Pakistan crisis: Supreme Court attacked by Islamist parties in Islamabad | CJP accused of blasphemy

Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Supreme Court are being targeted in a malicious smear campaign based on disinformation and a false accusation of blasphemy, after granting bail to an Ahmadi man earlier in 2024. Religious Islamist political parties and their supporters breached security of the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Monday. Police tried to curb the protesters but the pressure on State institutions remain. Supreme Court will be hearing the second review petition on August 22, but civil rights attorney and human rights defender affiliated with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asad Jamal says it is legally not tenable. In an interview with Rabia Mehmood, Jamal further explains how the independence of the judiciary would be severely impacted by this pressure and campaign by the far-right if the parliament does not take a stance. On the matter of persecuted religious minorities like the Ahmadiyya who are being scapegoated through this targeting of the Chief Justice, Jamal says judges and lawyers would be very reluctant to take up their cases now. Tune in for more.