Islamabad, Aug 22 A leading minority rights group has raised serious concerns over the escalating violence and systemic persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan, warning that Christians, Hindus, Ahmadiyyas, Sikhs, and others continue to face increasing marginalisation, targeted attacks, and social exclusion under the country’s prevailing religious intolerance.
Citing a latest report by the Washington-based Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM) said findings revealed that the state of religious freedom in Pakistan is “increasingly dire.” The report noted that despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, minorities in Pakistan live under constant threat, with little hope of justice.
The VOPM asserted that central to this persecution is Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law, which has been widely misused to intimidate, settle personal disputes, or extort money. It added that accusations alone—whether true or fabricated—are often enough to spark mob violence against religious minorities in the country.
“Hindus, Pakistan’s largest minority, continue to face violence and forced conversions. In 2019, a blasphemy accusation against Hindu teacher Notan Lal in Sindh triggered riots: Hindu shops were looted, a school ransacked, and a temple attacked. Though Lal was acquitted in 2024, his case is a reminder of how quickly allegations can ignite communal violence. In 2020, a historic temple in Karak was torched by a mob protesting its expansion, despite Supreme Court orders for protection,” read a statement issued by the rights body.
According to VOPM, women and girls from minority communities often face persecution in the form of abduction and forced conversion, with the CSOH report noting that Hindu and Christian girls are particularly at risk.
Highlighting the atrocities against minorities in Pakistan, the rights body stated that in December 2024, a 15-year-old Hindu girl, Kajol was abducted from her home in Sindh province, and then tortured, raped, converted, and forced into marriage. Her name was changed to “Javeriya,” and her age was falsified to make the marriage appear legal. Despite appeals from her family, the VOPM said she remains trapped with her abductors.
Additionally, the rights body mentioned that in March 2024, a 10-year-old Christian girl, Laiba, was kidnapped from her home in Punjab province, forcibly converted to Islam, and married to her 35-year-old abductor, while documents were falsified to show she was 17. Instead of returning her to her parents, a Pakistani court ordered that she be kept in a state-run shelter.
Similarly, raising concern over the violence faced by minority men as well, the VOPM stated that in March 2025, Hindu sanitation worker Nadeem Naath was shot dead in Peshawar after refusing to convert to Islam. In the same month, it said 22-year-old Christian labourer Waqas Masih survived an attack by his supervisor, who slit his throat after pressuring him to abandon his faith.
“The persecution of Pakistan’s minorities is not only a political and legal issue—it is a deeply human tragedy. It is about families who lose their homes overnight, young girls robbed of their childhoods, and entire communities forced to live in fear,” the VOPM stated.
“And yet, amid this fear, these communities show remarkable resilience. Christians continue to rebuild burned churches, Hindus fight for their temples, Ahmadiyyas stand firm in their faith, and Sikhs strive to keep their culture alive,” it added.
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