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Pakistan’s Religious Minorities and the Failure of Protection
During the first half of 2026, religious minorities in Pakistan continued to face blasphemy accusations, targeted violence and alleged forced conversions. The cases described in the supplied USCIRF account highlight the human consequences of discriminatory laws, weak accountability and inadequate state protection. Behind each case stands a person or family whose
Binndiya Kumari’s Case Exposes Pakistan’s Failure to Protect Minority Girls
Fourteen-year-old Bindiya Kumari should be sitting in a classroom, not at the centre of allegations of abduction, forced conversion and child marriage. Her case puts Pakistan’s promises of minority protection against a painful reality: a family is pleading for help while lawmakers question why authorities have failed to act. Minority representatives
Maria Shahbaz’s Case Shows Pakistan’s Failure to Protect Minority Girls
A Christian family seeking the return of their daughter faces another delay. On October 21, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court postponed a hearing because officials said they could not deliver a court notice to the accused man due to an “incomplete residential address.” Sheharyar Ahmad faces accusations of abducting Maria Shahbaz in
Pakistan’s Children Need Protection, Not More Promises
A child’s home should offer safety. When it becomes a place of abuse, the failure reaches far beyond its walls. It exposes a society that struggles to protect its youngest members and institutions that too often respond only after harm has occurred. According to the figures attributed to child-rights organisation Sahil,
Pakistan’s Anti-Rape Law: Survivors Still Wait for Justice
In December 2021, Pakistan passed a law to improve the investigation and trial of rape cases. It promised special courts, trained investigators, support centres and trials that should preferably finish within four months. Nearly five years later, many survivors still wait for justice. Government records show that the four provinces registered
Pakistan’s Minorities Still Face Rights Violations Despite New Protective Laws: HRCP
Pakistan’s religious minorities do not want favours. They want safety, dignity and equal rights. But the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says that, even after new laws, minorities still face blasphemy accusations, mob attacks, forced marriages, forced conversions and daily discrimination. This is not only a report. It is a
Pakistan’s 237,216 Reported Crimes Against Women: A Crisis Hidden by Silence
Pakistan recorded 237,216 reported crimes against women and girls between 2021 and 2025, according to the Peace & Justice Network’s National Gender-Based Violence Crime Report. Yet this number is not the full measure of national shame. It is only what reached a police station before fear, distance, stigma, or institutional indifference
Pakistan: Mob Burns Christian Man’s Home as Families Flee
A mob burned a Christian man’s home and small pharmacy in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Friday, October 9, after accusations that he shared blasphemous material online. More than 35 Christian families fled the village because they feared further attacks. The violence left a community afraid to remain in its homes. The
Invisible Citizens: Pakistan’s Religious Minorities and the Failure of Equal Protection in 2025
Pakistan’s religious minorities continued to face violence, discrimination and persecution in 2025, according to the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), a human rights body of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Its Human Rights Monitor 2026 presents a deeply troubling picture. Christians were targeted by blasphemy accusations, while minority women
Lahore’s Rape Crisis: A Justice System That Counts Cases But Convicts No One
Lahore is bleeding in silence. In just eight months of 2026, police records show 498 reported rape cases and 36 gang-rape cases—more than four reported sexual offences every single day. These are not abstract numbers. They are daughters, sisters, mothers, and neighbours whose lives have been shattered, often inside the very
Laws ignored, girls abandoned: UN rapporteurs condemn Pakistan’s failure to stop forced conversions and child marriage
On October 1, 2026, three UN special rapporteurs delivered a stark warning to Pakistan at a Human Rights Council side‑event in Geneva: laws on paper mean nothing when courts, police and prosecutors look away. Their words came as families of abducted girls played video testimonies from dark rooms, begging for help
Christian Man Beaten After Blasphemy Accusation in Lahore
Before a court could hear the evidence against Samuel Arif, a crowd had already beaten him. The 26-year-old Christian man from Lahore is now in jail, accused of blasphemy. His family says the charge is false. Whatever the complaint’s merits, the attack on him demands scrutiny in its own right. Police
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Judiciary in Chains: How Pakistan’s Blasphemy Mafia Rules the Courts and the State
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have become a tool of systematic coercion, allowing organised religious groups and their allies to intimidate judges, prosecutors, police, and politicians, effectively holding the justice system and wider state machinery hostage. This “blasphemy complex” relies on fear of mob violence, targeted killings, and economic blackmail to paralyse institutions
A Pastor’s Final Sacrifice: The Tragic Killing of Kamran Salamat
On December 5th, the Christian community in Pakistan was struck by devastating news. Pastor Kamran Salamat, a devoted servant of God who had already narrowly escaped death just two months ago in Islamabad, was shot and killed outside his home in Gujranwala. He had moved his family there, hoping to find
“We Just Want a Place to Live”: Christian Families of Islamabad’s Rimsha Colony Plead for Justice
A wave of anguish swept through the narrow streets of Rimsha Colony in Islamabad’s H-9 sector as hundreds of its residents took to the streets, carrying placards and crying out for justice. Their voices trembled with fear and frustration as they protested against the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which has directed
European Parliament Condemns Pakistan’s Failure to Protect Minority Girls
The European Parliament’s condemnation of forced conversions and child marriages in Pakistan deserves recognition. At a time when many choose silence, this resolution sends a clear message: the suffering of vulnerable children cannot be ignored. For families like that of 13-year-old Maria Shahbaz, this international attention offers a rare sense of
A Childhood Stolen in Pakistan: The Disappearance of a 13-Year-Old Christian Girl
In a quiet village in Sheikhupura, a family’s world has reportedly been torn apart overnight. Aneeqa Fiaz is only 13. According to her parents, she was taken from her home in Village Asa Nagri — a child who, just yesterday, should have been worrying about schoolwork, playing with friends, and the
More Than 2,100 Children Infected with HIV in Pakistan as Preventable Failures Persist
Behind every number is a child whose life has been permanently altered — and in many cases, unnecessarily so. Between January 2025 and March 2026, at least 2,108 children across Pakistan were registered as HIV positive, according to official data compiled by federal and provincial HIV control authorities. Among them were
Faith in the Shadows: The Quiet Burden of Being Christian in Pakistan
In many parts of Pakistan, faith is something Christians carry quietly—sometimes in prayer, sometimes in fear. They are a small community in a country of nearly 250 million people. According to recent findings from the World Watch List 2026country dossier, about 4.7 million Christians live in Pakistan, making up less than
The Silent Erasure of Faith: How Pakistan Fails Its Own Heritage
The heart of Karachi beats with centuries of history. Yet, one of its oldest spiritual symbols—the Ramchandra Mandir—now stands suffocated behind cold cement walls and iron gates adorned with Islamic inscriptions. On Ratan Talao Street, just steps from the Preedy Police Station, a place once resonating with prayer and coexistence has
Behind Closed Doors: The Hidden Epidemic of Child Abuse in Pakistan
Childhood should be a time of safety, learning, and hope. Yet in Pakistan, countless children are facing a growing crisis of abuse, exploitation, and neglect. According to Sahil’s Cruel Numbers 2025 report, at least 3,630 cases of child abuse were recorded last year—a troubling 8% increase from 2024. This translates to