Pakistan - Country profile

The rise of extremism in Pakistan is casting an ever-deepening shadow over the lives of Christians and other minority groups, including moderate Muslims.

Problems centre on the controversial Blasphemy Laws which impose a life sentence on people desecrating the Qur’an (Pakistan Penal Code 295B) and death for those caught defaming the Prophet Mohammed (PPC295C).

All too often violence, devastation and even death ensue when mobs take the laws into their own hands and judge people guilty of blasphemy, carrying out 'summary justice' in a way that totally disregards due legal process.

Young girl accused of burning Qur'anic texts

International concern about the blasphemy laws and their abuse came to a head in Summer 2012 when Rimsha Masih, a young girl from a suburb on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, was accused of burning texts containing verses of the Qur’an.

It later emerged that Rimsha was barely 14 years old and that her mental age was lower than her physical age. Some reports suggested she had Down syndrome.

By then witnesses were coming forward stating that the evidence against Rimsha was fabricated. The man who made the accusation against Rimsha, Muhammed Khalid Chishti, was later charged with committing the crime himself.

This incident, resulting in Rimsha’s dramatic release on bail, was the latest in a series of more than 1,000 blasphemy cases since the mid-1980s when the laws were introduced.

Assassinations of high-profile anti-blasphemy law campaigners

The campaign to change the blasphemy laws suffered a double blow in early 2011 with the assassination of two leading politicians who had criticised the laws and spoken out against associated mob violence.

Shock reverberated worldwide after the deaths – within barely two months of each other – of Salman Taseer, Governor of the Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s federal minister for minorities and the only Christian in the cabinet.

Both men’s call for changes to the blasphemy laws came amid international outrage after Christian woman Asia Bibi was put on death row in late 2010 after being found guilty of defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

While Asia Bibi languishes in jail, reports continue to come in of violations against religious minorities – churches attacked, Christians and others dying in suspicious circumstances, illegal confiscation of property owned by minority groups and sexual molestation of women.

Many of these incidents take place in the context of blasphemy law allegations often resulting in people, including pro-tolerance Muslims, being hunted down by Islamist mobs and forced into hiding and sometimes asylum abroad.

Pakistan “of particular concern” says religious freedom report

In its 2012 annual report, covering the period April 2011 to February 2012 inclusive, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom gave a damning indictment of the situation in Pakistan.

Listing Pakistan in the worst category, labelled countries “of particular concern”, the report’s overall findings declared: “Pakistan’s repressive blasphemy laws and other religiously discriminatory legislation… have created an atmosphere of violent extremism and vigilantism. Sectarian and religiously motivated violence is chronic.”

The commission is one of a growing number of official bodies putting pressure on the government of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to do more to tackle religious hatred.

As the commission puts it: “…the government has failed to protect members of the majority faith and religious minorities. Pakistani authorities have not consistently brought perpetrators to justice or taken action against societal leaders who incite violence.”

Calls for UK government to take firmer stance

In the UK, the government was asked to take a stronger line with the Pakistan authorities in defence of religious freedom.

In October 2011 former Shadow Cabinet minister Ann Widdecombe, speaking as Aid to the Church in Need’s special envoy on religious freedom, said that in many countries homosexuals and even hedgehogs “stand a better chance of representation” than Christians.

Her comments came after the UK Government sparked criticism in spring 2011 by announcing plans to double overseas aid to Pakistan by more than £400 million by 2015.

Miss Widdecombe’s intervention followed strong words from Britain’s top Catholic, Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, who in March 2011 called on the UK to push for religious freedom as part of its discussions with the Pakistan government about overseas aid.

In response to the growing controversy, Prime Minister David Cameron told the BBC that “British aid should have more strings attached in terms of do you persecute people for their faith or their Christianity…”

Key projects

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  Catechetical materials for poor parishes in Karachi

  The St Paul’s Sisters’ bookshop sells Bibles, holy pictures, vestments, rosaries, Christian CDs and other devotional items. But with poverty hitting the faithful hard, fewer people can afford to buy these items. You have helped us provide a grant so that the Sisters can take catechetical materials into the poorest parishes of Karachi.Make Donation

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  Protecting the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore from attack

  Bomb attacks are notoriously rife in Pakistan – in recent times no fewer than 2,542 people died in one year as a result of terrorist attacks, while a further 5,062 were injured. Your support is helping to protect the faithful in Lahore by building higher security walls and installing CCTV so that the cathedral is better protected. Make Donation

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  A convent for the Good Shepherd Sisters in Quetta

  For a number of years, the Good Shepherd Sisters in Quetta, in the highly volatile Balochistan province, have lived in an old, delapidated mud house. But thanks to your generosity the Sisters will now have new accommodation from which to undertake their vital mission to help girls and women, who are neglected in Pakistani society. Make Donation

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  Catechetical instruction for women in Karachi

  Christian women are shown little respect in Pakistan, and sometimes they are even abducted and raped. In Karachi, Sisters are reaching out to help women who are in desperate need, and at the same time helping them to understand their rights under Pakistani law. Your generosity is supporting this important initiative and helping to liberate women and restore their dignity. Make Donation

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  New houses for flood victims in Rawalpindi

  The devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010 and 2011 have left countless families homeless to this day. Thanks to your generosity, in the diocese of Rawalpindi the Church is building many of these families new houses, which will be better equipped to withstand any future flooding. Make Donation

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  Rebuilding the convent and parish church in Kunri

  The Columban Sisters in Kunri were not spared when floods struck Pakistan in 2011, and the waters swept through the entire convent. Your generosity is helping them to restore their convent so that they may continue their vital ministry in the diocese of Hyderabad, including helping those who lost everything in the floods. You are also helping build a new parish church next to the convent – on higher ground to protect it from future floods. Make Donation

Last updated: 12/09/2012