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The Hindu
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Pakistan court orders probe into online blasphemy spike
A Pakistan court ordered a government probe on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) into allegations that young people are being entrapped in online blasphemy cases, following appeals from hundreds of families. There has been a spike in cases of mostly young men being arrested for committing blasphemy in WhatsApp groups since 2022. Rights groups and police have said that many are brought to trial by private law firms, who use volunteers to scour the internet for offenders. "The government will constitute a commission within a 30-day timeframe," said Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan at Islamabad High Court, adding that the commission is required to submit its findings within four months. Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan punishable by death, and even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage, lead to lynchings and to families being shunned by society. A report published by the government-run National Commission for Human Rights in October last year said there were 767 people, mostly young men, in jail awaiting trial over blasphemy allegations. "This is a huge ray of hope and it's the first time that the families have felt heard," said lawyer Imaan Mazari, who represents the families of arrested men and women, of the court order. "Youngsters have been falsely roped into cases of such a sensitive nature that the stigma will last forever even if they are acquitted," she added. A 2024 report by Punjab police into the sudden spike in cases, that was leaked to the media, found that "a suspicious gang was trapping youth in blasphemy cases" and may be motivated by financial gain. The Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan (LCBP) is the most active of lawyers groups prosecuting young men in Pakistan. Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, one of the group's leaders, told AFP in October that "God has chosen them for this noble cause". In recent years, several youngsters have been convicted and handed death sentences, although no execution has ever been carried out for blasphemy in Pakistan. "We will fully support the probe commission and are confident that our voices will finally be listened to, our concerns will be heard, and the truth will come out," the relative of one of the accused, who asked not to be named because of the backlash, said.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Welch, Sanders, Gillibrand urge federal funding for Lake Champlain programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABC22/FOX44) – Vermont Senator Peter Welch, along with his colleagues Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday asking for support for critical programs in Lake Champlain and the surrounding valley. 'Lake Champlain provides significant environmental, recreational, historic, and educational value to our region,' reads the letter. 'We have a responsibility to expand federal support for the lake so our constituents can benefit from these opportunities for generations to come.' Read the full text of the letter hereDownload The letter asks for support for the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) as well as several other programs including the Lake Champlain Sea Grant, which funds science education efforts around the area in conjunction with colleges including the University of Vermont and the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Judge in Texas frees one Vermont farm worker on bond; denies bail to two others The LCBP has been helping monitor the lake's water and wildlife for 35 years. Last year it tracked the recovery of the lake after a huge amount of sediment flowed into the lake during the July floods, as previously reported by ABC22/FOX44. The three senators as well as Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation last Congress to fund the program for another ten years, but the bill did not make it out of committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
