Fear pervades Pakistani communities as blasphemy laws become instruments of extortion by shadowy gangs. A comprehensive report uncovers how those denying payoffs face imprisonment via invented accusations.
Over 450 cases documented by the National Commission for Human Rights involve mostly men, with 10 Christians among them—five dying in custody amid allegations of foul play.
July saw the Islamabad High Court order a government commission after 101 families petitioned, only for an appellate stay to derail progress.
The FIA’s cybercrime division features prominently in reports of evidence tampering, exposing institutional complicity.
Lahore’s Aamir Shahzad, 33, a rickshaw driver, was lured away for a parcel pickup and vanished. FIA claimed his arrest for Facebook posts deemed blasphemous. His mother’s weekly vigils expose a network of jailed innocents victimized by these syndicates.
Human rights watchers term them ‘blasphemy cartels,’ preying on youth for profit. The cycle of abuse imperils Pakistan’s social fabric, urging swift legal interventions to end this reign of fabricated terror.