Colombo, April 23 (IANS) The Christian community in Pakistan continues to face severe discrimination, untouchability and oppression due to persistent misuse of blasphemy laws, societal intolerance and recurrent mob violence while state response has been inadequate, with little accountability for perpetrators, a report has stated.

As minorities, Christians face many challenges in Pakistan, from experiencing discrimination every day to the threat of deadly violence. On April 11, a 25-year-old Christian woman of Punjab province was allegedly raped by a local contractor and his accomplice in her village, Sanchita Bhattacharya, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Conflict Management, wrote in Sri Lanka Guardian.

On March 26, police tried to portray the death of a Christian man, Iftikhar Masih, a suicide, claiming that they found his body hanging by a scarf from a ceiling fan in Punjab's Lahore. On March 4, a 21-year-old Christian farmworker, Marcus Masih, was killed by his Muslim employers in Punjab's Sargodha.

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan are used to intimidate Christians and other religious minorities. Blasphemy laws in Pakistan are often misused for professional rivalry, personal or religious disputes, hostility towards religious minorities and economic gains like land and property grabs, the report in Sri Lanka Guardian stated.

In Pakistan, a person charged with blasphemy is immediately placed in detention after complainant's simple testimony. As reported in May, 2025, at least 307 Christians were accused of blasphemy in Pakistan from 1987-2024. Furthermore, 26 Christians were killed extra-judicially from 1994-2024 following blasphemy allegations.

Christian girls in Pakistan are targetted for forced marriages, which often follow abduction and forced religious conversions. Earlier this month, Christians expressed outrage after a court ruling upheld the marriage of a 13-year-old Christian girl, Maria Shahbaz, to a 30-year-old Muslim man. However, Maria Shehbaz's father had filed a petition in court stating that his daughter was kidnapped in July 2025 and forcibly converted to Islam. In November, the Centre for Social Justice claimed that at least 137 Christian girls were forcibly converted and married in Pakistan between January 2021 and December 2024 and girls age usually ranged between 12-15 years.

"The Christians have been experiencing severe social discrimination and untouchability in Pakistani society, as they are called Isai, Chuhra and Chamaar (derogatory caste labels). Practices of ‘purity and pollution' are harshly imposed on the Christians, with respect to food and water; education; employment, etc. The oppression of Christians in Pakistan remains entrenched, sustained by the persistent misuse of blasphemy laws, rooted societal intolerance, and recurrent mob violence. State responses have largely been reactive and insufficient, with little accountability for offenders," wrote Bhattacharya.

Based on conditions in 2025, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in its annual report in March this year recommended the US Department of State to redesignate Pakistan and 12 other nations as 'Countries of Particular Concern' under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). Furthermore, USCIRF urged the US Department of State to impose sanctions against Pakistani officials and agencies responsible for severe violations of freedom of religion or belief, including asset freezes and visa restrictions.

--IANS

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