The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has criticized Pakistan for its ongoing, institutionalized discrimination against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, according to its September 2025 country update. Pakistan’s Penal Code explicitly prohibits Ahmadis from identifying as Muslims or practicing their faith openly.
The report documents a series of violent attacks against Ahmadis in 2025, including the demolition of three Ahmadi mosques in Punjab within 10 days in February. In April, a mob of 400 gathered in Punjab to attack an Ahmadi mosque and lynched Laeeq Cheema, an Ahmadi man who had been documenting prior attacks on the same mosque. Police arrested 13 suspects in connection with his murder.
The report also highlights other incidents of targeted killings. In March, two Ahmadi men in Karachi were brutally assaulted by a mob during a court appearance, resulting in the death of one, Tahir Mahmood. In Sarghoda, an unidentified gunman killed Sheikh Mahmood, an Ahmadi who had received repeated death threats.
Ahmadis also face systemic harassment. In April, authorities in Punjab excluded Ahmadis from bidding on property auctions, and police registered cases against 42 Ahmadis for allegedly using a home as a place of worship. During Eid celebrations, courts ordered police to prevent Ahmadis from gathering for prayers, with 22 members arrested in Sialkot for allegedly violating these restrictions.
Forced Conversions of Hindus and Christians Persist
The USCIRF report highlights the alarming trend of forced conversions, particularly targeting young Hindu and Christian girls in Sindh and Punjab provinces. These cases often involve abduction, forced conversion to Islam, and coerced marriage to Muslim men, with little to no accountability for the perpetrators.
In June 2025, three Hindu girls and their male cousin were allegedly abducted and forcibly converted by a local teacher in Sindh. In another case that same month, two minor Hindu girls were abducted, converted, and married off, with a court demanding their parents pay a bond of 10 million rupees ($35,000) for their return.
Although Pakistan’s Parliament introduced the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill in May, criminalizing marriage under the age of 18, the law applies only in Islamabad. The Council of Islamic Ideology condemned the law as “un-Islamic,” undermining its potential to address forced conversions nationwide.
Blasphemy Laws Target Christians and Other Minorities
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which impose severe penalties including death, remain a key driver of religious persecution, particularly against Christians and other minorities. The USCIRF report reveals that over 750 people were imprisoned on blasphemy charges as of 2024, with new cases continuing to emerge in 2025.
The report documents the case of four men sentenced to death in January 2025 for allegedly sharing blasphemous content through social media. It also highlights the plight of Junaid Hafeez, a university professor arrested on blasphemy charges in 2013. Despite being held in solitary confinement since 2014, his appeal has faced repeated delays.
Christians remain especially vulnerable to mob violence triggered by blasphemy accusations. In June, a 72-year-old Christian man, Anwar Kenneth, was released after serving 23 years on blasphemy charges, but others, including two Christian teens acquitted in July, remain at risk of violent reprisals.
The USCIRF calls on Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy laws, end forced conversions, and protect the rights of religious minorities. It also urges the U.S. government to redesignate Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” for its systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom.