ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Human Rights Cell has expressed concerns over reports of citizens being “ensnared in fabricated blasphemy cases by unscrupulous elements seeking financial and personal gain”.

The cases reportedly involved hacking victims’ personal devices to disseminate offensive imagery overlaid with religious texts, which was then used as a pretext for extortion or legal action in “collusion with rogue law enforcement personnel”. In a statement, former senator Farhatullah Babar, president of the PPP Human Rights Cell, highlighted the findings of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), which investigated blasphemy cases from October 2023 to October 2024.

“The NCHR report revealed tactics such as entrapment by operatives posing as women online, luring young men into unethical engagements, and subsequently filing false cases against them,” the communique read. The report also cited “disregard of due process” and noted that arrests were often executed by private individuals rather than authorised law enforcement officials. “A similar concern was echoed last year in a report by the Punjab special branch additional inspector general, which acknowledged the activities of a gang targeting youth through such schemes,” the statement further said.

Moreover, senior officials within the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have admitted to the existence of such networks, it stated.

A circular issued by the FIA cybercrime wing reportedly warned officers against collusion with these criminal elements, mandating that no raids or FIRs be filed without prior approval.

Farhatullah Babar called upon political parties, the parliament, law enforcement agencies, religious scholars, human rights organisations and the media to address the alarming reports with urgency.

He also urged the implementation of recommendations made by the Senate Human Rights Committee in March 2018, which had been endorsed by the Senate at the time.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025