IT is a weighty issue, and one which many would not touch with a barge pole, primarily out of concern for self-preservation. And yet, a judge of the Islamabad High Court has taken a firm stand. On Tuesday, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan ordered the government to form a commission of inquiry within 30 days to investigate complaints against what is believed to be an organised gang that has trapped hundreds of young men and women, mostly from underprivileged sections of society, in very serious blasphemy-related cases. The commission has been directed to submit its report within four months. One expects that the government will not waste any more time considering the sensitivity of the matter, and that the commission will conduct its inquiry in a transparent manner. One of the reasons why the IHC felt compelled to order a formal inquiry was that it found serious lapses in the investigations conducted by the FIA in several blasphemy-related cases. The court also found substance in the petitioners’ plaint that FIA officials had been acting in connivance with the complainants in the said cases. This is why this allegation must be thoroughly investigated.

It may be recalled that the issue first came to the fore early last year, when a January 2024 report The Blasphemy Business, attributed to the Punjab Police Special Branch warned that a gang was suspected of trapping unwary youth in spurious blasphemy cases for financial gain in connivance with FIA officials. The report stated that the youth were being trapped through various groups specifically set up for this purpose on social media platforms, and noted that the conspirators would attempt to extort money from their victims, failing which they would refer them to the FIA. An independent investigation by the National Commission of Human Rights, the report for which was released in October 2024, substantiated those suspicions. The NCHR’s report pointed to a sharp and sudden increase in incarcerations due to blasphemy-related cases starting in 2022 and also laid bare the immense social, psychological and economic harm such cases had caused. Given the immense religious and cultural sensitivities surrounding blasphemy-related matters, it is incumbent upon the government to take this case seriously. If a criminal gang has been exploiting the issue of blasphemy to extort and terrorise civilians, it must be exposed and brought before the law.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2025