Islamabad, Jan 16 (NationPress) Recent reports indicate that syndicates exploiting blasphemy laws for extortion are still active in Pakistan. The National Commission for Human Rights highlighted that over 450 individuals, primarily men, have faced entrapment over the years, including 10 Christians, with at least five dying in custody.

In July, the Islamabad High Court directed the federal government to establish a commission to investigate the misuse of these laws, following a petition from 101 affected families. However, an appellate bench later suspended this investigation, according to a report from Union of Catholic Asian (UCA) News, a prominent independent Catholic media outlet in Asia.

In numerous instances, officials from the Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency have been implicated in fabricating charges.

The report detailed several case studies, including that of Amir Shehzad, a 33-year-old rickshaw driver who vanished from his home in Lahore after leaving to retrieve a parcel. Four days later, the FIA informed his family that he had been apprehended for allegedly sharing blasphemous content on Facebook.

“The distressed mother visits Shehzad every Tuesday. He revealed that many inmates face similar charges after being 'entrapped', just like him. His family and human rights organizations assert he is among numerous victims of a syndicate known as the 'blasphemy gang,' which ensnares primarily young men in blasphemy accusations for selfish motives,” UCA News reported.

In early 2024, a report from the Punjab Police Special Branch confirmed the existence of such a syndicate, preying on individuals for refusing extortion.

Recent reports have shed light on how Pakistan has escalated its campaign against minorities by leveraging its highly controversial blasphemy laws.

Last month, a court sentenced a member of the Ahmadi community to life imprisonment for using the title “Hafiz”, which denotes someone who memorizes the Quran, and for distributing “Tafsir-e-Saghir”, a respected collection of Quranic translations and commentaries within his community.

“On 24 December 2025, an Additional Sessions Court in Lalian, Punjab, delivered a verdict that should shame any judicial system claiming to uphold justice. Mubarak Ahmad Saani, an Ahmadi Muslim, was sentenced to life imprisonment under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. His so-called crime was not desecrating the Quran, but simply calling himself a 'Hafiz' and distributing a book of Quranic translation cherished by his community,” detailed a report in the online magazine ‘Bitter Winter’.

“The court’s ruling criminalizes reverence, punishes piety, and weaponizes theology to persecute a man whose only fault was to practice his faith sincerely and devoutly—a faith that Pakistan's legal framework has systematically labeled illegal,” it added.

The report went on to explain that in a ruling defying “legal logic and theological humility,” the court conducted a doctrinal analysis of Ahmadi “heresies,” labeling the book as a “defiled, desecrated translation of the Holy Quran,” invoking a provision of Pakistan’s blasphemy law that mandates life imprisonment for those who burn, tear, or otherwise desecrate the Quran.

“Yet Saani did none of these things. He did not destroy the Quran; he circulated it. He revered it. He provided a translation and commentary that his community has treasured for decades. This illustrates the perverse nature of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. They penalize interpretations and police theology. When directed at Ahmadis, they serve as an instrument of religious apartheid—a framework in which the Sunni majority dictates not just who may identify as Muslim, but also who may read, translate, and honor the Quran,” it concluded.