HAIDER
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Case still in progress more to come.
Youngsters mostly trapped by a blasphemy business group into sharing blasphemous content. 70% Young boys and girls are in their twenties or even younger. 100% victims belong poor or lower middle class families. 99.99% are Muslims. 80% cases registered in 2022 onward.
Victims include software engineers, civil, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineers, masters and bachelor degree holders. Special Branch has reported about the blasphemy business group but no action was ever taken.
There are 57 Muslim countries in the world. Pakistan is the only Muslim country prosecuting hundreds of it’s youngsters under blasphemy charges mostly punishable by death
My name is Sarfaraz (name changed) a B.Com student at Punjab University with a deep interest in poetry. I joined a poetry group on WhatsApp where, one day, someone shared a blasphemous picture that deeply disturbed me. I reached out to the group admin, Eman, who claimed she hadn’t seen any such content and asked me to send her the pictures I was referring to. After I did, she apologized and assured me she would remove the offender and any such content from the group.
Eman then inquired about my life, and I shared that I came from a low-income family and was searching for work. She offered to help me find a job in Islamabad and invited me to visit her. I planned a trip to Islamabad and arrived at a lawyer’s office where Eman had asked me to come. Upon my arrival, Eman appeared with 8-10 men who told her, “Mam, your work is done; we will handle it from here.” They proceeded to torture me physically, accusing me of creating blasphemous content.
Their leader, Rao Abdur Raheem, seized my phone and, despite my denials, continued to assault me while showing me the picture I had sent to Eman. I explained that I was neither the creator nor the original sender, but they threatened to harm me and my family if I did not confess. Then they took me to the FIA office, where an FIR had already been filed against me prior to my arrival. At the FIA office, I was subjected to further torture. My father was summoned and pressured to disown me, and I was informed that I was charged under the most serious criminal offences in Pakistan: Sections 295 A/B/C and 11 of PECA 2016.
[ Story of ****, FIR no 138/23, Adyala final file prisoner no 130, stories document page no 35]
This is one of the many stories Fact Focus has come across during investigation of this issue.
Pakistan is prosecuting over 400 young boys and girls under the country’s blasphemy laws, which in majority of the cases are punishable by the death penalty.
Evidence shows that in most cases, young girls and boys and some middle aged victims were trapped into sharing blasphemous content online by a religious extremist group that, according to a government’s own report, is operating a ‘Blasphemy Business’.
Most of these cases, investigated and prosecuted by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), are reported by members of religious extremist group, that trap people into sharing blasphemous content and then report them to the FIA.
Blasphemy charges in Pakistan carry severe punishments including death sentence and life imprisonment. In many instances, even mere accusation of blasphemy places the accused at risk of getting killed and lynched. Most of these young individuals have now been imprisoned for over a year.
These imprisoned youngsters facing blasphemy charges include professionals such as software engineers, electrical, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineers, as well as agriculture graduates, holders of master’s degrees, Hafiz-e-Quran, and many individuals with less formal education.
More than 80% of these cases were registered in 2022 and 2023, and this trend continues into 2024. Fact Focus investigations reveal that all the victims belong to poor or lower middle class families.
With each passing day, both lower and higher courts seem to be under increasing pressure from religious extremists, further sealing the fate of the young victims imprisoned across the country. In the past, these laws were mostly used against religious minority groups but more than 99% of these new victims are Muslim youngsters and middle aged individuals.
There are 144 captives in Adyala Jail Rawalpindi, 130 in Camp Jail Lahore, 30 in Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore, 50 in Karachi central jail. There are more captives in some other prisons. The total figure of prisoners in the all prisons of the country is higher but exact figures cannot be verified. Around 70% of victims are in their twenties or are even younger.
A report by Punjab Police’s Special Branch thoroughly investigated and summarized the activities of the “Blasphemy Business” group, which targets and traps youngsters. The report established a connection between women used to ensnare these youngsters and members of this blasphemy gang. This gang continues to operate freely, allegedly in collusion with members of the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing.
Special Branch of Punjab Police is regarded as the premier ground intelligence-gathering organization in the country. In fact, more than 80% of the ISI’s reports about Punjab are primarily based on the groundwork conducted by the Special Branch.
The FIA confirmed to Fact Focus that it received the report on the “blasphemy business group” from the Special Branch of Punjab Police in January 2024. However, officials acknowledged that no action has been taken based on the report’s recommendations.
Ahmad Ishaq Jehangir, director general FIA was approached by Fact Focus at his office number in Islamabad and his staff was informed about the issue and the questions. No response was provided to Fact Focus.
