According to the complaint filed by police constable Zahid Sohail at the Race Course Police Station, 15-year-old Christian boy Simon Nadeem, and his friend 18-year-old Adil Babar allegedly insulted the Holy Prophet (PBUH). He claimed that he heard the boys “committing blasphemy” while playing when he was on his way to a mosque.

18-year-old Adil Babar’s father Babar Masih refuted the police constable’s claims, saying that the police officer had a quarrel with the boys in the afternoon, claiming the boys had insulted him. The neighbourhood elders gathered and stopped the fight, Voicepk reported.

Babar Masih said, however, in the evening the police carried out a raid and arrested the two boys on blasphemy charges, with constable Zahid Sohail as a complainant.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court transferred the trial of a juvenile arrested on charges of killing an Ahmadi man who was undertrial over blasphemy accusations inside a courtroom, to the Peshawar district and sessions judge.

The transfer was ordered in the light of a recent Peshawar High Court (PHC) judgement, stating that a juvenile accused charged with a terrorism-related offence should be tried by a juvenile court, and not by an anti-terrorism court.

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The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has issued the Human Rights Observer 2023, an annual fact sheet, covering 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 the abuse of blasphemy law, the rights group noted 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.

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.

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