LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Thursday concluded that religious minorities continue to face violations of their fundamental rights — including through the misuse of blasphemy laws, forced marriages and conversions, hate speech and discriminatory practices — despite recent legislative measures aimed at protecting them.
In its seventh annual report on freedom of religion, titled “Sanctuary Denied: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2025/26”, and an accompanying press release, the HRCP highlighted that scores of individuals accused of blasphemy remained in legal limbo, while alleged perpetrators of an “organised entrapment network” had yet to be investigated.
The report documented attacks on the Ahmadi community, including two attacks in Chenab Nagar in October 2025 and June 2026, and pointed out “increasingly overt attempts to exclude Ahmadis” from public and commercial life.
Girls belonging to Christian and Hindu communities continued to face abductions and forced marriages, compounded by poverty and inadequate police responses, the report said.
Discriminatory employment practices, controversial changes to school curricula and the marginalisation of minority concerns in mainstream media further undermined the principle of equal citizenship, it added.
At the report’s launch, HRCP Director Farah Zia warned that the state’s approach to religious minorities was becoming increasingly exclusionary, according to the press release issued by the commission.
Minority rights defender Nabila Feroz Bhatti highlighted the case of Kamran Gill, a Christian medical practitioner from Sheikhupura, whose dispensary was set ablaze by a mob on Oct 9 following allegations that he had shared blasphemous content on social media.
HRCP Vice-Chair in Punjab Raja Ashraf said blasphemy accusations had become a “means of exploiting and endangering vulnerable people”.
Arafat Mazhar, director of research and advocacy collective Shehri Pakistan, urged the public to consult lawyers representing people accused in blasphemy cases and allow courts to determine the appropriate legal procedures, rather than turning accused individuals into symbols of the broader debate over blasphemy laws.
Former HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani highlighted the institutional nature of discrimination against minorities, saying: “Democracy should have no concept of ‘minority’ and ‘majority’.”
On a positive note, the HRCP welcomed the passage of the National Commission for Minorities Act 2025, as well as laws in Punjab and Balochistan that raised the minimum marriageable age to 18.
However, it noted that this minorities commission had yet to be constituted months after the law’s passage, raising questions about the government’s commitment to implementing the legislation.
Recommendations
In its recommendations, the HRCP called on the federal government to implement the National Commission for Minorities Act without further delay by constituting the commission, framing its rules and appointing its chairperson and members in accordance with the law.
It urged federal and provincial governments to publish annual, disaggregated data on blasphemy cases, mob violence, forced conversion complaints and prison conditions to improve transparency and enable independent scrutiny of official claims.
The HRCP also called on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to enact legislation setting the minimum marriageable age at 18 for both men and women, bringing the province in line with the laws recently adopted in Punjab and Balochistan.
It recommended prompt legal action against individuals and groups inciting violence, mandatory training for police and investigative agencies, including the Federal Investigation Agency, on freedom of religion or belief, and stronger safeguards for human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists working on minority rights.
The report called for an end to discriminatory recruitment practices that confine many religious minorities to sanitation work, and urged an overhaul of the Evacuee Trust Property Board — a government department that administers evacuee properties — to make it more transparent, accountable and representative of minority communities.
It further called for regular monitoring of seminaries linked to forced conversions and underage marriages, and recommended that religious conversions “take place in court or in the presence of a government official”.
Emphasising the need to curb hate speech, the HRCP urged authorities to take legal action against incitement to violence, particularly on social media, while respecting the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution.
It called for improvements in police intelligence gathering, crowd control and community policing to prevent mob violence, as well as effective departmental accountability mechanisms to address corruption within law enforcement agencies.
The report recommended reviewing school curricula to promote inclusivity and pluralism, operationalising provincial research centres envisaged under countering violent extremism laws and keeping interfaith committees active throughout the year.
It also urged authorities to prevent pressure from bar associations and religious groups from influencing police and district administrations to act against particular sects or minority communities.
The HRCP called for the full implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2014 judgment on religious freedoms, protection of minority places of worship and the reopening of closed places of worship.
Given the severity of blasphemy charges, it recommended that investigations under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code be conducted by senior-ranking officials. It also called for public awareness campaigns explaining sensitive laws carrying capital punishment, the methods used in alleged entrapment schemes in the digital age and developments in cyber laws.
The report stressed that mainstream media should be able to represent all segments of society, particularly marginalised groups and stated that no place of worship should be demolished without a clear court order issued after hearing both sides. It added that those attempting to vandalise places of worship should face legal prosecution.