Blasphemy Accusations And Mob Violence Threaten Christians In Pakistan And Iran (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

TEHRAN/ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) – As Ramadan, deemed a holy month by Muslims, began Wednesday, advocates warned that Christians and other religious minorities in parts of South Asia face potentially deadly consequences from blasphemy accusations amplified by social media and mob violence.

Sardar Mushtaq Gill, founder of Pakistan-based watchdog LEAD Ministries, said allegations of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad or desecrating the Quran are frequently weaponized against Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

“Rumors and digitally manipulated content can spread within minutes, placing lives at immediate risk before any formal investigation begins,” Gill told Worthy News.

Gill highlighted the cases of two Christian nurses — Mariam Lal and Newosh Arooj — who were accused of blasphemy in the industrial city of Faisalabad, in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province.

The two women were arrested and spent months in detention while legal proceedings unfolded, according to LEAD Ministries investigators. They were later acquitted by a local court but continue to fear retaliation and lasting social and professional repercussions, Gill said.

DEADLY ATTACKS AND BLASPHEMY LAW

Gill cited additional cases illustrating what he described as a broader pattern of violence.

In Sunamganj district, a rural area in northeastern Bangladesh, a Hindu man was beaten and burned alive in 2025 following a blasphemy allegation activists said was false.

In the industrial city of Sialkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara was lynched in December 2021 after co-workers accused him of desecrating religious posters during a workplace dispute.

Christians have also been targeted elsewhere in Punjab. In Kot Radha Kishan, a town south of Lahore, a Christian couple was burned alive in 2014 after being accused of blasphemy, Worthy News established. In Jaranwala, a town near Faisalabad, mobs attacked churches and homes in August 2023, displacing hundreds after false blasphemy accusations, Christians said at the time.

Pakistan’s blasphemy law — notably Section 295-C of the Penal Code — prescribes the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. No one is known to have been executed by the state solely under the statute, though courts have issued death sentences and defendants can remain on death row for years while appeals proceed.

HIGH-PROFILE CASES AND MINORITY RISK

More recently, Shagufta Kiran, a Pakistani Christian woman accused of sharing allegedly blasphemous content online, was sentenced to death by a court in Islamabad in 2024 and remains detained pending appeal.

An earlier internationally known case involved Asia Bibi, a Christian farm worker from a village in Punjab province who was sentenced to death in 2010 before Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted her in 2018 due to insufficient evidence.

While state executions have not occurred under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, those accused often face violence outside the courtroom, Gill and other human rights advocates say.

Pakistan is home to an estimated 4 million Christians, about 1.6–2 percent of the population. The country ranks 7th on the 2025 Open Doors World Watch List, which tracks persecution of Christians worldwide.

Gill also called for improved forensic verification of digital evidence and specialized cybercrime training to ensure alleged blasphemy cases are thoroughly investigated before charges are filed.

DIGITAL EVIDENCE AND FREE SPEECH CONCERNS

He said authorities must independently verify screenshots, social media posts and digital materials to prevent fabricated or manipulated content from triggering arrests or mob violence.

While Gill urged stronger oversight of inflammatory online material, other advocates expressed concern that what they describe as growing Islamization globally could restrict freedom of expression, including in parts of Europe.

They argue governments must balance preventing incitement with protecting lawful speech and due process.

Pakistan’s tensions over blasphemy are also felt in neighboring Iran, where blasphemy and “insulting religion” are prosecuted under broad Islamic legal provisions embedded in the national penal code.

Courts in Iran have used these provisions to pursue cases involving alleged insults to Islam, apostasy or online expressions deemed offensive to religious authorities.

IRAN: EXECUTIONS AND PROTEST CRACKDOWNS

In May 2023, two men — Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare — were executed in Arak Prison, a city in central Iran, after being convicted of running online groups deemed insulting to Islam and promoting atheism.

Iran also faced sustained unrest following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who died in September 2022 after being detained by morality police for allegedly violating mandatory hijab rules. Her death triggered nationwide demonstrations against Iran’s Islamic leadership.

Human rights organizations reported that hundreds were killed in subsequent crackdowns, though figures remain disputed.

This year, a network of more than 80 medical professionals across 12 of Iran’s 31 provinces, citing hospital data and accounts from morgues and graveyards, has suggested the death toll from a later government-backed crackdown on protests could exceed 30,000.

Those claims have not been independently verified, and Iranian authorities have published significantly lower figures, describing many victims in the January 2026 violence as “terrorists.”

CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTION

The reported crackdown has placed additional pressure on Iran’s estimated 500,000 to 800,000 Christians, including converts and members of historic Armenian and Assyrian churches.

The Islamic Republic ranks 9th on the 2025 Open Doors World Watch List.

Gill urged governments, international organizations and religious leaders to reject vigilantism and strengthen protections for vulnerable communities.

LEAD Ministries, led by Pastor Imran Amanat, documents cases involving alleged blasphemy, forced conversions, forced marriages and bonded labor, and advocates legal reform and stronger safeguards for minority communities in Pakistan.

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