Source: www.morningstarnews.org
Date: March 6, 2026
Blasphemy laws, forced conversions cited.
By Christian Daily International-Morning Star News
Families of victims of false blasphemy cases protest outside National Press Club in Islamabad, Pakistan on Jan. 10, 2025. (CDI-MSN screenshot of video)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News) – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) this week urged the U.S. government to redesignate Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) over systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.
The independent U.S. federal watchdog in its 2026 Annual Report asserted that religious freedom in Pakistan continued to deteriorate in 2025, citing the persistent use of blasphemy laws, mob violence against religious minorities and forced conversions of girls from minority communities, particularly Christian and Hindu. The report was released on Wednesday (March 4).
The body recommended that the U.S. State Department not only redesignate Pakistan as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) but also lift an existing waiver that exempts Pakistan from penalties available with the designation. In addition, USCIRF called for targeted sanctions against Pakistani officials and agencies responsible for severe violations of freedom of religion or belief, including asset freezes and visa restrictions.
“China arrests underground church members, mob violence is on the rise in India and Pakistan leading to attacks on religious minorities and the destruction of their homes, Burma’s military bombs houses of worship, and Tajikistan denies parents the right to teach their children about faith,” said Vicky Hartzler, chair of the USCIRF. “As USCIRF’s Annual Report shows, far too many people in key nations are denied religious freedom through unjust laws, discrimination, harassment, violence, and even crimes against humanity.”
The commission’s annual report, mandated by IRFA, documents religious freedom conditions worldwide and provides policy recommendations to the U.S. president, secretary of state and Congress.
USCIRF Vice Chair Asif Mahmood said the global trend of government repression and violence by non-state actors makes reporting on religious freedom increasingly urgent.
“Religious freedom is a universal human right for all,” Mahmood said. “Government repression and non-state actor violence are on the rise in many places around the world, often devastating targeted religious communities and taking innocent lives.”
In the State Department’s most recent CPC designations on Dec. 29, 2023, Pakistan was listed along with Burma, People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Abuse of Blasphemy Laws
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws remained one of the primary drivers of religious persecution in 2025, affecting both Muslims and religious minorities including Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis, according to the report.
Authorities continued to apply the laws’ harsh penalties, including the death sentence, for alleged insults to Islam, it stated.
In January 2025, four individuals were sentenced to death after being convicted of posting “blasphemous” content on social media. That same month, a mentally ill Christian man, Farhan Masih, was charged under blasphemy and terrorism provisions. Although he was later acquitted, the report noted that he was unable to return to his village due to fears for his safety.
Courts also continued to delay long-running blasphemy cases, the report stated, citing the case of Junaid Hafeez, a Muslim university lecturer sentenced to death in 2019 whose appeal hearing was removed from the Lahore High Court case list in March 2025. Hafeez has remained in solitary confinement since his arrest in 2014.
Violence and Forced Conversions
The USCIRF stated that mob attacks and vigilante violence against religious minorities intensified during the year, creating a “climate of fear and intolerance.”
In March 2025, a Muslim worker allegedly attempted to kill his Christian colleague, Waqas Masih, by slitting his throat after accusing him of touching an Islamic textbook with “unclean hands.” Days later, a Hindu man, Nadeem Naath, was shot dead after reportedly refusing to convert to Islam, it noted.
The commission also highlighted continued reports of forced conversions and marriages involving underage girls from minority communities. In February 2025, a 12-year-old Christian girl was reportedly abducted, converted to Islam and married to a 35-year-old Muslim in Sindh Province, the report stated without revealing the victim’s identity.
Another case involved a 15-year-old Hindu girl, Shahneela, who was kidnapped from her home in Matli by armed Muslims before being forcibly converted, according to the report.
Rights groups have long documented such cases, which particularly affect Christian and Hindu girls from impoverished families.
The USCIRF also expressed concern over continued restrictions on the religious practices of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, which Pakistani law declares non-Muslim. Throughout 2025, authorities arrested Ahmadis for offering prayers and allowed mobs to vandalize Ahmadi places of worship, it noted.
In February 2025, members of the now proscribed Islamist religio-political party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), demolished minarets of an Ahmadi mosque in Sialkot without police intervention. The following month, police arrested dozens of Ahmadis, including children, for offering Friday prayers.
In another incident in April, a TLP mob stormed an Ahmadi mosque and beat to death an Ahmadi man, Laeeq Cheema, while attempting to stop worshippers from holding prayers. Police reportedly failed to intervene, the report stated.
In December, Pakistan’s parliament passed the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill, which seeks to establish a body addressing minority issues. The USCIRF report noted, however, that the law minister emphasized that the legislation would not override existing anti-Ahmadiyya laws, raising concerns among rights advocates.
Recommendations
Beyond redesignating Pakistan as a CPC, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. government enter into a binding agreement with Pakistan under IRFA to encourage reforms.
“These steps should include releasing individuals imprisoned for blasphemy, repealing blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya laws, and prosecuting individuals responsible for vigilante violence, forced conversions and other religiously motivated crimes,” the commission urged.
It also called on the U.S. Congress to incorporate religious freedom concerns into its broader oversight of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, including advocating for the release of prisoners detained for their religious beliefs.
USCIRF has repeatedly recommended Pakistan’s CPC designation in previous reports, warning that without structural legal reforms and stronger law enforcement responses, religious minorities in the country remain vulnerable to violence, discrimination and prosecution under controversial laws.
Pakistan, where more than 96 percent of the population is Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution.