Rights observers recorded a record 344 new cases of blasphemous ASP in Pakistan in 2024, highlighting the rise in abuse of the country’s accused blasphemous ASP law.
According to the annual Human Rights Observer Report published by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), out of 344 new cases of blasphemous Asp, 70% of the accused were Muslims, 6% Christians, 9% Hindus, and 14% Ahmadis.
“The blatant weaponization of blasphemous laws has continued to allow persecution, religious intolerance and widespread human rights violations,” the report states.
Section 298-A of the blasphemous laws relating to the disgrace of sacred figures, including the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, the family of four caliphs, wives and companions, were punished and most used in prison for up to ten years. Last year, 128 people were charged in this section.
“The next frequently abused provision was Section 295-A (Loss of Religious Emotions) with 106 reported cases,” the report states. “Section 298-C, which opposes the Ahmadi community in particular, was widely misused with 69 people in the accused.”
Sections 295-B (the exaggeration of the Quran) and 295-C (disrespectful of Muhammad) were also widely used, leading to 62 individuals accused in various parts of Pakistan, the report says.
Punjab had the highest number of blasphemy-related accusations, accounting for 62% of total cases, with 30% Sindh, 5% Khyber Paktanwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir recording 2% and Gilgit Baltistan recording 1%.
Among the districts, the number of reported cases of asp esp were the highest, with 32 in Sheikhpura district in Punjab, 28 in Lahore, 13, 11 Kot, 11 Okalah, 11 Sargoda, 10 Gujranwara and Zarpark districts in Sandh province and 35 Haff Talpark districts. The Mansera district state recorded the highest number of cases in seven.
Throughout the year, ten people accused of blasphemy were abnormally killed by individuals or violent mobs, including six from Punjab (two, Lahore and Rawalpindi, and one each from Sargoda and Gujrat). Balochistan (Quetta).
Over the past 38 years, at least 2,793 people have been accused of formally or informally blaspheming between 1987 and 2024. Over these years, 54% of the accused were Muslims, 30% were Ahmadis, 11% were Christians, 3% were Hindus, and another 3% of religious identities could not be confirmed.
The report said at least 104 people were extralegally killed between 1994 and 2024, when 67 Muslims (64%), 26 Christians (25%), seven Ahmadis, one Hindi, one Buddhist and two religions were unknown. Punjab was the most murdered state at age 72 (69% of total), followed by 15 in Sindh, 11 in Khyber Paktongkwa, 2 in Islamabad in Balochistan and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Force conversion
On the issue of forced conversion of minority girls and women, the CSJ report revealed that at least 421 cases were reported in Pakistan between January 2021 and December 2024.
The victims included 282 Hindu girls, 137 Christian girls and two Sikh girls. 71% of the victims were minors, of which 22% were under the age of 14 and 49% were between the ages of 14 and 18. Only 13% of the victims were adults, with 16% of the ages still unconfirmed. The report added that 69% of the overwhelming majority of cases occurred in Sindh and 30% occurred in Punjab.
The CSJ report highlights discriminatory prison policies in which Muslim prisoners are denied remission benefits available. Furthermore, textbooks continue to promote Islamic content on secular subjects and undermine the rights of minority students, according to the report.
We also observed that in 2025 delays and weak enforcement continued despite the introduction of a committee on ethnic minority bills. Of the 186 bills brought at the Legislative Council, only 23 dealt with human rights, while only one minority-related bill.
With a Muslim population of over 96%, Pakistan ranked 8th on the 2025 World Watchlist, where it is the hardest place to become a Christian.