Similarities in blasphemy cases
A similar pattern was observed in the FIR registrations for complaints with the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing. In most blasphemy cases, the complainants are the same individuals, who are members of the blasphemy business group. Many of these group members serve as complainants in cases involving six to fifteen different people.
Members of the blasphemy business group, such as Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, Shehzad Khan, Umar Nawaz, Hafiz Liaqat Manzoor Kamboh, and Amir Zafar, Hasnat Farooq are prolific complainants in blasphemy cases. Specifically, Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi has filed complaints against sixteen individuals, Shehzad Khan against twelve, Umar Nawaz against nine, Hafiz Liaqat Manzoor Kamboh against eight, and Amir Zafar against five.
In addition to the complainants being the same, the complaints, the body of the applications to lodge complaints, their nature, and the style of allegations are also identical in most of the cases. FIRs registered based on these complaints are almost uniform.
Another common theme observed in Lahore cases is the involvement of a “secret informant” who contacts the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing team after a complaint is lodged just before the registration of the FIR. This informant provides precise details about the accused, including their location in the city at a specific time, descriptions such as the color of their clothes to facilitate the arrest. (Some specimens of FIRs are given below.)
An image of three different FIRs to show same text, same pattern, same strategy to arrest, FIR – 1.
An image of three different FIRs to show same text, same pattern, same strategy to arrest, FIR – 2.
An image of three different FIRs to show same text, same pattern, same strategy to arrest, FIR – 3.
Furthermore, investigations are conducted in a uniform manner. In most cases, the witnesses are the same FIA officials, making the entire process appear highly dubious.
Upon reviewing the entire process and analyzing the case records, it’s evident that some private individuals and certain officials within the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing are rushing to register as many cases as possible. It appears FIA Cyber Crimes Wing officials aim to meet a target or achieve a specific number of blasphemy FIRs each month. This is being done without proper verification of the complaints and without considering the motives of the accused youngsters, despite the life-threatening nature of such accusations in a society like Pakistan. Fact Focus has confirmed through officials, when families of victims presented evidence to the Cyber Crimes Wing about the Rao Abdul Raheem Group and the girls used to trap young boys, FIA officials ignored this information for unknown reasons.
The Blasphemy Business Group
The Blasphemy Business group comprises religious extremist individuals who, according to a government report, use blasphemy laws for personal financial gains.This group is led by one Rao Abdul Raheem, a lawyer and one Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi, an blasphemy activist. There are many members of this group now. Following is a brief introduction of a few active members.
Rao Abdul Rahim
Rao hails from Chak No 331 EB, Burewala area of district Vehari in South Punjab. Documented evidence reveals that Rao initially struggled in his legal career and faced significant financial hardships for a long time. Eventually, he began filing frivolous blasphemy complaints, particularly against famous personalities, to gain attention and traction. Rao is in the business since as early as 2012.
Rao Abdul Raheem, head of blasphemy business group
Now he is based in Islamabad and is a lawyer of complaints in several blasphemy cases and heads forums namely “Namoos-e-Risalat Lawyers Forum” and “Legal Commission on Blasphemy”. He uses WhatsApp with a cell number registered in Spain. Rao’s role was highlighted by international media, including Al Jazeera, in 2012 when he accused a minor Christian girl of blasphemy. At present, he is a complainant in two blasphemy cases, and during the cross-examination in one of the cases, he admitted before the court that he uses the Spain number. This Spain number is also used by administrators of various social media groups, including WhatsApp groups and Facebook groups. According to case records, these groups were used to trap boys and girls, and notably, blasphemy incidents also occurred within these groups.
While giving his response to Fact Focus questions Rao Abdul Raheem was of the view that those who commit blasphemy must be punished and all those who are under arrest are blasphemers. “If any part of the body is affected by cancer, that part is cut. There is no other solution,” Rao said while responding to a question about extremely harsh punishment and the possibility of unintentional mistake by some of the accused persons.
Rao denied working in collaboration with the FIA. He also denied ever being part of any arrests made by the FIA. However, technical evidence and CCTV footage establish beyond a doubt that the FIA’s Cyber Crimes Wing and the blasphemy business group work in connivance with each other.
Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi
Shiraz is a top leader and a core team member of the blasphemy business group and resides in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. He administers several social media groups and is a complainant in multiple cases.
Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi, blasphemy activist
Shehzad Khan S/o Zarshad Khan
Shehzad is one of Rao Abdul Raheem’s closest associates. He maintains contact with other group members and the girls involved in trapping victims.
