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 warning. Pakistan claims that all citizens are equal, but many Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and other minorities do not feel equal. They feel afraid.
The HRCP welcomed the National Commission for Minorities Act 2025. It also welcomed new laws in Punjab and Balochistan that set 18 as the minimum age for marriage. These are positive steps.
But laws on paper do not protect people. Months after the minorities commission law was passed, the government has still not formed the commission, made its rules or appointed its members.
This delay hurts real people. It tells minority families that the state is not serious about protecting them. It tells girls facing forced marriage that help may never come. It tells people accused of blasphemy that they must survive alone.
The HRCP says blasphemy laws are often misused against vulnerable people. Many accused people remain stuck in legal cases for years. The report also says an alleged organised entrapment network has still not been investigated.
A blasphemy accusation can ruin a person’s life even before a court decides anything. People lose jobs, homes, families and sometimes their lives. Mobs often act before the law does.
The case of Kamran Gill shows this danger. He is a Christian medical practitioner from Sheikhupura. On October 9, a mob set his dispensary on fire after allegations that he had shared blasphemous content online.
The state must stop treating such incidents as isolated events. When police fail to stop hate speech, protect accused people or arrest those who incite violence, they give mobs confidence. Silence becomes permission.
The HRCP documented attacks on the Ahmadi community in Chenab Nagar in October 2025 and June 2026. It also found increasing efforts to keep Ahmadis out of public and commercial life.
This exclusion is a serious injustice. Ahmadis are being pushed away from markets, jobs and public spaces. A country cannot call itself fair when one community must live in fear just to practise its faith.
Christian and Hindu girls continue to face abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage. Poverty and weak police action make them more vulnerable.
This is one of the most painful failures of the state. A young girl should never have to fight alone against powerful people who want to take away her choice. Police must register complaints, investigate quickly and protect victims. Courts must not accept conversions or marriages that happen under pressure.
The HRCP has made clear recommendations. It wants the government to form the minorities commission without delay. It wants yearly data on blasphemy cases, mob violence, forced conversions and prison conditions. It wants police and investigators trained to protect religious freedom.
It also wants action against people who spread hate online, an end to discriminatory hiring, protection for lawyers and journalists, and reforms to the Evacuee Trust Property Board. These are not extreme demands. They are basic duties of a responsible state.
Pakistan does not need more promises. It needs action. It must punish those who incite violence, protect accused people, support victims and implement the laws it has already passed.
Until then, “equal citizenship” will remain an empty phrase for millions of Pakistanis whose faith makes them targets.