A Hindu teacher has been languishing in Sindh jail for over 3 years after he was arrested in 2019 and convicted of committing blasphemy on the accusation of his student in February 2022 by a trial court in Ghotki.
The trial court sentenced Nautan Lal to life imprisonment.
Nautan Lal, a teacher at the Government Degree College, was arrested after a video of his student went viral on social media accusing him of committing blasphemy. The intermediate student was the only eyewitness in the case.
A local Muslim cleric filed a blasphemy case against Nautan Lal after the video of the student went viral.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) issued the Human Rights Observer 2023, an annual fact sheet, noting an increase in abuse of blasphemy laws, especially in Punjab. At least 2,120 people had been accused of committing blasphemy between 1987 and 2022. In 2022, at least 171 people were accused of committing blasphemy with 65 per cent of the cases being reported from Punjab while 19 per cent being reported from Sindh. Among 171 people, 88 were Muslims, 75 Ahmadis, four Christians, and two Hindus, while the identities of the others could not be ascertained.
The report notes the law disproportionately impacts minority groups.
The rights group’s annual fact sheet covered five key issues impacting religious minorities, including discrimination in the education system, the prevalence of forced faith conversions, abuse of blasphemy laws, the establishment of the National Commission for Minorities and jail remissions for minority prisoners.
Regarding forced conversions to Islam, the factsheet analysed 124 reported incidents of forced faith conversions involving girls /women from minority communities which included 81 Hindu, 42 Christian, and one Sikh. 23 per cent of girls were below 14 years of age, 36 per cent of them were between the age of 14 and 18 years, and only 12 per cent of the victims were adults, while the age of 28 per cent of the victims was not reported. 65 per cent of cases of forced faith conversions were reported in Sindh, followed by 33 per cent in Punjab, and 0.8 per cent each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The fact sheet also noted that content against minorities increased in curriculum and textbooks. The report also stated that the laws granting respite to minority prisoners were also not implemented by the prison authorities.
