Religious extremism, Blasphemy laws further dent Pakistan's image
Dec 09, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 9 : Pakistan's international image has been diminished further by growing religious intolerance in the country and how Blasphemy laws are adding to it
Last week, a mob in Pakistan's Sialkot had tortured a Sri Lankan national Priyantha Diyawadana to death before burning his body over alleged blasphemy.
Pakistan has witnessed several such incidents, where minor cases of blasphemy have led to huge protests and demands of death for the accused, according to the International Forum for Rights and Security.
Between 2014 and 2018, a total of 674 cases of blasphemy were reported worldwide of which one-quarter (27 per cent) was from Pakistan.
According to a report by US Commission on International Religious Freedom (UCIRF) Pakistan's laws are vague, impose severe punishments, including the death penalty and are frequently applied through both state and private enforcement of violence against alleged blasphemers which may occur at any point from a rumour of blasphemy
Earlier, a year ago, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) carried out violent protests across Pakistan including a siege of Islamabad demanding the expulsion of the French Ambassador.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan surrendered before the protesters and lifted the ban on TLP, an ultra-conservative Islamic group, and agreed to discuss the expulsion of the French Ambassador in the country's parliament, according to the International Forum for Rights and Security.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have long been abused to target minority groups non-Muslim Ahmedias and other minorities such as Hindus, Christians, Buddhists among others.