Youngsters mostly trapped by a blasphemy business group into sharing blasphemous content. 70% Young boys and girls are in their twenties or even younger. 100% victims belong poor or lower middle class families. 99.99% are Muslims. 80% cases registered in 2022 onward.
Victims include software engineers, civil, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineers, masters and bachelor degree holders. Special Branch has reported about the blasphemy business group but no action was ever taken.
There are 57 Muslim countries in the world. Pakistan is the only Muslim country prosecuting hundreds of it’s youngsters under blasphemy charges mostly punishable by death
My name is Sarfaraz (name changed) a B.Com student at Punjab University with a deep interest in poetry. I joined a poetry group on WhatsApp where, one day, someone shared a blasphemous picture that deeply disturbed me. I reached out to the group admin, Eman, who claimed she hadn’t seen any such content and asked me to send her the pictures I was referring to. After I did, she apologized and assured me she would remove the offender and any such content from the group.
Eman then inquired about my life, and I shared that I came from a low-income family and was searching for work. She offered to help me find a job in Islamabad and invited me to visit her. I planned a trip to Islamabad and arrived at a lawyer’s office where Eman had asked me to come. Upon my arrival, Eman appeared with 8-10 men who told her, “Mam, your work is done; we will handle it from here.” They proceeded to torture me physically, accusing me of creating blasphemous content.
Their leader, Rao Abdur Raheem, seized my phone and, despite my denials, continued to assault me while showing me the picture I had sent to Eman. I explained that I was neither the creator nor the original sender, but they threatened to harm me and my family if I did not confess. Then they took me to the FIA office, where an FIR had already been filed against me prior to my arrival. At the FIA office, I was subjected to further torture. My father was summoned and pressured to disown me, and I was informed that I was charged under the most serious criminal offences in Pakistan: Sections 295 A/B/C and 11 of PECA 2016.
[ Story of ****, FIR no 138/23, Adyala final file prisoner no 130, stories document page no 35]
This is one of the many stories Fact Focus has come across during investigation of this issue.
Pakistan is prosecuting over 400 young boys and girls under the country’s blasphemy laws, which in majority of the cases are punishable by the death penalty.
Evidence shows that in most cases, young girls and boys and some middle aged victims were trapped into sharing blasphemous content online by a religious extremist group that, according to a government’s own report, is operating a ‘Blasphemy Business’.
Most of these cases, investigated and prosecuted by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), are reported by members of religious extremist group, that trap people into sharing blasphemous content and then report them to the FIA.
Blasphemy charges in Pakistan carry severe punishments including death sentence and life imprisonment. In many instances, even mere accusation of blasphemy places the accused at risk of getting killed and lynched. Most of these young individuals have now been imprisoned for over a year.
These imprisoned youngsters facing blasphemy charges include professionals such as software engineers, electrical, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineers, as well as agriculture graduates, holders of master’s degrees, Hafiz-e-Quran, and many individuals with less formal education.
More than 80% of these cases were registered in 2022 and 2023, and this trend continues into 2024. Fact Focus investigations reveal that all the victims belong to poor or lower middle class families.
With each passing day, both lower and higher courts seem to be under increasing pressure from religious extremists, further sealing the fate of the young victims imprisoned across the country. In the past, these laws were mostly used against religious minority groups but more than 99% of these new victims are Muslim youngsters and middle aged individuals.
There are 144 captives in Adyala Jail Rawalpindi, 130 in Camp Jail Lahore, 30 in Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore, 50 in Karachi central jail. There are more captives in some other prisons. The total figure of prisoners in the all prisons of the country is higher but exact figures cannot be verified. Around 70% of victims are in their twenties or are even younger.
A report by Punjab Police’s Special Branch thoroughly investigated and summarized the activities of the “Blasphemy Business” group, which targets and traps youngsters. The report established a connection between women used to ensnare these youngsters and members of this blasphemy gang. This gang continues to operate freely, allegedly in collusion with members of the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing.
Special Branch of Punjab Police is regarded as the premier ground intelligence-gathering organization in the country. In fact, more than 80% of the ISI’s reports about Punjab are primarily based on the groundwork conducted by the Special Branch.
The FIA confirmed to Fact Focus that it received the report on the “blasphemy business group” from the Special Branch of Punjab Police in January 2024. However, officials acknowledged that no action has been taken based on the report’s recommendations.
Ahmad Ishaq Jehangir, director general FIA was approached by Fact Focus at his office number in Islamabad and his staff was informed about the issue and the questions. No response was provided to Fact Focus.
