The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights was briefed that 179 individuals are currently detained and undergoing trials on blasphemy charges across Pakistan, based on a report from the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (NHRC). Seventeen of these individuals have been sentenced. The committee had requested a detailed account of these cases after a recent incident in Jaranwala involving blasphemy allegations that led to violence against a minority community.
Senator Walid Iqbal, the committee’s chairman, expressed concerns about misusing blasphemy laws for personal vendettas. He emphasized that in their upcoming meeting, they would delve deeper into the details of the cases and explore methods to prevent the wrongful use of these laws.
According to the NHRC report, of the 179 arrested, the breakdown by region is 17 in Islamabad, 18 in Punjab, 78 in Sindh, 55 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one in Balochistan. Of the 17 convictions, 11 were from Islamabad, four from Sindh, and two from Balochistan. The report noted no convictions from Punjab and KP.
