Key issues faced by religious minorities remained unresolved CSJ Factsheet.

LAHORE -- Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has issued the 'HuAman Rights Observer 2023', an annual factsheet which covers five key issues impacting religious minorities, i.e. 1) discrimination in the education system, 2) Prevalence of forced faith conversions, 3) Abuse of blasphemy laws, 4) Establishment of the National Commission for Minorities, and 5) Jail remissions for minority prisoners. CSJ's factsheet shows the increasing religious content in curriculum and textbooks, and a number of perennial and new challenges in the education system during 2022. The factsheet informs that at least 171 persons had been accused under the blasphemy laws,out of these over 65pc of cases surfaced in Punjab province, followed by 19pc in Sindh.

The highest occurrence was observed in the districts of Karachi,followed by Chiniot, FaisAalabad, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan, Nankana Sahib, Lahore and Sheikhupura. The highest numAber of victims (88) were Muslims, followed by 75 Ahmadis, four Christians, and two Hindus, while the religious identity of the two accused could not be ascertained. Four accused were extra: judicially killed, two in Punjab and one each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2022, which brings the number of extra: judicial killings of the accused to 88 persons in totalduring the period from 1987 to 2022. At least 2120 persons had been accused of committing blasphemy between 1987 and 2022. The trend witnessed an increase in the aggregate abuse of blasphemy laws in Punjab in the past 36 years, above 75pc. However, 52pc of the accused belonged to minorities despite their smallratio (3.52pc) in the...