Press Brief – Justice by the Knife? How Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws Enable Mob Violence Against Ahmadi Muslims
Government Notices and Judicial Complicity Set the Stage for Targeted Hate & Violence
The international community, including the European Union, USA, and UK, must act now.
The International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) is issuing an urgent appeal regarding the Pakistani government’s role in promoting extremist narratives and its complicity in the persecution against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
- Government Notices: Institutionalizing Hate
- Blasphemy Awareness Campaign (March 7, 2025)
The Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a directive mandating a nationwide awareness campaign against so-called “blasphemous content,” instructing Friday sermons to reinforce this message and observe March 15, 2025, as “Youm Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat” (Day for the Protection of the Honor of Prophethood).
This directive reinforces extremist narratives, legitimizes blasphemy accusations, and sets the groundwork for increased persecution of Ahmadi Muslims and other religious minorities.
- School Indoctrination – “Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Day” (March 10, 2025)
The Ministry of Education ordered private schools to hold lectures and events reinforcing blasphemy laws. This indoctrinates children to view Ahmadi Muslims as blasphemers, justifying violence against them. See Video1.
1Link to a video on social media: https://x.com/faith_defence/status/1901357537028411485?s=46&t=qJrK62IRsj8eXEilMTXPBA
Impact
- The observance of “Youm Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat” emboldens extremist groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to incite violence against Ahmadi Muslims, leading to attacks on their mosques, homes, and businesses under the guise of defending religious honor.
- Ahmadi Muslims are disproportionately accused of blasphemy, resulting in arbitrary arrests, false FIRs, and state-backed legal persecution.
- By indoctrinating youth with extremist ideologies, the government normalizes vigilante justice, fueling long-term hostility and mob violence against Ahmadi Muslims.
- Lahore High Court Bar Association Invites Extremist Leader Saad Rizvi
On March 11, 2025, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) invited Hafiz Saad Rizvi, head of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), an extremist group responsible for recent attacks on Ahmadi Muslim places of worship.
Saad Rizvi’s Incitement to Violence
During his speech, Rizvi stated:
“In Pakistan, the law of 295-C exists. To implement this law, all of you—our lawyer brothers and all the stakeholders and secretaries of your union—are always present. I just have one request: you should make sure to implement this law fully inside the courts and outside. If that law doesn’t work, then we are sitting outside carrying the knife of Alimuddin. This is my first and last request.”
This video2 shows a clear call for vigilante killings, referencing the murder of accused blasphemers if courts do not issue death sentences.
2Link to video on social media: https://x.com/faith_defence/status/1901428043584839727?s=46&t=qJrK62IRsj8eXEilMTXPBA
Implications
- Threatens judges to enforce death penalties under Section 295-C.
- Encourages mob violence against Ahmadi Muslims and other religious minorities.
- Further embeds extremism within Pakistan’s legal system.
- State & Judicial Complicity in Persecution
- The Pakistani government is actively enabling religious extremism through official policies.
- Legal institutions, such as the LHCBA, are endorsing hate speech instead of upholding justice.
- Ahmadi Muslims are facing increasing violence, arrests, and destruction of places of worship due to state-backed incitement.
- An Unfolding Crisis Requires Urgent Intervention
No one can deny or ignore an intensifying pattern of religious persecution and violence that threatens the freedom and safety of hundreds of thousands of peaceful Pakistani citizens. Instead of protecting its religious minorities, the Pakistani government is actively fueling hate through official notices, legal platforms, and school indoctrination.
By legitimizing blasphemy accusations through nationwide awareness campaigns, enforcing extremist narratives in schools, and providing a judicial platform to extremist leaders, the state is sanctioning targeted violence against Ahmadi Muslims. These state-backed measures directly correlate with:
- Increasing attacks on Ahmadi mosques
- The imprisonment of innocent worshippers
- Growing calls for vigilante justice
Pakistan is egregiously violating international religious freedom standards. The IHRC calls upon the European Union, United States, and UK—who have affirmed their commitment to religious freedom—to urgently engage with Pakistani authorities at this critical juncture. State-sanctioned religious persecution is escalating to unprecedented levels.
Failure to act now will embolden extremists and enable further violence against religious minorities, turning Pakistan’s judiciary and law enforcement into tools of persecution rather than protection.