Similarities in blasphemy cases
A similar pattern was observed in the FIR registrations for complaints with the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing. In most blasphemy cases, the complainants are the same individuals, who are members of the blasphemy business group. Many of these group members serve as complainants in cases involving six to fifteen different people.
Members of the blasphemy business group, such as Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, Shehzad Khan, Umar Nawaz, Hafiz Liaqat Manzoor Kamboh, and Amir Zafar, Hasnat Farooq are prolific complainants in blasphemy cases. Specifically, Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi has filed complaints against sixteen individuals, Shehzad Khan against twelve, Umar Nawaz against nine, Hafiz Liaqat Manzoor Kamboh against eight, and Amir Zafar against five.
In addition to the complainants being the same, the complaints, the body of the applications to lodge complaints, their nature, and the style of allegations are also identical in most of the cases. FIRs registered based on these complaints are almost uniform.
Another common theme observed in Lahore cases is the involvement of a “secret informant” who contacts the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing team after a complaint is lodged just before the registration of the FIR. This informant provides precise details about the accused, including their location in the city at a specific time, descriptions such as the color of their clothes to facilitate the arrest. (Some specimens of FIRs are given below.)
An image of three different FIRs to show same text, same pattern, same strategy to arrest, FIR – 1.
An image of three different FIRs to show same text, same pattern, same strategy to arrest, FIR – 2.
An image of three different FIRs to show same text, same pattern, same strategy to arrest, FIR – 3.
Furthermore, investigations are conducted in a uniform manner. In most cases, the witnesses are the same FIA officials, making the entire process appear highly dubious.
Upon reviewing the entire process and analyzing the case records, it’s evident that some private individuals and certain officials within the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing are rushing to register as many cases as possible. It appears FIA Cyber Crimes Wing officials aim to meet a target or achieve a specific number of blasphemy FIRs each month. This is being done without proper verification of the complaints and without considering the motives of the accused youngsters, despite the life-threatening nature of such accusations in a society like Pakistan. Fact Focus has confirmed through officials, when families of victims presented evidence to the Cyber Crimes Wing about the Rao Abdul Raheem Group and the girls used to trap young boys, FIA officials ignored this information for unknown reasons.
The Blasphemy Business Group
The Blasphemy Business group comprises religious extremist individuals who, according to a government report, use blasphemy laws for personal financial gains.This group is led by one Rao Abdul Raheem, a lawyer and one Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi, an blasphemy activist. There are many members of this group now. Following is a brief introduction of a few active members.
Rao Abdul Rahim
Rao hails from Chak No 331 EB, Burewala area of district Vehari in South Punjab. Documented evidence reveals that Rao initially struggled in his legal career and faced significant financial hardships for a long time. Eventually, he began filing frivolous blasphemy complaints, particularly against famous personalities, to gain attention and traction. Rao is in the business since as early as 2012.
Rao Abdul Raheem, head of blasphemy business group
Now he is based in Islamabad and is a lawyer of complaints in several blasphemy cases and heads forums namely “Namoos-e-Risalat Lawyers Forum” and “Legal Commission on Blasphemy”. He uses WhatsApp with a cell number registered in Spain. Rao’s role was highlighted by international media, including Al Jazeera, in 2012 when he accused a minor Christian girl of blasphemy. At present, he is a complainant in two blasphemy cases, and during the cross-examination in one of the cases, he admitted before the court that he uses the Spain number. This Spain number is also used by administrators of various social media groups, including WhatsApp groups and Facebook groups. According to case records, these groups were used to trap boys and girls, and notably, blasphemy incidents also occurred within these groups.
While giving his response to Fact Focus questions Rao Abdul Raheem was of the view that those who commit blasphemy must be punished and all those who are under arrest are blasphemers. “If any part of the body is affected by cancer, that part is cut. There is no other solution,” Rao said while responding to a question about extremely harsh punishment and the possibility of unintentional mistake by some of the accused persons.
Rao denied working in collaboration with the FIA. He also denied ever being part of any arrests made by the FIA. However, technical evidence and CCTV footage establish beyond a doubt that the FIA’s Cyber Crimes Wing and the blasphemy business group work in connivance with each other.
Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi
Shiraz is a top leader and a core team member of the blasphemy business group and resides in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. He administers several social media groups and is a complainant in multiple cases.
Shiraz Ahmad Farooqi, blasphemy activist
Shehzad Khan S/o Zarshad Khan
Shehzad is one of Rao Abdul Raheem’s closest associates. He maintains contact with other group members and the girls involved in trapping victims.
Source:
factfocus
factfocus
