Islamists Collude with Pakistani Officers in False Blasphemy Instances
Households of victims of false blasphemy instances protest exterior Nationwide Press Membership in Islamabad, Pakistan on Jan. 10, 2025. (CDI-MSN screenshot of video).
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Each day Worldwide–Morning Star Information) – An Islamist gang trapped greater than 450 folks in false blasphemy expenses lately in Pakistan, together with 5 who had been tortured demise in custody, in accordance with human rights legal professionals.
The “blasphemy enterprise group” has devastated quite a few households with the collusion of federal investigators, mentioned attorneys Usman Warraich, Imaan Hazir-Mazari and Rana Abdul Hameed at a press convention on Friday (Jan. 10) within the federal capital of Islamabad. As frequent targets of blasphemy accusations, Christians in Pakistan are at critical danger of being victimized by the group.
The Islamist group shares blasphemous content material on-line after which information false expenses, blackmailing the households of these accused for giant sums of cash, the attorneys mentioned, citing a report by the Particular Department of the Punjab Police final yr that pinpointed an organized gang behind the latest surge in blasphemy instances.
A separate report by the Nationwide Fee for Human Rights (NCHR) in October that endorses the police findings particulars how harmless folks had been being entrapped with the energetic involvement of officers of the Federal Investigation Company (FIA), the rights attorneys mentioned.
The NCHR report highlighted that many of the victims belonged to lower-income or middle-class ranges. Greater than 150 victims of the “blasphemy racket” are being held in Adiala District Jail; 170 in District Camp Jail and Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore; and 55 in Karachi Central Jail, Warraich mentioned.
The gang has recruited younger women and men who befriended folks on social media and lured them to a “safe-house” within the G-8 Sector of Islamabad, he mentioned.
“A number of younger victims honey-trapped by this gang have revealed that after they got here to the mentioned home, they had been stripped bare and tortured by the gang members who additionally videotaped their ordeal,” Warraich mentioned. “There are about 25-30 folks related to this gang who turn out to be plaintiffs after trapping youths from throughout Pakistan. Every plaintiff is concerned in trapping greater than 20 youths.”
5 Muslims, together with a 22-year-old lady, Fatima Jahangir, had been subjected to inhumane torture that finally led to their tragic deaths, he mentioned.
“An orphan boy named Syed Ali Hasnain was killed in Adiala Jail. A younger man from Rawalpindi, Syed Abdullah Shah, was tortured and murdered by this group in collaboration with the FIA,” Warraich mentioned. “Fatima Jahangir died in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, whereas one other 22-year-old boy, Safeer Ullah, misplaced his life in Camp Jail, Lahore.”
One other youth named Suhan Khan was tortured to demise in Karachi Central Jail inside three to 4 days, he mentioned, including that the Islamist gang publicly celebrates every time a court docket denies bail or convicts a sufferer.
“Celebrations embody distributing sweets, garlanding members, and gifting swords to one another, and the movies are broadly circulated on social media,” the lawyer mentioned. “In addition they share the names and addresses of the sufferer households and their legal professionals on social media to intimidate them.”
After courts convict the victims, Islamic leaders make bulletins in opposition to them within the mosques of their respective neighborhoods to incite native residents in opposition to their households, he mentioned.
Throughout proceedings, the Islamist group harasses the victims’ households and shouts slogans within the courtroom to strain judges to convict the harmless, he added.
Supreme Courtroom Advocate Rana Abdul Hameed, who represented Shagufta Kiran, a Christian lady who was sentenced to demise on Sept. 18 in a blasphemy case filed by a member of the Islamist gang, mentioned that the false instances have raised critical questions concerning the integrity of Pakistan’s authorized system.
“These instances usually are not solely baseless but additionally a stain on the judiciary,” Hameed mentioned, criticizing the federal government and judiciary for his or her silence.
Elaborating on the operations of the blasphemy enterprise group, Hameed described it as a profit-driven syndicate with an purpose to instill worry and exploit households.
Hazir-Mazari, a distinguished human rights lawyer, mentioned on the press convention that there’s a systemic failure to handle false instances of blasphemy in Pakistan.
“The courts, besides in Sindh Province, lack the braveness to listen to these instances,” she mentioned. “This silence is a big obstacle to justice.”
Hazir-Mazari mentioned she regretted that lots of of individuals had been languishing in prisons on fabricated blasphemy expenses.
Members of the family of among the victims additionally addressed the media, revealing how the gang information blasphemy instances utilizing pretend addresses and intimidates them with threats to extort cash. Saeeda Bibi, mom of a visually impaired Muslim falsely charged with blasphemy, Muhammad Zamzam, shared how he was mistreated by FIA officers and arrested in a false case in Lahore regardless of FIA officers demanding a bribe of 100,000 rupees ($360 USD).
“Once we obtained the FIA discover, I took my son to the authorities myself to show his innocence, as he’s blind in each eyes,” Bibi mentioned. “Nonetheless, as a substitute of being handled pretty, the FIA demanded cash, however even after we paid them the bribe, they didn’t launch my son.”
The attorneys and victims’ households mentioned that regardless of elevating these considerations to numerous authorities authorities, nothing has been completed to guard folks.
“We’ve got introduced this matter to the eye of the president’s workplace, prime minister’s workplace, chief justice of Pakistan, Cupboard Division, Director Basic FIA, Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Inside, Ministry of Regulation and Justice and management of all mainstream political events, however none of them has taken any motion but,” they mentioned in a press release.
They demanded that the federal authorities type an unbiased investigative fee in gentle of the reviews submitted by the police and NCHR. In addition they demanded that every one proceedings in these instances be halted till the investigations are concluded, and that these accountable be held accountable.
“We additionally urge the judiciary to make sure honest trial of the victims and take authorized measures to curb the contemptuous conduct of the members of the blasphemy enterprise group in courtrooms,” they demanded.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doorways’ 2024 World Watch Record of probably the most troublesome locations to be a Christian, because it was the earlier yr.
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