A report by Human Rights Watch paints a stark portrait of a deeply broken system: what is nominally a law intended to protect religious sanctity has been co-opted into a mechanism for exploitation.

In a sweeping report released on 9 June 2025, Human Rights Watch has documented how accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan are increasingly being used not as a matter of religious justice, but as instruments of blackmail, property seizure, and forced displacement. The study – based on fieldwork across Punjab and Islamabad between May 2024 and January 2025 – concludes that these abuses disproportionately target religious minorities and other marginalized groups, often with the complicity or inaction of state actors.

Although Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are officially intended to protect religious sentiments, the report highlights a deeply troubling pattern: false or manipulated accusations are being lodged with the purpose of evicting vulnerable owners or extracting money. In many cases, individuals or groups accuse a person of blasphemy, provoke mob or official pressure, and ultimately compel the accused – or entire communities – to flee or sell assets under duress.

In particular, minority communities such as Christians and Ahmadis are targeted because many live in informal settlements without formal land title. Once they are forced out, the property becomes available for seizure by others. The report cites cases in which local actors with political or religious influence have lured people into fabricated online “blasphemy traps,” then demanded payments, or used the accusations to pressure property transfers.

One documented case involves a 14-year-old Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, who in 2012 was accused of burning pages of the Qur’an. Evidence later showed the pages had been planted. Yet the episode was used to drive her family and others out of the neighbourhood. In another instance, the Joseph Colony attack of 2013 followed allegations of blasphemy and resulted in the storming and destruction of a Christian area, effectively pushing out hundreds of families.

Faces of Coercion: Stories of Displacement

The report documents the plight of individuals who lost homes, businesses, and security under the shadow of perilous accusations:

• Maryam, a Christian woman in Lahore, was pressured by a neighbor to sell her house. When she refused, she was accused of burning Qur’an pages. A mob formed outside her home. Fearing for her family’s life, she ultimately sold at a steep loss and relocated to a Christian enclave.
• Rizwan, a Christian farmer, resisted a local landowner’s claims over his agricultural land. In 2021, armed men, backed by local officials, removed his materials and placed a board asserting the land had been designated for a mosque. He felt that opposing a mosque would mark him for violence, so he acquiesced under duress.
• Ashiq, a Christian running an auto business, married a Muslim woman. His in-laws threatened to publicize blasphemy or apostasy charges unless he transferred his business to them. The pressure forced him into poverty and left him living in constant fear of further extortion.

Such stories are not outliers, according to the HRW report, which warns that the combination of weak land records, biased policing, and a climate of fear creates fertile ground for abuse.

Systemic Failings: Why Victims Rarely Find Justice

A central finding of the report is that state institutions often fail victims – and in some cases actively enable perpetrators.

• Policing and investigations: Police frequently refuse to intervene when mobs attack, or delay investigations. Many officers express reluctance to challenge blasphemy accusations, fearing reprisals from religious groups.
• Judicial backlogs and biased trials: Accused individuals often languish in pretrial detention, denied a fair process or access to evidence. Meanwhile, cases of violence or property grabbing almost never result in convictions.
• Entrapment networks: HRW cites reports that collusion has emerged between elements of religious organisations, lawyers, and law-enforcement bodies – particularly in digital space. The so-called “blasphemy business” reportedly orchestrates fake online content or social media traps, then files false cases to extort victims.
• Lack of accountability: The report found that very few perpetrators of mob attacks or forced evictions are ever held to account. The legal framework provides scant safeguards against such abuses.

One lawyer with experience in blasphemy defence observed: “Almost all blasphemy accusations … are driven by personal motives … the accusation is a weapon to settle all kinds of scores.”

A senior police officer spoke about how potent and dangerous the blasphemy law is as a weapon: “In honesty, Pakistan is a police state in many aspects, the writ of the state is not allowed to be challenged—except when it comes to blasphemy. We are under tremendous pressure to register even blatantly false blasphemy cases and also to make arrests.”

The International Lens and Legal Obligations

Pakistan is a state party to key human rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). These instruments oblige the state to protect freedom of religion, guarantee equality before the law, and ensure adequate housing. The report argues that mandatory death penalties for blasphemy, broad and vague definitions, and the system’s discriminatory implementation violate fundamental rights.

To counter these abuses, Human Rights Watch sets out a series of reforms:

• Repeal discriminatory blasphemy laws: In particular, section 295-C of the Penal Code should be struck down, along with associated provisions enabling misuse.
• Investigate and prosecute abuses: The government must hold accountable those who incite mob violence, file malicious blasphemy claims, or collude in forced evictions.
• Release and protect the accused: Individuals held under blasphemy charges should be safely released; pending cases dropped unless supported by credible evidence.
• Safeguards against coerced property transfer: Legal protections should be established to prevent forced land sales or transfers arising from blasphemy allegations.
• Police and judicial reform: Training, accountability, and structural reforms are needed to ensure law enforcement acts impartially and without bias.
• Compensation and rehabilitation: Victims of violence and displacement deserve relief, legal aid, psychosocial support, and restitution.

For religious minorities and economically vulnerable communities, a false accusation can trigger a cascade of violence, property loss, and lifelong fear, HRW says, and adds that without serious reform, the “blasphemy industry” that traffics in terror and extortion will continue to flourish under a cloak of impunity.