A report titled 'Human Rights Observer 2022' prepared by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has revealed that every second accused of blasphemy happened to be a Muslim.
According to the report, in the year 2021, Muslims made up the largest chunk of people accused of blasphemy, followed by Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians.
The study says that a total of 84 persons had been booked under blasphemy out of which 42 people accused of blasphemy were Muslims, 25 Ahmadis, seven Hindus and three Christians, reported The Express Tribune.
The report not only covered the data for blasphemy but also mentioned the cases of lynching. The study includes three cases of lynching, including the notorious lynching of Sri Lankan national Priyanka Kumara in Sialkot, reported in 2021.
In the Kumara lynching case, the accused persons included one transgender person and six women. Out of them, the transgender and two women happened to be Muslims by faith whereas four were Christians.
The study suggests that the issues of 'unverified and speculative accusations' of blasphemy have increased over the years. Because of these issues, the incidents of lynching and extrajudicial settlements have deepened.
The misuse of the draconian blasphemy laws against minorities and even members of the Muslim community to settle personal grudges is rampant in Pakistan.
Many people have been lynched to death in Pakistan on the mere accusation of blasphemy. Countless others languish in jails for years on end with no hope of getting justice as the lawyers, fearing for their own lives, refuse to defend them, reported The Express Tribune.
Judges in the lower courts routinely hand the accused the ultimate penalty of death without examining the evidence. Recently, a counsel for an accused was murdered in Multan; and before that, a Lahore High Court justice was shot dead in his chambers for acquitting a wrongly accused Christian man.
( With inputs from ANI )
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