One of the most well-known facts about Pakistan is the fact that it is not a very friendly place for its religious and ethnic minorities, to put it mildly. Being maligned for one’s beliefs and the threat of randomly being targeted for violence by hateful individuals or mobs are just part of the unfortunate deal that accompanies being a minority in Pakistan. What makes all of this even more depressing is that the state, which is constitutionally obliged to counter the invective and violence directed towards minorities, quite often does the opposite, becoming another layer of anti-minority persecution. Now, social media is adding more fuel to the persecution of minorities, providing a convenient platform for individuals to amplify hate and baseless accusations. A new report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) earlier this week: ‘Under Siege: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2023/24’ reveals that as of October 2024, over 750 individuals were imprisoned on blasphemy charges, and at least four faith-based killings were recorded. The report says that the widespread registration of blasphemy cases is fuelled by disinformation on social media. Such posts also played a role in the mob attacks on Christian communities in Jaranwala and Sargodha last year.
Those responsible for spreading all this hate and committing violence against minorities often enjoy a great deal of impunity. This latest report was presented at a meeting of the HRCP’s National Interfaith Working Group. Members of this working group proposed means of countering the advance of anti-minority hate, including procedural changes to discriminatory laws that affect religious minorities disproportionately, more political representation for minorities and expanded legal aid. Other recommendations included the need for pro-minority legislation to be vetted by the human rights ministry. These are all pertinent suggestions, but none of them are new. The problem today, as it always has been, is a state reluctant to embrace the duty of protecting minorities.
There is also a reluctance to take on the network of hate that has been built up over the decades. While the actions of bigoted mobs and individuals might seem unplanned and unhinged, a bird’s-eye-view of the overall course these actions take shows a clear path. It is one that preserves the status-quo power structure where poor minorities are at the bottom and in a perpetual state of sociopolitical and economic precariousness. There is also nothing accidental about how this network of hate came about, having been fostered by those in power for many years. Sadly, there are many involved in the current power apparatus who benefit from this way of doing things and will fight to preserve it, even at the cost of innocent lives. While they are still around, any hopes of things getting better for minorities remain slim.