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| blasphemy |
‘Blasphemy’: A new way to target youth through honey traps?
However, this is not the first time that allegations of alleged fraud have come before Pakistani authorities.
The families of at least 101 such people imprisoned in blasphemy cases have filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court
Friendship with women, social media and WhatsApp groups
Note: The purpose of this comprehensive report on the blasphemy allegations that have emerged in Pakistan in recent days is not to hurt the sentiments of religion or any religious figure, but to bring to light the details of the case.
Usman (not his real name), who works for a private company in Dubai, returned to Pakistan in April 2024.
Usman is currently being held in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, in Pakistan's Punjab province. His parents claim that their son was framed in a false blasphemy case by a woman they met on social media.
The families of at least 101 such individuals who were imprisoned in blasphemy cases have filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking an investigation against a group they say was involved in fabricating "false cases". On July 15, the Islamabad High Court ordered the federal government to form a fact-finding commission within 30 days to investigate the blasphemy cases. While delivering the verdict in the case, Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan of the Islamabad High Court said that the commission would complete its investigation into the blasphemy cases within four months and submit its final report.
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However, this is not the first time that allegations of alleged fraud have come before Pakistani authorities.
In April 2024, the Punjab Police Special Branch alleged in a 'special report' that 'a group of individuals are active in Rawalpindi and Islamabad who are falsely accusing young people of blasphemy and sending cases against them to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). This report was presented during the hearing in the Islamabad High Court.
The report also claims that in some cases there is evidence that 'money was demanded' in exchange for not filing blasphemy cases.
A lawyer representing the families of prisoners in blasphemy cases in the Islamabad High Court says the similarities in the cases against his clients also make them suspicious.
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| Usman's mother says her son was first contacted by a woman on Facebook |
Contact on Facebook
Usman's mother says her son was first contacted by a woman on Facebook. The identity of Usman's mother is not being released at her request.
She said: "He (Usman) told me that he had started chatting (with the woman) on Facebook Messenger and a few days later they started talking on WhatsApp as well." After that, he (Usman) was added to a WhatsApp group by the same woman.’
‘Initially, good posts kept coming to this WhatsApp group, but later this woman sent some things to this group, due to which my son was removed from the WhatsApp group.’
Usman’s mother says: ‘My son said: ‘After what you sent to the group, it became difficult for me to keep in touch with you.’’ The girl said, "I was busy in the office and didn't send anything of this nature to the group, please send me these posts."
Usman sent those controversial posts to the girl.
Usman's mother says, "It's my son's fault... Why did you send him these posts if you knew they were offensive?"
He further said that the woman denied having sent any such post and that his son convinced him that she had in fact not sent any such post to the WhatsApp group of which they were both members.
According to him, the woman later invited his son to meet her at a restaurant. But when Usman arrived, there was no woman present, but instead it was the FIA and several others who had arrested Usman in a blasphemy case under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
The BBC was unable to independently verify the allegations made by Usman's mother, but similar allegations have been seen by others.
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| Adyala jail |
Friendship with women, social media and WhatsApp groups
The stories of Usama and Saleem (fictitious names) are also similar to that of Usman and they were also imprisoned in Adiala Jail in blasphemy cases.
He says he befriended several women on social media and was also added to a WhatsApp group.
According to his family, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, These women shared blasphemous content in these groups, and when their sons asked about it, they denied sharing such content and asked to forward the posts to them.
According to these three families, their sons did the same and were later arrested on blasphemy charges.
Similarities in the cases
Not only are there similarities in the stories of these individuals, but there are also similarities in the cases filed against them.
After reading the text of several FIRs registered on blasphemy charges in recent years, several facts come to light: The number of such cases has increased and some individuals have registered more than one case.
All these cases were registered based on posts on social media or WhatsApp and the blasphemous content seems to be the same in most of these cases.
The petition regarding the blasphemy cases is being heard in the Supreme Court at a time when the number of such cases has seen an increase in Pakistan.
Usman Warraich, a lawyer representing the families of those imprisoned on blasphemy charges, told BBC Urdu that "we are not questioning the validity or invalidity of the law. These families say the law has been misused and false charges have been filed against their children."
Blasphemy cases and charges against a group
In April 2024, the Punjab Police Special Branch sent a 'special report' to the provincial chief secretary, police and FIA.
The report stated that a group of people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad had trapped young people in blasphemy cases and sent these cases to the FIA.
The report stated that the head of this group is a person named Shiraz Ahmed Farooqui, while a lawyer named Rao Abdul Rahim is also part of the group.
The Punjab Police Special Branch said in this report: "They have formed an organization called the Blasphemy Law Commission and are working under it."
Rao Abdul Rahim is actually the head of the Blasphemy Law Commission and fights blasphemy cases for the plaintiffs. The group consists of several citizens and some lawyers.
During an interview with the BBC, Rao Abdul Rahim and Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi denied the allegations in the Special Branch Report.
During the interview with the BBC, Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi was also present with Rao Abdul Rahim and Rao Abdul Rahim answered questions on his behalf.
Shiraz Ahmed Farqi is a plaintiff in six blasphemy cases in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Rao Abdul Rahim, defending him, said: "If a person receives blasphemous material once, he will file a blasphemy case and if he receives the same material four times, he will file four blasphemy cases."
