Religion

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.

The monks contend that Sri Lanka’s existing penal code already contains sufficient safeguards to deal with abuse, and that new legislation is unnecessary and overly idealistic.

Muttaqi, a key architect of the Taliban's post-2021 takeover diplomacy, travelled to the southern province of Kandahar on Friday for the audience with Akhundzada.

Religious minority prisoners in Pakistan are subjected to systemic discrimination, harsh treatment and denial of basic rights compared to their Muslim counterparts.

The council also criticized the government for excluding minorities from all reform commissions, which were set up to recommend measures aimed at combating discrimination and promoting social justice.

The global human rights watchdog said that Afghanistan now faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, exacerbated by donor governments’ aid cuts and the return of 1.9 million refugees expelled from Iran and Pakistan. 

Terming forced religious conversion and forced marriage of Christian and Hindu minor girls to older Muslim men as the most concerning issue, the report notes that there are few legal options available to the victims.

While the removal of the death penalty for two relatively obscure crimes was welcomed by international rights groups, many activists argue the government’s action is insufficient.