Silenced

Online speech and its consequences in Pakistan, 2016 to present

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PPC Section 153-A: Promoting enmity between different groups, etc.

Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860

What this section covers

Official heading: Promoting enmity between different groups, etc.

Promoting or inciting, by spoken or written words, signs or other means, disharmony, enmity, hatred or ill-will between religious, racial, language or regional groups, castes or communities.

Maximum penalty: Up to 5 years, and fine

Part of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860. Pakistan's main criminal code, enacted in 1860 and amended many times since. It defines most crimes and their punishments. The sections tracked here are those reports cite in speech cases: conspiracy and sedition-type offences (121-A, 131), promoting enmity between groups (153-A), statements causing public mischief (505), criminal intimidation (506), and the blasphemy laws (295-A to 298-C).

A plain-language explanation, not legal advice. The official text always takes precedence.

Official text

The official consolidated text, published by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Pakistan Code:

Read 153-A in the official text ↗

Recent incidents citing this law

The following verified cases are currently mapped on Silenced under this law.

4 verified incidents whose report cites 153-A. Citations are read automatically from news reports and can be incomplete; inclusion does not verify the allegation.

  1. انڈین پرچم اور ’جے ہند‘ کا نعرہ پوسٹ کرنے کے الزام میں مہمند میں دو افراد گرفتار

    · Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Speech Consequences · Arrest · Law cited: PPC 153-A

    پاکستان کے ضلع مہمند میں پولیس نے انڈیا کے یوم آزادی پر سوشل میڈیا پر انڈیا کے پرچم کی تصاویر اور ’جے ہند‘ کے الفاظ شیئر کرنے پر دو افراد کو گرفتار کر کے جیل بھیج دیا ہے۔ بی بی سی اردو کو دستیاب ایف آئی آرز کے مطابق ملزمان کو پاکستان پینل کوڈ کی دفعات 123 اے اور 153 اے کے تحت گرفتار کیا گیا تھا، جو اشتعال پھیلانے اور ریاست کی خودمختاری کی مخالفت کرنے کے حوالے سے ہیں۔

    View on map · BBC Urdu ↗

  3. Killer of blasphemy accused remanded in police custody

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 153-A, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298; ATA 7, 15

    PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday remanded the suspected killer of a man accused of blasphemy in police custody for three days. The blasphemy accused, Tahir Ahmad Naseem, was shot down inside a courtroom at the Judicial Complex here on Wednesday.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  4. Man shot dead for ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan courtroom

    · Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 153-A, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298; ATA 7, 15

    A man accused of blasphemy for claiming that he was a prophet has been shot dead in a courtroom in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police officials say, the latest violence associated with Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws. “The culprit accepts responsibility for killing him, and says that he killed him for having committed blasphemy,” said police official Ahmed. Also reported by The Guardian and Dawn.

    View on map · Al Jazeera ↗

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