There are wounds that time cannot heal, and then there are wounds that a nation deliberately inflicts upon its people—festering, deep, and cruel. Pakistan, a country that once promised sanctuary to the oppressed, has become the very force of oppression against its religious minorities. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s latest report, Under Siege: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2023-24, is not just a document filled with statistics; it is a haunting testimony to the state-sanctioned brutality, mob violence, and systematic persecution faced by Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus.
The Bloodstained Blasphemy Laws
More than 750 individuals languishing in prisons on blasphemy charges. Four faith-based killings, three of which targeted the Ahmadi community. Two large-scale mob attacks against Christians in Jaranwala and Sargodha. These are not just numbers—they are human lives shattered by a system that has weaponized faith as a tool for oppression.
Social media, meant to connect and empower, has instead become a breeding ground for hate, with disinformation sparking violent riots. The very institutions that should protect the vulnerable—law enforcement, judicial bodies, community leaders—are instead complicit in the violence. FIRs against Ahmadis are often filed by police officers themselves. Law enforcers not only refuse to curb mob violence but actively participate in it, raiding Ahmadi households, desecrating their graves, and seizing their sacrificial meat during religious observances.
The Systematic Erasure of Ahmadis
The Ahmadi community, in particular, has been subjected to an unspeakable level of cruelty. They are detained arbitrarily for celebrating their faith. Their places of worship are defiled. Their cemeteries are not even allowed to hold their dead in peace. The HRCP documented 42 attacks on Ahmadi places of worship—60% of which were either led or sanctioned by law enforcement agencies. How does a government justify the exhumation and destruction of graves? What level of inhumanity must be reached before the conscience of a nation awakens?
The influence of extremist factions, such as Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), has only cemented this persecution into state policy. These groups have orchestrated targeted hate campaigns, using blasphemy laws as weapons to erase Ahmadis from public life. They have stood shoulder to shoulder with police officers during raids, their ideology becoming state policy.
The Vulnerability of Hindu and Christian Women
Religious persecution in Pakistan is not limited to physical violence—it seeps into every aspect of life. Hindu and Christian women, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds, are vulnerable to forced conversions and marriages. The HRCP report highlights large-scale religious conversions among Pakistan’s poor communities, stripping them not only of their identity but of their fundamental rights as human beings. These women are abducted, forced into marriage, and compelled to renounce their faith, while legal recourse remains a distant dream.
A Nation in Moral Collapse
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have created an environment where impunity thrives. Hate crimes are committed without consequence. The very fabric of justice is woven with prejudice. Even when investigations reveal networks framing individuals under false charges, the state turns a blind eye. Those who seek justice—minorities, activists, lawyers—live in fear of being accused themselves.
There are rare instances of judicial relief, but they are too few to undo the damage inflicted by a nation that refuses to confront its bigotry. The proposed constitutional amendment, which would allow religious minorities to hold the offices of President and Prime Minister, is a distant hope—one that seems almost naïve in a country that cannot even guarantee them the right to exist in peace.
The Path to Redemption
The HRCP has offered a roadmap to change: reforming blasphemy laws, creating a minority caucus in parliament, ensuring legal aid for victims of faith-based violence, and shifting pro-minority legislation to the human rights ministry instead of the religious affairs ministry. These are not demands for privilege; they are desperate pleas for basic human dignity.
But will Pakistan listen?
History tells us it won’t. The world has condemned its actions before, and yet, the persecution continues. What remains to be seen is whether the people of Pakistan—those who still believe in justice, in humanity—will rise against this tide of intolerance. A nation that erases its minorities erases its soul. And Pakistan, if it does not change course, is hurtling towards an abyss from which there may be no return.
It is not just a political battle—it is a battle for Pakistan’s conscience. A battle for its very humanity.