Pakistan uses blasphemy laws to persecute its minorities

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 23 (ANI): The minorities in Pakistan are constantly being murdered and subjected to inhuman brutalities in the name of blasphemy, conversion to Islam and other sectarian differences.
Recently, a man, belonging to a minority Hindu community, was reportedly booked in a fake case of blasphemy in Pakistan's Hyderabad on Sunday.
The man was identified as Ashok Kumar who was a sweeper, lodged at Rabia centre in Saddar of Hyderabad in Pakistan and was severely attacked by a violent mob.
The blasphemy case is not new in Pakistan. At least 585 persons were booked on charges of blasphemy in 2021, with the overwhelming majority from Punjab, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan citing the police data.
Data from the Ahmadiyya community indicates that over 100 cases were registered against members on religious grounds, including 'posing' as Muslims, preaching their faith, and allegations of blasphemy.
At least three members of the Ahmadiyya community were killed in separate targeted attacks, allegedly on the basis of their faith, as per HRCP.
Regarding forced conversion, Punjab witnessed an increase from 13 cases in 2020 to 36 in 2021.
Forced conversions continued to be reported from different parts of Sindh during 2021. A majority of those forcibly converted belonged to low-caste or scheduled-caste Hindus and Christians.
The pattern is always similar. A girl from a Hindu family is abducted and a few days or weeks later, she appears before a court or informs the world through a video message that she has married a Muslim man out of love and converted to Islam. A certificate from a certain religious school or a cleric is shown as evidence indicating the conversion.
In educational institutions and government jobs, there is a certain quota fixed for Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities, but there is nothing for Buddhists, said Juman Bheel, a retired primary school teacher in Mehrabpur town of Naushehro Feroz district in Sindh.
The Pakistani Buddhist community continued to be excluded as a distinct religious group in the national census and from educational and government job quotas
The Pakistani elite is indifferent even towards the grievances and plight of the majority comprising poor and destitute Muslims, according to Just Earth News.
Whether they are the Prime Minister, the opposition or military establishment or the media, all are giving much attention to the Shahbaz Gill and Imran Khan case in a situation when more than half of Pakistan is submerged in devastating floods.
According to the publication, ver 800 people and lakhs of livestock have been killed; lakhs of houses and lakhs of acres of agricultural land have been washed away by the floods. (ANI)