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Quran desecration is the treatment of the Quran in a way that might be considered insulting.
Christianity is the third-largest religion in Pakistan, with results from the 2023 Census recording over three million Christians, or 1.37% of the total population in Pakistan. The province of Punjab has the largest population of Christians in the country. The majority of Pakistan's Christians are members of the Catholic Church or the Church of Pakistan, with the remainder belonging to other Protestant groups.
The situation of human rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law.
The Pakistan Penal Code outlaws blasphemy against any recognized religion, with punishments ranging from a fine to the death penalty. According to various human rights organizations, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have been used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal rivalries, frequently against other Muslims, rather than to safeguard religious sensibilities.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".
The Ahmadiyya branch of Islam has been subjected to various forms of religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889. The Ahmadiyya Muslim movement emerged within the Sunni tradition of Islam and its adherents believe in all of the five pillars and all of the articles of faith required of Muslims. Ahmadis are considered non-Muslims by many mainstream Muslims since they consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement, to be the promised Mahdi and Messiah awaited by the Muslims.
The 2009 Gojra riots were a series of attacks targeting Christians in Gojra town in Punjab province of Pakistan. These resulted in the deaths of eight Christians including a child.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria operates two court systems. Both systems can punish blasphemy. The Constitution provides a customary (irreligious) system and a system that incorporates Sharia. The customary system prohibits blasphemy by section 204 of Nigeria's Criminal Code.
Rana Sanaullah Khan is a Pakistani lawyer and politician who is currently serving as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs since April 2024. Previously, he served as the 39th Interior Minister of Pakistan in first Shehbaz Sharif's Government. He is second most popular official in Shehbaz Sharif Government. He's been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023. He is a senior member of PML-N and the President of PML-N in Punjab province since 4 May 2019. Before getting elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan, Sanaullah had been elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab five times and had served in high-ranking ministries of the province.
Mughees and Muneeb Butt were two Pakistani brothers who were lynched by mob on August 15, 2010 in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan. The brothers were killed, hanged, and mutilated in Sialkot with the support of local police and Rescue 1122.
Persecution of Christians in Pakistan has been recorded since the country's independence in 1947. The persecution has taken many forms, including violence, discrimination, and blasphemy laws.
Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue for the human rights situation in modern-day Pakistan. Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Shias, and Qadiyanis among other religious minorities often face discrimination and at times are even subjected to violence. In some cases Christian churches and the worshippers themselves have been attacked. Although, there is very little record of this. Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".
Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, better known as Mumtaz Qadri, was a Pakistani Elite Police commando who is known for murdering Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando of the Elite Police and, at the time of the assassination, a member of the squad of personal bodyguards assigned to protect Taseer. A follower of the Barelvi version of Sunni Islam, he assassinated Taseer on 4 January 2011. He claimed to have killed the Governor because Taseer spoke in defense of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death. Qadri was convicted by the Islamabad High Court, sentenced to death and hanged in February 2016.
Mashal Khan was a student at the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan who was killed by an angry mob in the premises of the university on 13 April 2017, over allegations of posting blasphemous content online. Following investigations, the Inspector General Police later stated "We did not find any concrete evidence under which [a blasphemy] investigation or legal action can be launched against Mashal, Abdullah or Zubair". Mashal's friend Abdullah stated to the police in writing that both Mashal and Abdullah were devout Muslims, but were actively denouncing mismanagement by the university and had previously led protests against it.
Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana was a 49-year-old Sri Lankan man who was lynched by a mob on 3 December 2021 in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan over allegations of blasphemy. Supporters of the Sunni party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) were believed to be part of the killing of Kumara, while the TLP officially distanced itself from the incident. The Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore later gave the death sentence to six who were involved in the lynching while nine others received life sentences. An additional 72 people were also sentenced to two years in prison.
On 28 November 2021, religiously motivated arsonists destroyed a police station in Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
The events listed below are both anticipated and scheduled for the year 2023 in Pakistan.
On 11 February 2023, blasphemy suspect Waris was lynched in Nankana Sahib District, Pakistan.
In the Jaranwala church arsons, 26 Christian churches in Jaranwala, Punjab, Pakistan were burnt down by acts of arson, and homes belonging to Christian families were looted and destroyed by rioters on August 16, 2023; Bible desecration was committed as well. The attacks were carried out by mobs of Muslims who were enraged by allegations that a Christian man had desecrated the Quran. No deaths were reported. More than a hundred rioters, that included members of the far-right group Tehreek-e-Labbaik, have since been arrested.
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