LONDON — An argument in a mechanic’s shop might seem of trifling consequence in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a country beset by deadly terrorism, natural disasters and governmental dysfunction.
Tell that to Ashfaq Masih.
Mr. Masih, a Christian motorcycle repairman in Lahore, argued with a Muslim customer demanding a discount because of his religious piety. Mr. Masih told the customer that religion was not an issue.
That response landed the mechanic, who has a wife and daughter, in prison in 2017. In July, his conviction under blasphemy laws was upgraded to a death sentence.
Despite international concern about religious intolerance in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation, lawmakers moved to strengthen those laws this month.
Religious intolerance is easily overlooked but is severe in Pakistan’s explosive environment. In its 2022 report on Pakistan, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom pointed to extremism and problematic laws.
Muslims in the eastern province of Punjab rioted this month over unsubstantiated rumors that a Christian man had desecrated the Quran. Rioters demolished the man’s house, burned churches and damaged several other homes.
The government deployed more police and sent the army to help restore order, and more than 125 people were detained.
The violence intensified international scrutiny of Pakistan’s religious laws.
“Violence against Pakistani Christians is a stark example of the threat that blasphemy laws pose to religious freedom,” said Mohamed Magid of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, known as USCIRF. “We are concerned that efforts to strengthen these laws will exacerbate violence against religious minorities.”
The intertwinement of legal and political issues worsens the problem, analysts say.
“Pakistan has experienced a significant number of cases involving harsh, religious-based court judgments in recent years,” said Nasir Saeed of the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), a nonprofit organization working for Pakistani Christians persecuted for their faith. “Factors such as societal dynamics, the influence of extremist ideologies and gaps in legal frameworks contribute to the prevalence of such judgments.”
Non-Sunni Muslims and Hindus also are suffering in Sunni-majority Pakistan.
The fear that nuclear-armed Pakistan is edging toward chaos may shove the domestic state of religious freedom to the back burner of policymaking, but religious rights advocates warn that neglect could be dangerous.
“Religious freedom means respecting moral authorities that transcend and are not controlled by the state,” said Aaron Rhodes, a human rights activist and author.
Noting that the concept evolved after deadly religious conflicts in 15th- and 16th-century Europe, Mr. Rhodes said, “Religious freedom can rightly be called the first freedom — not only because it protects individual moral choice, but because it opened the political path for the legal protection of minorities and for political pluralism.”
Operating with impunity
The Pakistani Constitution establishes Islam as the official state religion and requires all legal provisions to be consistent with Islam, notes a 2022 U.S. State Department report.
Adherents of minority religions are threatened by “Sunni Islamist extremism and the continued threat of persecution via discriminatory legislation such as the blasphemy laws,” according to USCIRF. “These laws have enabled and encouraged Islamist extremists to operate with impunity, easily targeting religious minorities or those with differing beliefs.”
Religious intolerance in Pakistan takes multiple formats.
In December, a Hindu teen was reportedly arrested on blasphemy charges after questioning God in a Facebook post, according to Pakistani media reports. The boy was apparently dismayed by the trafficking of females.
Non-Sunni Muslims are similarly victimized. Nasim Malik, general secretary of the International Human Rights Committee, lists various assaults and indignities against Ahmadiyya, or Ahmadi, Muslims.
Ahmadis are forbidden from identifying as Muslims and from practicing their beliefs. Many are banned from public life through discriminatory employment laws. Ahmadi children have been refused education, and women face discrimination because of their Ahmadi dress.
Ahmadi gravestones were shattered in July, the latest attack in a yearslong series. “That means Ahmadis are not free from persecution even after their death,” Mr. Malik said.
In 2022, the USCIRF survey said, six leaders of minority religions were assassinated. Mobs have committed lynchings and stonings over blasphemy allegations, and members of all non-Sunni groups have been forced into conversion.
The Pakistani government has not executed anyone under blasphemy laws, but victims linger in cells for years.
“In cases where individuals face severe sentences for blasphemy, it is crucial to apply various forms of leverage to advocate for a more merciful and just court procedure,” Mr. Saeed said. “Early court hearings are particularly important, as victims often spend eight to 10 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.”
Powerful fundamentalist Islamic organizations put pressure on courts to crack down.
“When there is a case in court, they get together hundreds outside and chant threats outside: ‘You won’t be alive! We will kidnap your children!’” Mr. Malik said.
The 2022 USCIRF report agrees: “Blasphemy laws and anti-Ahmadiyya laws facilitate Islamist extremist elements and support their narrative. … Pakistan’s laws further fail to protect religious minorities at increasing risk of abduction, forced marriage and forced conversion to Islam.”
Religious intolerance thrives in an atmosphere of weak governance and a lack of official oversight.
“This is happening only because there is no stable government and no democracy in the country, and as for the judicial system, it is totally paralyzed,” Mr. Malik said. “The fundamentalist clerics have taken power in their hands and say that what they say, the government and everyone has to follow.”
A litany of ill fortune
Decades of corruption and instability have racked Pakistan, the world’s second-most-populous Muslim state after Indonesia. Religious and ethnic groups have incubated a range of extremists.
Populist Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted after impeachment last year. Intense domestic divisions over the fate of Mr. Khan, climaxing in a bloody assassination attempt earlier this year, simmer ahead of October elections.
Pakistan is the sixth-ranked state on the 2023 World Terrorism Index. The 643 deaths from terrorism in 2022 marked a rise of 120% over 2021. The country is home to the world’s fastest-growing terrorist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army. Balochistan province is the home of the powerful Zikri Muslim minority.
Last year, Pakistan suffered from devastating floods. The International Monetary Fund approved a $3 billion bailout in July to avert an economic crisis, but IMF terms will require strict fiscal discipline amid soaring inflation.
Balancing Pakistan’s domestic turmoil with geopolitical value presents a conundrum for the Biden administration. Pakistan borders key nations such as Afghanistan, China and Iran, but has conflicted relations with India, the democracy that Washington has wooed as a critical counterweight to rising Chinese influence in Asia.
Targeting blasphemy laws
Amnesty International, one of the world’s leading human rights organizations, has lobbied against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws since 2016.
Nazia Erum, media manager for South Asia at the Amnesty International Secretariat, said the group is not afraid to present its evidence of abuse and discrimination directly to the accused, including religious conservatives in Pakistan and the strict Islamist Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
“We use our analysis to influence and press governments and decision-makers to do the right thing,” she said. “We further work with various U.N. mechanisms to hold authorities accountable to uphold international laws and regulations.”
Activists say Pakistan’s laws have been tightened and information on abuses is difficult to obtain.
The 2023 State Department survey of international religious freedom, released in May, underscored its criticism of Pakistan’s record.
“The new government under Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, which took office in April, weaponized the country’s blasphemy laws against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members,” the report stated.
“Religious minorities, however, were especially vulnerable to prosecution or violence based on blasphemy allegations in a society that has grown increasingly intolerant of religious diversity.
“Given the current political status of Pakistan and pressure from religious groups, navigating normal communication channels and applying leverage can be challenging,” Mr. Saeed said.
Mr. Malik said the European Union, which deploys significant aid to Pakistan, and the U.S. military, which has ties to Pakistan’s military, should use their influence to ease religious intolerance laws.
“We don’t expect the international community to use sanctions where a poor Pakistani could feel something in the stomach,” he said. “We need sanctions on the political leaders and businessmen and judges and clerics.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Masih, the Christian motorcycle mechanic, languishes in prison, said his wife, who is in touch with CLAAS.
“She frequently visits him, and he is in good health,” Mr. Saeed said. “However, there have been no significant developments in his case.”
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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