In Pakistan, the ramifications of a WhatsApp message, even one alleged, can prove fatal. Recently, a court in Gujrat district, Punjab, handed down a death sentence to a 22-year-old student for purportedly sharing blasphemous images and videos. In the same case, a 17-year-old student received a life imprisonment sentence, as Pakistani law prohibits the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
Blasphemy carries the penalty of death in Pakistan, a law that has historically been misused to settle personal scores or target minority religious groups. However, the recent trend of employing blasphemy statutes to prosecute individuals for online comments marks a concerning escalation.
The Punjab case is not an isolated incident of such severity arising from social media posts.
Aneeqa Atiq, 26, currently awaits execution after being sentenced to death in January 2022 by a court in Rawalpindi district for allegedly sharing blasphemous content via WhatsApp. Similarly, Junaid Hafeez, a university professor, has languished in prison for over a decade, facing a potential death sentence for purportedly sharing blasphemous material on Facebook. His defense attorney, Rashid Rehman, was murdered in May 2014, seemingly in retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of individuals charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
In Pakistan, merely being accused of blasphemy poses a grave risk of physical harm. Since 1990, reports indicate that at least 65 people have been killed in Pakistan over allegations of blasphemy. Furthermore, on August 16, 2023, hundreds of individuals attacked a Christian enclave in Faisalabad district, Punjab province, following accusations of blasphemy against two community members.
Expanding the application of blasphemy laws to target individuals based on their online speech fosters a climate of vigilantism.
The Pakistani government ought to consider amending and ultimately repealing its blasphemy laws, rather than extending their reach into the digital realm.