Pakistan Country Brief

Summary

This includes mob violence in response to accusations of blasphemy as well as instances of terrorist attacks against religious minorities’ houses of worship. Throughout the year, the proliferation of forced conversion cases involving Sikh, Hindu and Christian girls continued, often with authorities failing to intervene. This publication provides an update on recent cases involving blasphemy and forced conversion as well as ongoing attacks against religious minority communities in Pakistan.

It also offers an overview of relevant legislation and the broader legal framework in Pakistan as it relates to blasphemy, forced conversions, and antiAhmadiyya laws. In its 2026 Annual Report, USCIRF again recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern, or CPC, for ongoing, egregious, and systematic religious freedom violations. Pakistan’s constitution establishes Islam as the state religion while including provisions designed to prohibit faith-based discrimination and guaranteeing the right to religious practices, with the exception of Ahmadiyya Muslims.

Legal Restrictions on FoRB In Pakistan, the enforcement of strict blasphemy laws and anti-Ahmadiyya laws creates a dangerous environment for religious minority communities. USCIRF Country Brief: Pakistan Blasphemy Cases Throughout the first half of 2026, some religious minorities died while detained on blasphemy charges. Also in July, Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the final three men charged in a 2014 mob attack and killing of a Christian couple accused of blasphemy outside of Lahore.

Additionally, in June, the Lahore High Court acquitted Nadeem Masih, a 49-year-old blind Christian man accused of blasphemy. In October 2025, authorities had charged Masih with blasphemy under Section 295-C, carrying a mandatory death sentence, after canteen collectors accused him of blasphemy and defiling the name of the Prophet Muhammad. In October, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted Amoon Ayub of blasphemy charges.

Attacks against Religious Minorities In addition to blasphemy accusations, during the first half of 2026 there were several violent attacks by nonstate actors and individuals targeting members of the Christian, Sikh and Shi’a and Ahmadiyya Muslim communities. The law, entitled the Punjab Protection of the Rights of Religious Minorities Bill 2026, would create a legal framework to curb forced religious conversions and forced marriages of minority communities. Conclusion Throughout the first half of 2026, the Pakistani government continued to facilitate a hostile environment for religious minority communities.

In several instances, authorities either perpetrated or tolerated attacks against religious minorities, including failing to respond to such attacks and cases of forced conversions.

This summary (403 words) is drawn automatically from the report's own text: every sentence is US Commission on International Religious Freedom's, selected to represent the report, in the order the report gives them. Some context is necessarily lost; read the full report before quoting it.