The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has issued a stark warning about the systematic persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan, documenting abductions, forced marriages of Hindu and Christian girls, the weaponisation of blasphemy laws, and extremist attacks in its latest report titled 'Sanctuary Denied: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2025/26'. The findings underscore what the rights body describes as the state's persistent failure to guarantee equal citizenship to vulnerable communities.

Forced Marriages and Abductions of Minority Girls

According to the HRCP report, girls from Christian and Hindu communities continued to be abducted and coerced into marriage by older Muslim men, with the crisis compounded by widespread poverty and inadequate police responses. The report cites the case of an underage Christian girl alongside multiple accounts involving Hindu girls.

The commission quoted Faqir Shiva Kachhi, a Hindu minority rights activist from Sindh province, who has spent nearly a decade fighting for the rights of underage Hindu girls — particularly those from lower-caste communities — against forced conversions. Citing data provided by Kachhi, the HRCP noted that 36 underage Hindu girls were abducted in 2025, while 32 such cases were reported in just the first seven months of 2026.

'And these are the ones we know of. There might have been countless others,' the HRCP quoted Kachhi as saying. He further highlighted police inaction, stating: 'We have to stage sit-ins in front of the police station and superintendent's office just to get an FIR registered.'

The report also flagged that a Hindu human rights activist posted on a social platform about alleged threats from a right-wing party for his activism against forced marriages of Hindu girls in Sindh — a signal that those documenting abuses face intimidation.

Blasphemy Laws and the Ahmadiyya Community

The HRCP report highlighted the persistent misuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan, noting that hundreds of accused remain in legal limbo. An alleged organised entrapment network linked to blasphemy charges has yet to be investigated by authorities, according to the report.

'The weaponisation of blasphemy law continued during the reporting period, with recurring patterns of personal vendetta, extortion and misguided religiosity driving the accusations,' the HRCP stated. Notably, even a scholar from the majority religious community was reportedly accused of blasphemy after making comments about the Christian faith — illustrating how the law's reach has expanded beyond minority targets.

The Ahmadiyya community faced particular violence, with the report documenting two extremist attacks in Chenab Nagar and increasingly overt attempts to exclude Ahmadis from public and commercial life.

Structural Discrimination and Marginalisation

Beyond individual incidents, the HRCP identified systemic factors deepening minority marginalisation: discriminatory employment practices, the Islamisation of school curricula, and the near-absence of minority concerns from mainstream Pakistani media. 'Apathy towards minority issues in mainstream media has not only continued but become more pronounced. Social media, which is more susceptible to fake news and propaganda, has become the major news source,' the report warned.

This pattern is not new. Rights groups have consistently flagged Pakistan's structural discrimination against minorities across successive governments, making the HRCP's latest findings part of a long-documented continuum rather than an isolated crisis.

HRCP's Core Warning

The Commission concluded that existing legislation intended to protect religious minorities stands in stark contrast to the ground reality — one defined by the weaponisation of blasphemy laws, forced marriages and conversions, escalating hate speech, and state inaction. The gap between law and enforcement, the HRCP argued, effectively denies minorities the equal citizenship that Pakistan's constitution nominally guarantees.

With 32 abduction cases already recorded in under seven months of 2026, the data suggests the situation is not improving — and pressure from international human rights bodies and diaspora advocacy groups is likely to mount ahead of upcoming UN Human Rights Council reviews.