Peshawar: A new report has laid bare the grim reality of Pakistan’s prison system, where Christian and Hindu inmates continue to suffer relentless torture, humiliation, and systemic discrimination simply because of their faith.
The report, titled “Hope Behind Bars”, was released by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan following a three-year study across the country’s detention facilities. The findings portray a shocking picture of life behind bars for minority prisoners, who are treated as “untouchables” and routinely forced to perform degrading menial tasks.
Pakistan’s 128 prisons were originally built to house around 66,000 inmates, but the actual numbers far exceed this capacity. Official records from the Punjab Prisons Department indicate 1,180 non-Muslim prisoners. However, testimonies gathered by the NCJP cast doubt on these figures. A former detainee revealed that Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail alone had over 500 Christian inmates far higher than what the government data suggests.
The NCJP argues that this gap between official numbers and ground realities indicates a deliberate attempt to conceal the true scale of minority incarceration.
While overcrowding, contaminated water, insufficient food, and poor healthcare plague all prisoners in Pakistan, the report underscores that minorities bear the brunt of these conditions. Christian and Hindu prisoners are often singled out for harsher treatment, denied basic dignity, and relegated to the lowest forms of labor within jails.
The situation is compounded by the prevalence of false blasphemy accusations, which have disproportionately targeted Christians. Many of those imprisoned on such charges languish for years without trial, living under constant fear of violence not only from guards but also from fellow inmates who view them as enemies of the faith.
The NCJP further revealed that while preparing the report, its researchers faced bureaucratic hurdles and active resistance from prison authorities. Requests for official data were often ignored, and in some cases, information was deliberately withheld, reflecting the institutional reluctance to acknowledge abuses within the prison system.
In its recommendations, the NCJP urged both federal and provincial governments to immediately address the systemic discrimination against minority prisoners. The commission called for independent monitoring of prisons, legal reforms to safeguard the rights of non-Muslim detainees, and swift justice for those trapped under false charges.
“Christians and other religious minorities continue to live under a shadow of hatred, both outside and inside prison walls,” the report warns. “The denial of justice and dignity is not only a human rights violation but also a direct assault on the principles of equality enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution.”
For many Christians imprisoned in Pakistan, hope remains the only resource that cannot be stripped away. Yet the NCJP report insists that hope alone is not enough: the state must act decisively to ensure that prisons do not become graveyards of faith and freedom.