Targeted for Their Christian Faith: The Blasphemy Entrapment Crisis in Pakistan

A new wave of blasphemy cases has emerged in Pakistan in the past few years. According to the National Commission for Human Rights in Pakistan, from 2020 to July 2024, over 700 individuals have been incarcerated under false blasphemy charges.

Most of these cases were registered by the same group of complainants, and the same individuals often lodge complaints in blasphemy cases across different regions of Pakistan. The group, which includes a Pakistani lawyer and a religious cleric, among others, entraps young individuals in blasphemy charges by contacting them online under pseudonyms and adding them to sacrilegious chat groups on social media. Individuals are then lured to public places under false pretenses, such as job offers, where they are then arrested and charged with blasphemy. Arrested individuals are subject to financial extortion, breaches of privacy, and pressure to sign blank documents that can later be manipulated. Arrested individuals have even reported being offered freedom in exchange for engaging in sectarian violence and criminal activity.

Blasphemy cases in Pakistan proceed without due process, despite the offense carrying a potential death sentence. Screenshots of allegedly blasphemous messages can trigger an arrest even when authorities have neither investigated the context nor forensically examined the device on which the messages were found. Police require no warrant to investigate blasphemy allegations or detain suspects. Lawyers who take on such cases routinely face threats and ostracism from the broader legal community.

In one such case, our Pakistani affiliate’s client Intizar Masih was entrapped in 2023 – one of 19 individuals accused of participating in a WhatsApp group chat where members allegedly shared content deemed insulting to Islam.

When Intizar was arrested in June 2023, his daughter was about six years old, his son was about five, and his wife was pregnant with their third child. Due to the trauma of her husband’s arrest in such a serious case, she lost the baby.

At that time, Intizar’s children were going to a local public school. Thankfully, through the help of a Christian family in the United States, Intizar’s kids began attending a Christian school where they are not only safer, but also receive a Christian education. The kids are excelling at that school.

The American family that supports the education and living expenses of Intizar’s children also sends a bundle of letters – along with other gifts – for the children, their mother, and Intizar himself each time I visit Pakistan. These letters have been a profound source of encouragement for Intizar and his family.

[See accompanying PDF for pictures of the letters]

Intizar remains in prison; some prosecution witnesses have testified, and the trial continues. During my visits to Pakistan, I meet with Intizar in prison and with his family at their home. Each time, his wife weeps and asks for updates on her husband’s case – and each time, I must choose my words carefully, neither giving her false hope of Intizar’s imminent release nor leaving her without the encouragement to persevere and trust in the Lord.

In 2023, we filed a bail petition on Intizar’s behalf, which the court denied. We have recently filed another bail petition and are waiting for the court to hear the argument.

Please pray for Intizar and his family and join us in defending Christians in Pakistan. Sign our petition.