ISLAMABAD: As many as 89 citizens were killed in 1,415 accusations and cases of blasphemy in the country since independence, a think-tank said on Tuesday.

The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in a report stated that from 1947 to 2021, 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy accusations. The allegations were made against 107 women and 1,308 men.

Out of the total, 1,287 citizens were accused of committing blasphemy from 2011- 21. “The actual number is believed to be higher because not all blasphemy cases get reported in the press,” the report said, adding more than 70 per cent of the accused were reported from Punjab.

The data showed that 55 cases were filed in the Islamabad Capital Territory, which was more than the cases of blasphemy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir put together.

Moreover, 1,098 cases were reported from Punjab followed by 177 from Sindh, 33 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 from Balochistan and 11 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The report said misuse of blasphemy laws is often described by courts as an unlawful act. It said Islamabad High Court had previously suggested to the legislature to amend the existing laws to give equal punishment to those who level false blasphemy accusations.

The debate on Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and their socio-political consequences ranges from the argument “people disrespecting Islam should be punished” to “people are falsely accused to settle personal scores”.

One segment of society demands review of the blasphemy laws to prevent and discourage its abuse.

At the same time, almost always, murderers argue that the victims having committed an unpardonable religious crime are ‘wajibul qatal’, a highly controversial term that loosely translates to “worthy of being killed”.

The report takes a look at blasphemy-related violence as reported in secondary sources such as newspapers and tallies the victims, perpetrators, role of law enforcement and number of charges.

The state argues that those who commit murder in the name of blasphemy are summarily arrested, indicted and prosecuted.

The report said the origin of the blasphemy laws dated back to the British era when these were promulgated in 1860.

Initially, four blasphemy laws — section 295, 296, 297 and 298 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) — were introduced and in 1927 section 295 was supplemented by 295A after the case of Ilmuddin, a Muslim carpenter, who killed Mahashe Rajpal for publishing a blasphemous book.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2022