The families of three people jailed in blasphemy cases also accused Rao Abdul Rahim and Shiraz Ahmed Farooqui of involving their children in blasphemy cases, while speaking to the BBC.
The Special Branch report also alleges that people are being involved in blasphemy cases and that money is being demanded from them. Rao Abdul Rahim and Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi strongly deny these allegations.
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| During an interview , Rao Abdul Rahim and Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi denied the allegations in the Special Branch report |
'They demanded 5 million'
Osama was arrested on September 11, 2024, in a city in Punjab province, and his family says he was involved in a blasphemy case by a woman.
Osama's mother says the woman who contacted her son introduced herself as Ayat Kayani.
Osama, 22, received a nursing degree from a hospital in Punjab, but his education was also incomplete after his arrest.
Osama's brother says his brother was also added to a WhatsApp group by this girl and then offensive things were shared there.
"Then the girl said, 'I didn't share these offensive things, tell me what you're talking about.'
Osama's brother says his brother was later arrested for the same WhatsApp post. He claimed that his lawyer also demanded Rs 5 million from him.
Osama's brother did not directly accuse Rao Abdul Rahim or Shiraz Ahmed Farooqui of demanding money and also refused to reveal the identity of the person who demanded money because he felt it could put his brother at risk in prison.
NCHR released a report last year that found the number of people imprisoned in the country on blasphemy charges had risen from 11 in 2020 to 767 by 2024 in the past three and a half years.
Osama's mother was tearful during the interview and said her son had also been severely tortured.
He alleged that “the plaintiff is also part of this (WhatsApp) group. If defamatory content is being shared there, what is the plaintiff doing there?”
The plaintiff’s claim that he is a member of the WhatsApp group could not be independently verified.
When asked if he is a member of any WhatsApp group where controversial content is being shared, Rao Abdul Rahim said: “I am a plaintiff against these groups.”
Instead of answering the question with a yes or no, he said: “When I say religion is insulted there, it means it was injected into me there.”
Saleem’s (pseudonym) claim is similar to that of Osama and Usman, who were arrested on August 1, 2024. According to his brother, the girl who contacted Saleem gave her name as Sobia Naz.
He further said that his brother contacted the girl on Facebook and later Saleem also spoke to her on video conference.
The BBC was shown WhatsApp messages from the families of these individuals demanding money, footage of video conferences in which these girls can be seen with those who have been arrested on blasphemy charges.
According to the families of these individuals, they plan to present further evidence before a commission of inquiry.
Who are the plaintiffs in the blasphemy cases?
According to documents filed in court by lawyer Usman Warraich and his team, there are many plaintiffs who have filed more than one lawsuit.
According to Usman Warraich, Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi is a plaintiff in six cases in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, while there are other individuals who are plaintiffs in more than one case.
The documents filed in court also contain the names of more than one person who has filed more than one blasphemy lawsuit.
According to an NHRC investigative report, 11 to 12 people imprisoned on blasphemy charges in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail are being held in a six-by-twelve-meter cell. They are also being kept away from other prisoners for their safety.
The report says that all the people imprisoned on blasphemy charges in the city of Lahore, Punjab, are between the ages of 21 and 33.
The mother of Osama, who is being held in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, says: "Even now, when I go to meet my son, he asks me: 'What is my mistake?' I say: 'Son, what should I tell you now?'
What is the Blasphemy Law Commission's stance on the charges?
The head of the Blasphemy Law Commission denies involvement in the blasphemy cases.
He says: "If someone has sent us money from anywhere in the world, show us the evidence, I am ready to be punished without any legal action."
However, he said he works with lawyers in Lahore who fight blasphemy cases and is also associated with the 'Tahafz Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum'.
“We are working with them in Lahore so that no lawyer from Islamabad comes to Lahore and no lawyer from Lahore comes to Islamabad.”
When asked about the Special Branch report, Rao Abdul Rahim claimed that Punjab police officers appeared in the courts and told them that it was a “source information report” sent to the relevant agency.
“One of their officers told the Lahore High Court that it was just information, there was no report.”
Rao Abdul Rahim claims that the FIA investigated the matter and wrote in their report that they found no evidence for these allegations.
The BBC contacted the then FIA Director General, Jan Muhammad Butt, directly on February 11 and he asked us to send him questions. He was contacted again on 12 and 14 February, but he did not respond to the BBC.
On the other hand, a senior Punjab police officer told the BBC on condition of anonymity: "The Special Branch reports everything on the basis of evidence and the FIA has to verify it by analysing the devices (mobile phones and computers)."
As mentioned here, according to local reports and media, more than 80 people have been extrajudicially executed in Pakistan on blasphemy charges in the past thirty years.
According to local media, more than two dozen people, including women, have been sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges in the past few years.
Families of prisoners on blasphemy charges say the names of the accused and their cities are also being shared in social media posts by the Blasphemy Legal Commission, putting the lives of other family members at risk.
When asked about such posts on social media, Rao Abdul Rahim defended his group, saying: “Tell me how I can create protection among my people against such crimes and how I can make them aware?”
He says that despite such posts from his group, no family has been harmed so far.
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