Marking the UN International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, human rights advocates highlight Pakistan’s persistent failure to protect its non-Muslim and marginalized communities. From recent Supreme Court acquittals in the decade-old Kot Radha Kishan lynching to unresolved cases of mob violence in Jaranwala, systemic impunity continues to leave victims without judicial recourse. Coupled with the state-facilitated abduction and forced conversion of underage Christian and Hindu girls, activists warn that national commitments to equal citizenship remain empty promises without urgent structural reforms, impartial police investigations, and strict legal protections.
LAHORE, August 22, 2026: As United Nations marks the ‘International Day Commemorating the Victims of Religious Based Violence’, in Pakistan, religious minority communities have a long and bleak journey towards a semblance of justice.
The day comes soon after a written order by the Supreme Court was released which acquitted the remaining three of those accused of brutally lynching a Christian couple in 2014. Despite the fact that 12 years have passed by, not even one of the 106 individuals from the mob of 500 to 600 people, were brought to justice. The decision passed by the Supreme Court was condemned by the Christian community at large, as disappointment and disillusionment by the justice system was apparent.
Another recent reminder was the tragedy that struck the Christian community at Jaranwala, an area in District Faisalabad. Chairman of Voice for Justice, Joseph Janssen, recalls the horrors the residents of Jaranwala faced as they were attacked by a violent mob, who had accused two Christian men of blasphemy. Janssen criticised the slow path to justice.
Janssen called on the federal and provincial state authorities to strengthen protection for religious minorities, ensure accountability for perpetrators of religiously motivated violence, enforce child-protection and child-marriage laws, and uphold religious freedom and equality before the law. This was just one glaring example of the faith based violence that religious minorities faced in Pakistan, on a daily basis, he said, emphasising that mob violence had been a terrible trend over the past few years.
“Three years after the Jaranwala attacks on 16 August 2023, Christian families continue to await justice regarding compensation, and the rebuilding of their lives,” he said. “The Christian settlements were attacked, and the mob vandalized 26 Churches and more than 80 homes. Jaranwala was an attack on an entire Christian community; those who participated in, organised, incited or facilitated the mob violence must be properly investigated and prosecuted,” said Janssen.
He also highlighted the other cases demonstrating the grave consequences of blasphemy allegations. He recalled the case of Shama and Shahzad and said that the couple was lynched after being falsely accused of blasphemy, however sadly, all the accused who were involved in mob violence have been acquitted by the courts, he said.
“Similarly, the elderly man Lazar (alias Nazir) Masih was lynched in Sargodha over a fabricated blasphemy accusation a couple of years ago,” he said. “Shagufta Kiran in September 2024, and Asif Pervaiz in September 2020 were sentenced to death under blasphemy accusations. Ahsan (Shan) was sentenced to death in Sahiwal for allegedly sharing a social media post linked to the Jaranwala attack on Christian settlements. All these cases demonstrate how blasphemy allegations can expose religious minorities to mob violence, prosecution and prolonged imprisonment, and reflect a climate of fear, procedural injustice, and erosion of due process. Pakistan must guarantee fair trials, judicial independence and protection for lawyers and defendants,” he said.
Forced conversions
While faith based violence may invoke images of physical violence, in fact one of the biggest aspects is also sexual assault, a glaring example of which is the issue of forced conversions of Christian and Hindu girls – most of them underage.
Joseph Janssen discusses the cases of minority girls who were abducted and subsequently were forcibly converted and coercively married.
Some of these are Amber Nadeem (13) was abducted from Faisalabad on 12 June 2026, Sataish Mariam (14) from Chichawatni in January 2026, and Mariam Asif (12) from Vehari in April 2026. One of the biggest cases that came to prominence recently is that of Maria Shahbaz a 13 year old girl who was abducted by a man in his 30s, who claimed to be a friend of the family, and who later presented a video of the girl saying she had converted to Islam.
“Interestingly, Amber told a magistrate that members of the accused’s family had pressured and coached her to claim that she was an adult,” he said. “Sadly, in several cases, courts have granted custody of girls to abductors despite the girls’ minority and contested circumstances surrounding their conversion and marriage. These cases raise serious concerns regarding the authenticity of documents presented before courts, the investigation of coercion, and the assessment of free and informed consent.
Commenting on mob violence and police investigations, Akmal Bhatti, the Chairman of Minorities Alliance Pakistan said that there were “hundreds of videos in which the faces of the perpetrators are easily identifiable. However, the police have repeatedly failed to positively identify the culprits. Nor did they make any effort to substantiate the evidence against them.”
“The time for symbolic gestures is over,” said Akmal Bhatti. “What is needed now is structural reforms that guarantee equality before the law and equal opportunity for all citizens. Pakistan cannot claim to be a pluralistic democracy while its constitution fails to stop the forced conversion of children.”
Recently Pakistan marked its Independence Day and National Minorities’ Day to recall founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s commitment to equal citizenship and religious freedom.
Janssen and other activists urged the Pakistani authorities to ensure that constitutional guarantees and founding principles of equality and freedom of religion are translated into effective protection for all citizens and accountability for the perpetrators of human rights violations. He also called on the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) to maintain sustained attention to religious freedom and minority rights in Pakistan and to ensure that human-rights commitments, including those relevant to the EU’s GSP+ framework, are meaningfully implemented.
Joseph Janssen said that Pakistan’s religious minorities cannot be left to face persecution alone. They need effective protection from the state, impartial enforcement of the law and accountability for perpetrators. Minority children must receive the same protection as every other child.
“On this International Day, remembering victims must be accompanied by concrete action to prevent further violence and secure justice,” he said.
Source – voicepk.net
