According to the 2012 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom USCIRF annual report , The government of Pakistan continues to engage in and tolerate systematic , ongoing , and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief . The USCIRF has designated Pakistan as country of particular concern since 2002 . The report argues that The country ' s blasphemy laws , used predominantly in Punjab but also nationwide , target members of religious minority communities and dissenting Muslims and this frequently results in imprisonment . The USCIRF is aware of at least 16 individuals on death row and 20 more serving life sentences . The blasphemy law , along with antiAhmadi laws that effectively criminalise various practices of their faith , has created a climate of vigilante violence . Hindus have suffered from the climate of violence and hundreds have fled Pakistan for India . A BBC FAQ notes that Beginning in 1980 , a slew of clauses was added to the chapter of religious offences in the Pakistan Penal Code . These clauses can be grouped into two categories the antiAhmadi laws and the blasphemy laws . The BBC notes that three is widespread popular support for these laws in Pakistan , and that two prominent critics of these laws , Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti , have been assassinated in 2011 . Regarding the blasphemy laws , the BBC observes that Hundreds of Christians are among the accused at least 12 of them were given the death sentence for blaspheming against the Prophet . The Human Rights Watch noted that the condition of religious minorities deteriorated sharply in 2012 , with the government unwilling or unable to provide protection against attacks by extremists or to reign in abuses committed by its own security forces . Mass antiChristian violence recently occurred in the 2009 Gojra riots and in the 2013 Joseph Colony riot and the 2013 Gujranwala riot . Recent antiShia violence includes the February 2012 Kohistan Shia Massacre , the August 2012 Mansehra Shia Massacre and the particularly deadly January 2013 and February 2013 Quetta bombings . The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan was targeted in the similarly deadly May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore the New York Times noted on that occasion that Minority sects like the Ahmadis and the Shiites and have come under increasing pressure as religious extremism has taken hold , fomented by sectarian groups like JaisheMohammad and LashkareJhangvi , formerly statesponsored organizations . do some reading my friend