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Online speech and its consequences in Pakistan, 2016 to present

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PPC Section 295-A: Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs

Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860

What this section covers

Official heading: Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs

Insulting a religion or religious beliefs, by words, signs or visible representations, with deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious feelings.

Maximum penalty: Up to 10 years, or fine, or both

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 295-A in the official text ↗

Recent incidents citing this law

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

41 verified incidents whose report cites 295-A. Citations are read automatically from news reports and can be incomplete; inclusion does not verify the allegation.

  1. Four sentenced to death in Lahore in 2022 blasphemy case

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    LAHORE: A sessions court on Saturday sentenced four men to death in a 2022 blasphemy case registered by the then cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Each convict was sentenced to death and fined Rs500,000 under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and given life imprisonment under Section 295-B.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  2. Creators, admins of WhatsApp groups not criminally liable for posts made by members: LHC

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    LAHORE: In a case pertaining to blasphemy, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday held that the “mere creation or administration of a WhatsApp group does not, by itself, make the creator or administrator criminally liable for every post made by its members”. The court issued the directives while denying post-arrest bail to a man accused of uploading and sharing blasphemous content through WhatsApp groups.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  3. NCCIA moves appeal before Supreme Court in blasphemy case

    · Rawalpindi, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11, 295-A, 295-C, 298-A; PPC 295-A, 295-C, 298-A

    ISLAMABAD: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court, challenging the October 28, 2025, acquittal of an Islamabad-based woman by the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench in a blasphemy case.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  7. Jaranwala riots case: Man handed down death, 10-year term with Rs3m fine

    · Faisalabad, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C

    On Aug 16, 2023, riots erupted at Jaranwala over the issue of alleged desecration of the Holy Quran, and a mob torched a number of churches and houses of Christian community members. At the conclusion of trial proceedings, ATC Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh handed down capital punishment to an accused under section 295-C of the PPC, with a fine of Rs2 million.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  9. YouTuber Rajab Butt booked under blasphemy, Peca laws over ‘religious stir’ caused by perfume launch

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295, 295-A

    YouTuber Rajab Butt has been booked under blasphemy and cybercrime laws due to a “religious stir” caused by the launch of his perfume brand that allegedly mocked Pakistan’s blasphemy law, it emerged on Tuesday. In a recent video, since deleted from his social media accounts, Butt launched his “295” perfume which refers to the namesake blasphemy law in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  11. Man sentenced to death for blasphemy by Lahore sessions court

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    A Lahore sessions court sentenced a man to death on Wednesday for committing blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), other Islamic figures and religious rituals. The first information report (FIR) — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — of the case was filed at the Shahdara Town police station on September 29, 2020, by a member of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan party under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  12. LHC grants bail to juvenile in one of blasphemy cases

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has granted post-arrest bail to a Christian who was a juvenile at the time of his arrest in a second FIR of blasphemy out of three registered against him at different police stations of Sargodha.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  13. Islamabad sessions court sentences 2 to death for blasphemy

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    Two men were sentenced to death by an Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday for “proliferating blasphemous content” online. According to a first information report (FIR) registered by the Federal Investigation Agency in 2021 — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — one of the convicts was arrested in Islamabad for creating and disseminating “blasphemous contents … in respect of the Holy Prophet [Peace Be Upon Him]” to a WhatsApp…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  14. 4 men sentenced to death in Rawalpindi over ‘online blasphemy’: lawyer

    · Rawalpindi, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    A court in Rawalpindi sentenced four men to death for posting blasphemous content online, a prosecution lawyer told AFP on Monday. “They were sentenced to death … on Friday for spreading blasphemous content online against the Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) and the Quran,” Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group which brought the case to court, told AFP .

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  15. Prayer leader booked for blasphemy, hate speech in Sahiwal

    · Sahiwal, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    SAHIWAL: A village prayer leader was booked on charges of blasphemy, hate speech and incitement of sectarianism in his Friday sermon at Chak 8/14-L near Kasowal, Chichawatni, and posting it on local social media platforms.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  16. Seminary sealed, 18 booked over ‘blasphemy’

    · Sahiwal, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C; ATA 7, 9

    Source reports a criminal case (FIR) linked to online activity: "Police found around 15 to 18 people regularly spreading hate material and blasphemous content in print and at online platforms."

