Publication

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been at the center of a fierce debate, especially after the assassination of the Punjab governor, Salman Taseer, in 2011. This report discusses the role of the news media in the debate about blasphemy law reform in the aftermath of Taseer’s assassination, and attempts to assess public sentiment regarding this debate. Key findings indicate that the media reflect the fragmentation of Pakistani society, and that, while key issues such as the steady rise of extremism in the country and the ruling and military elite’s support for religious nationalism were identified by some newspapers, the debate over blasphemy law reform was lost in competing narratives.