A local court in Pakistan sentenced a teacher from the minority Hindu community to life imprisonment under the controversial blasphemy law in the southern part of the country. 

Nautan Lal, a Pakistani Hindu teacher at a local government college in the southern province of Sindh was sentenced to life imprisonment by a session court in Ghotki district. He was also fined PKR 50,000 ($285). 

The issue began in September 2019 when an intermediate student alleged in a video that Lal had committed blasphemy. The video had gone viral on social media in Pakistan. Following this, Mufti Abdul Karim Saeedi, a local cleric and leader of the Jamaat-e-ahle Sunnat party, filed a complaint with the police. 

Lal was later arrested by police. Trials in most such cases are conducted based on questionable  evidence. Over the years, reports suggest a pattern of targeting non-Muslims. 

In many cases, it was found victims were accused by their Muslim neighbors because of preexisting personal enmity and disputes. Last year, a Sri Lankan national was lynched by an Islamist mob in the Sialkot district, resulting in massive  outrage across the world.

The European Commission had even warned Pakistan last year threatening to withdraw its preferential trade access if the government continued abusing the controversial law.

Minorities from Hindu, Christian, and even Ahmadiyya Muslim communities are often targeted by these laws. Ahmadiyya are considered heretics by Islamists. 

(SAM)