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  17. ‘Fake’ blasphemy case bid for revenge in Okara

    · Okara, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    OKARA: A Christian man was booked for his alleged botched plan to set the Holy Quran on fire to take revenge on his two siblings, thinking the angry Muslims would lynch them. They made a video of the torture and posted it on social media.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  19. Hindu man arrested on charge of blasphemy in Rahim Yar Khan

    · Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    RAHIM YAR KHAN: Police have arrested a Hindu man on charge of blasphemy in the Kotsamaba Police Station. On August 11, he arrived at the village roundabout and started making objectionable comments about the Holy Kaaba, which, the complainant said, he could not repeat in the FIR because that would be considered blasphemy.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  20. Nankana Sahib DSP, SHO suspended after violent mob lynches man over blasphemy allegations

    · Nankana Sahib, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295, 295-A, 298

    Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar on Saturday suspended two senior cops for failing to prevent the mob lynching of a man over blasphemy allegations in Nankana Sahib, a Punjab Police statement said. The IG took notice of the killing of a person accused of “desecrating the Quran”, as videos circulating on social media purportedly showed a violent mob outside a police station in Nankana Sahib. Also reported by The Guardian.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  21. 89 citizens killed over blasphemy allegations since 1947: report

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295, 295-A, 298

    ISLAMABAD: As many as 89 citizens were killed in 1,415 accusations and cases of blasphemy in the country since independence, a think-tank said on Tuesday. The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in a report stated that from 1947 to 2021, 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy accusations.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  24. 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 ↗

  25. 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 ↗

  27. Academic Junaid Hafeez sentenced to death on blasphemy charges by Multan court

    · Multan, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C

    A district and sessions court in Multan on Saturday sentenced Junaid Hafeez, a former university lecturer, to death on blasphemy charges. Formerly a visiting lecturer at the Department of English Literature of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, Hafeez was booked on blasphemy charges and was arrested by police on March 13, 2013.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  28. Man acquitted in blasphemy case after 18 years in prison

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C

    ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted a man who had been condemned to death in a blasphemy case in 2002 and had consequently remained behind bars for 18 years. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, exonerated Wajih-ul-Hassan from blasphemy charges under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet [Peace Be Upon Him]) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for want of concrete evidence against him.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  29. Riots erupt as Mirpurkhas vet booked in blasphemy case

    · Mirpurkhas, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-B, 506; ATA 6, 7

    Mirpurkhas police on late Monday registered a blasphemy case against a veterinary doctor in Phuladiyon and took him into custody. The doctor, who is from the Hindu community, was accused of blasphemy after a man alleged that he had provided medicines wrapped in paper that he claimed "had Quranic verses printed on them".

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  30. Man sent to Adiala jail on blasphemy charge

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 298-A

    Source reports an arrest linked to online activity: "According to the complaint lodged with the Golra police station, the suspect having a Facebook account allegedly posts derogatory comments in response to the posts in praise of holy personalities."

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  31. Man sent to prison in blasphemy case

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 298-A

    ISLAMABAD: A judicial magistrate remanded a man in judicial custody for 14 days in a blasphemy case on Saturday. The man has been booked and arrested in a case registered against him at the Shams Colony police under Sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298-A (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of holy…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  33. Misuse of blasphemy law

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A, 298-B, 298-C

    WHEN the FIA informed the Islamabad High Court the other day that it had no evidence that the five bloggers abducted and detained for many days had committed blasphemy , it did not add anything to the people’s knowledge as they had known this fact all along. (A fifth victim was picked up later on.) Their abduction and detention had certain unique features.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  34. SHC stays proceedings in Jamshoro 'blasphemy' case

    · Hyderabad, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    A division bench of the Sindh High Court's Hyderabad circuit on Friday stayed the proceedings in a case against four people who were booked on charges of blasphemy in Jamshoro a day earlier.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  35. Four booked on blasphemy charges in Jamshoro

    · Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    Four people, including two women, were booked on blasphemy charges in Jamshoro on Thursday for solemnising a marriage under what is known as "Shariat-i-Latifi" (the Code of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai) police told Dawn .

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  36. Boy killed, policeman hurt in mob protest over ‘blasphemy’

    · Quetta, Balochistan · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C

    QUETTA / KHUZDAR: A 12-year-old boy was killed and a police constable seriously injured by gunfire on Thursday after an unruly mob in the industrial town of Hub protested the sharing of alleged blasphemous content by a member of a minority community.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  37. Violence erupts in Hub as police refuse to hand Hindu man suspected of blasphemy over to enraged mob

    · Lasbela, Balochistan · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C

    Violence erupted in Lasbela district's Hub area after police refused to hand over a Hindu man suspected of blasphemy to an angry mob, DawnNews reported, with locals resorting to pelting stones at police when their demands were not met. Prakash Kumar, a local business owner, was suspected of sharing a picture containing allegedly blasphemous content on WhatsApp, Hub police officials said.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  38. One arrest made in social media blasphemy case, interior ministry tells IHC

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A, 298-B

    As the hearing of a petition seeking removal of blasphemous content from social media resumed on Wednesday, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was told that the interior ministry had made one arrest in the case, while the names of several have been put on the Exit Control List (ECL).

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  39. IHC orders blasphemers' names be put on ECL

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C, 298-A

    The case was filed by Salman Shahid (son-in-law of Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid fame). Secretary interior assured the court that all possible measures would be taken to remove the content from social media and arrest the culprits.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

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