An 8-year-old Pakistani Hindu child has been arrested for “blasphemy” under section 295C of Pakistan's Penal Code.

His crime? 

An Imam (Muslim cleric) scolded him for drinking water in a madrasa (Islamic school). The boy got scared and peed his pants. 

That is his crime. For peeing his pants because he got scared. 

For this crime, this eight-year-old child has been held in prison for one week without seeing his parents.

For this crime, this eight-year-old child may receive the death penalty.

Fearing retaliation through mob attack, the boy's family is now in hiding. One hundred Hindu homes have been abandoned. As retribution for this crime, an angry mob burned down a Hindu temple.

None of this is new. Hindus have lived as a marginalized, persecuted, vulnerable community in Pakistan since the beginning. 

"Pakistan's blasphemy laws are overbroad, vague and coercive, enable abuse and violate Pakistan's international legal obligations to respect and protect human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and of opinion and expression" (Amnesty International). 

Pakistan has the highest rate of mob violence for blasphemous acts in the world, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedoms.

Out of the 428 Hindu temples that existed before 1947, when Pakistan was partitioned from India, only 20 remain today. 95% of the Hindu temples in Pakistan have been destroyed. 

Hindu girls in particular are vulnerable, with over 1,000 Hindu girls kidnapped, raped, and forcibly converted to Islam every year. 

Please sign this petition if you believe:

- Pakistan should repeal Section 295C of its draconian penal code. 
- Pakistan must ensure the protection of this child, his family, and the entire - Pakistani Hindu community from mob violence.
- Pakistani Hindu girls should be protected from forcible conversion. 
- Pakistani must protect its remaining Hindu temples.
- Pakistan should make an effort to restore the sacred Hindu sites. 
- Pakistani Hindus must be recognized by the world as a vulnerable community.