. When he was released on bail, he left the town. Ali returned home a couple of days ago and was sitting outside his house in Makdoompur Pahuran when…
by Jamal Shahid in Dawn, Oct 14th, 2023ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on Friday was informed that 215 individuals had been arrested under blasphemy charges with the highest number of arrests made in Sindh, which was 78. A significant session of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights took place at the Parliament House, which was presided over by Senator Walid Iqbal. The committee addressed multiple pressing issues, including the blasphemous act in Jaranwala, which led…
by Kalbe Ali in Dawn, October 7th, 2023ISLAMABAD: In a fact-finding report over the occurrence of blasphemy cases in Sargodha district, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has pointed out the misuse of mosque loudspeakers and pulpit to press for FIRs against the Christian community and instigate violence against them. The HRCP fact-finding mission report titled, ‘Mob violence and the social ostracisation of the Christian community in Sargodha’ released here on Friday, demanded the…
by Jamal Shahid in Dawn, Sept 13th, 2023ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights has expressed concerns over the misuse of blasphemy laws to settle personal scores and observed that incidents like Jaranwala were “a matter of great shame for the nation”. In a meeting chaired by Senator Waleed Iqbal on Tuesday, the committee also sought details of persons detained under blasphemy laws. “It is a matter of serious concern when people take the…
report in The News, Sept 11, 2023KARACHI: Religious scholars on Sunday pledged to continue their struggle against the blasphemers until effective legislation and comprehensive amendments to the Constitution were done, adding that in any society, it is not permissible for an individual to speak against the holiest personalities of another community. They expressed these views in a conference called “Azmat-e-Sahaba Wa Ahlul Bayt Istehkam-e-Pakistan,” which took place at Shahrah-e-Quaideen on Sunday under the auspices of…
by Imran Gabol in Dawn, Sept 10, 2023LAHORE: A Christian couple was taken into custody after a blasphemy case was registered against them for allegedly desecrating a copy of the Holy Quran in the jurisdiction of North Cantonment Police Station on Saturday. Taimur, a resident of Harbanspura, filed a complaint with the police, saying he was standing at a food shop on a street near the Rangers headquarters when he saw some pages being thrown…
Report in Dawn, Sept 8th, 2023TOBA TEK SINGH: A woman was arrested on Thursday for allegedly fabricating charges of Quran desecration against some people of her locality. According to an FIR registered by the Tandlianwala City police under Section 211 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 16 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960, 21 complainants claimed that the suspect was a drug peddler. When local residents confronted her about this, she…
by Qaiser Shirazi in The Express Tribune, Sept 5th, 2023.An additional district and sessions court of Rawalpindi awarded death penalty to four accused in a blasphemy case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing (CCW). A fifth accused was sentenced to seven years in jail by the court. Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Ahsan Mahmood Malik passed the judgment in two separate cases. He said in his ruling that blasphemy against…
report in Dawn,Aug 29, 2023Punjab Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Anwar on Monday said the police have unearthed a “network of hostile intelligence agencies” that were allegedly involved in the recent incidents of blasphemy across the country. On August 16, a violent mob of hundreds ransacked and torched nearly two dozen churches and attacked the residences of members of the Christian community and the office of the local assistant commissioner in Jaranwala. According to estimates…
by Saima William in Dawn, August 27th, 2023The writer is a human rights activistTwo years after the tragic incident involving a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy – who faced a brutal death at the hands of an enraged mob in Sialkot – another distressing chapter unfolded in our national history when an irate mob,driven by blasphemy claims,set fire to churches and wreaked havoc on Christian homes in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad. The Christian community…