LONDON — In Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country beset by murderous terrorism, natural disasters and governmental dysfunction, an argument in a mechanic’s shop might seem of trifling consequence.
Tell that to Ashfaq Masih.
Mr. Masih, a Christian motorcycle repair man in the city of Lahore, argued with a Muslim customer after the latter demanded a discount on account of his religious piety. Mr. Masih’s response was that, as a Christian, his customer’s religion was not an issue.
That response landed the mechanic, who has a wife and daughter, in jail in 2017. This July, his conviction, under blasphemy laws, was upgraded to the death sentence.
And despite international concern about the state of religious intolerance in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation, lawmakers earlier this month moved to strengthen those laws.
In the explosive environment of today’s Pakistan, religious intolerance is easily overlooked. But it is severe: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its 2022 report on Pakistan pointed to both extremism and problematic laws.
In just the latest episode, Muslims in the eastern province of Punjab rioted this week over unsubstantiated rumors that a Christian man had desecrated the Quran, demolishing the man’s house, burning churches and damaging several other homes.
The scale of the violence prompted the government to deploy additional police forces and send in the army to help restore order, with more than 125 people detained in the wake of the violence, and brought more international scrutiny to 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 (USCIRF). ” We are concerned that efforts to strengthen these laws will exacerbate violence against religious minorities.”
The legal and political issues intertwine, exacerbating 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 Centre 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.”
It is not only Christians who are suffering in Sunni-majority Pakistan: So too are non-Sunni Muslims and Hindus.
The fearsome possibility that nuclear-armed Pakistan is edging toward the abyss of chaos may shove the domestic state of religious freedom to the back-burner for policymakers. But religious rights advocates warn that neglect could be a dangerous mistake.
“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 following murderous religious conflicts in 15th-16th century Europe, Mr. Rhodes continued: “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
Pakistan’s 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 2022, a teenage Hindu boy was reportedly arrested and charged with blasphemy 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 a range of assaults and indignities suffered by Ahmadiyya, or Ahmadi, Muslims.
They 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 suffer discrimination due to their Ahmadi dress.
In July 2023, Ahmadi gravestones were shattered in an attack on a cemetery – the latest in a series, ongoing for years, “that mean 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. Lynchings and stonings have been committed by mobs over blasphemy allegations, and forced conversion is an issue for all non-Sunni groups.
The Pakistani government has not to date executed anyone under blasphemy laws. But court cases see victims lingering 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,” said Mr. Saeed. “Early court hearings are particularly important, as victims often spend eight to 10 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.”
Courts, in turn, face pressures from powerful fundamentalist Islamic organizations 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!’” said Mr. Malik.
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,” said Mr. Malik. “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
The world’s second-most populous Muslim state after Indonesia, Pakistan has, for decades, been wracked by corruption and instability. Religious and ethnic groups have incubated a range of extremists.
Last year, populist Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted after being impeached. 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. Deaths from terrorism in 2022 — 643 — marked a rise of 120 percent over 2021. The country is home to the world’s fastest growing terrorist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army; Balochistan is home of powerful Zikri Muslim minority.
Last year, Pakistan suffered devastating floods. Economic crisis was averted this July, when the IMF approved a $3 billion bailout. But IMF terms will require strict fiscal discipline amid soaring inflation.
Pakistan presents a conundrum for the Biden administration, with its domestic turmoil balanced by its geopolitical value. It borders such key nations 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 Amnesty’s International Secretariat, said the group is not afraid to present its evidence of abuse and discrimination directly to the accused, whether it’s religious conservatives in Pakistan or 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, adding “We further work with various U.N. mechanisms to hold authorities accountable to uphold international laws and regulations.”
But 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 again 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 noted.
“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,” said Mr. Saeed.
Mr. Malik believes 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, according to his wife, who is in contact with CLAAS.
“She frequently visits him, and he is in good health,” said Mr. Saeed. “However, there have been no significant developments in his case.”
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.