In Pakistan, the shadow of blasphemy laws looms larger than ever, powered by dubious digital artifacts. Human rights monitors warn of a burgeoning ‘blasphemy industry’ exploiting altered images, bogus forwards, and perjured accounts to doom lives.
A pivotal moment came in December when Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench overturned convictions against six, originally handed life or death for alleged online sacrilege. Lacking forensic ties, the cases collapsed, prompting judicial alarm over engineered evidence in fatal prosecutions.
The poor and faith minorities bear the brunt, squeezed by fixers demanding bribes for mercy. The draconian Section 295-C guarantees death for Prophet insults, breeding a culture of instant vigilante justice. Since 1994, 104 have fallen to mob fury or summary executions post-accusation.
TLP-linked networks propel digital witch-hunts, abetted by hasty FIA actions sans lab checks. Take Shagufta Kiran: a 2021 WhatsApp mishap led to her death sentence in 2024, leaving four kids orphaned while she appeals from isolation.
Beyond individual horrors, this epidemic unmasks state frailties, transforming sacred laws into instruments of fear and fleecing. Hindus, Christians, and others must no longer live in dread—reform is imperative to dismantle this pernicious cycle.