Two steps back

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan’s order regarding the constitution of an inquiry commission to probe hundreds of online blasphemy cases. Last week, Justice Ishaq Khan, in a nine-page written judgement after 42 hearings, gave detailed reasons why the formation of an inquiry commission was necessary, given the serious nature of entrapment, official negligence and custodial deaths. Thursday’s decision is a deeply troubling reversal in a country where lives have repeatedly been lost to the misuse of blasphemy laws. Justice Ishaq Khan’s judgment – arrived at after 42 detailed hearings – had laid bare a chilling pattern of entrapment, custodial deaths and official negligence. His order to form an inquiry commission was rooted in legal prudence but was also a lesson in basic human decency. It echoed the 2024 report by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), which had already called for a formal investigation into what appears to be a blasphemy-linked extortion and intimidation network operating with impunity.

In a nation where false blasphemy accusations have led to mob lynchings, murders and miscarriage of justice, Judge Ishaq Khan’s order had offered a glimmer of institutional courage. The fact that lawyers pursued this case despite grave personal risk – and that the judge himself chose to touch this volatile issue – speaks volumes about the kind of moral clarity that is too often missing from our justice system. Pakistan has seen firsthand how allegations of blasphemy can be used as political and personal weapons. From the tragic murder of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer to the formation of entire political platforms glorifying vigilante killers, the consequences of unchecked blasphemy accusations are all too real. Observers say governments are wary of taking real measures and decisions regarding this because of the consequences. We have seen how the Faizabad dharna was used against the then PML-N government, how then interior minister Ahsan Iqbal was shot at, and how political opponents used that opportunity to bring up the religion card in the 2018 election campaign against the PML-N. That is precisely why calls for accountability and transparency, like those in Justice Khan’s ruling, are so essential. The suspension of his order by a division bench of the same court is as disturbing as it is dangerous. What it does is send a chilling message to victims, whistleblowers and honest public servants: that even in the face of overwhelming evidence and public interest, the system would rather look away than confront the issue.

One hopes the courts reflect on the implications of its decision. The justice system must not now allow its action or inaction to help shield those who exploit religious sentiments for power, profit or politics. Pakistan cannot afford yet another lost opportunity to safeguard its citizens from persecution. Justice was finally being given a fighting chance. Suspending it now serves no one but the predators. The state and all its organs must ask themselves: whose interests are being protected by halting a fact-finding mission into a matter of life and death? If we cannot investigate the truth, we cannot claim to uphold justice.