Watchdog warns of record number blasphemy cases in Pakistan.
Pakistan minority rights campaigners protest the sentencing of a Christian man to death for sharing an allegedly blasphemous TikTok post, in Karachi on July 2, 2024. In an order released on July 1, a Christian man was sentenced by an anti-terror court for reposting an image of a torn and defaced Quran alongside online accusation against two Christian brothers who were originally arrested for blasphemy but released after investigators believed they were framed over a personal grudge, according to domestic media. | RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP via Getty ImagesLAHORE, Pakistan — A rights watchdog chronicled a record 344 new blasphemy cases in Pakistan in 2024, highlighting increased abuse of the country’s condemned blasphemy laws.
Of the 344 new blasphemy cases, 70% of the accused were Muslims, 6% were Christians, 9% Hindus and 14% Ahmadis, according to the annual Human Rights Observer report issued by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ).
“The blatant weaponization of blasphemy laws continued to enable persecution, religious intolerance and widespread human rights violations,” the report stated. CP.
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