On Tuesday a High Court Judge in Pakistans capital Islamabad reiterated in a hearing that blasphemers are terrorists,as a petitioner sought a ban on social media pages allegedly uploading derogatory posts against Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, who has broken down in tears in every single one of the three hearings on the case this week, on Wednesday asked the government to put blasphemers on the Exit Control List (ECL).

On Thursday, Siddiqui, who has represented Islamic State-sympathizing Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz in the past, said he would summon the prime minister if no action is taken against social media pages that post blasphemous content.

The Islamabad police have since registered a case against the owners of these pages. The Senate has approved a resolution demanding strict action against blasphemous content online. Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency has published ads in national dailies asking citizens to help identify blasphemers on Facebook.

During the hearing this week, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge, implied that murder would be inevitableif the pages arent blocked. He went on to add that liberal secular extremism is a bigger threat than Islamic extremism.

Pakistans interior secretary assured Justice Siddiqui that the entire government machinery would be set in motionto address the issue. This was followed by the interior minister vowing to block social media completely if the issue isnt resolved.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman, in his defense, said that similar social media pages have recently been blocked and that it takes time to convince the Facebook administration to take action.

These blocked pages include Bhensa, Mochi, and Roshni, which have either been blocked or taken over by the Elite Cyber Force of Pakistan.

In January, secular bloggers and activists, many of whom were accused of being affiliated with these pages, were abducted from various parts of the country, with the well-coordinated maneuver accused of being a state-backed operation by many quarters.

While many were subsequently recovered, some fled the country immediately. One of these activists revealed on Thursday how the state had tortured him beyond limits.

Almost parallel to the activists release, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Chief Hafiz Saeed, accused of masterminding the Mumbai Attacks, was put under house arrest. Many believe the states long overdue action against Kashmir-bound jihadists is being pushed by China, as it seeks security for the much touted economic corridor.

With the current ruling party forging political alliances with many of these jihadist groups, and the Army using them as strategic assetsfor proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan, only external pressure can lead todecisive counterterror action.

But what this has meant is that both the civilian and military leaders now have to appease their heretofore Islamist allies to avoid collective backlash, as action against jihadist groups becomes inevitable. Pakistans overt war against freethinkers might just give the state the respite that it needs.

Last year, Pakistan also passed its cybercrime law, which upholds identical punishments for Penal Code violations in the cyber-sphere. This means that blasphemy would be punishable by death, even if committedonline.

The immediate impact of Januarys abductions was a mass exodus of anonymous secular bloggers from the web. Satirical publication Khabaristan Times was also banned by the PTA, while a shift in editorial policies has been visible in many online and mainstream liberal publications.

This is why Justice Siddiquis juxtaposition of liberal secular extremists and radical Islamists is critical. All state institutions echoing apologia for Islamists, and slamming secularists, is menacing for an already endangered species: the Pakistani atheist.

Delineating the ideological divide, which would result in any liberal ideals being thrown to the wolves, couldve instigated Bangladesh-like violence had Pakistani freethinkers been a quasi-significant demographic. As it is, a few abductions, and banned web pages, were enough to silence many of us.

Ironically, it is the states appeasement of radical Islam that has caused an upsurge in the number of atheists in Pakistan. This is why an official discourse on atheism has been going on in Pakistan, resulting in many expressing non-belief online, most doing so anonymously.

While one still cant officially register as an atheist, or opt for No Religion as identity for the national database, the number of atheists is believed to have increased following the advent of Internet and social media allowing isolated nonbelievers to connect.

Muslims abandoning Islam even if not their Muslim identity is a global phenomenon, and the apostasy wave is upsetting the Islamist cart in Pakistan as well.

In 2015, the hashtag #___ or Aik crore Pakistani mulhid (10 million Pakistani atheists) trended around Darwin Day, with thousands of Twitter users tweeting both for and against atheism. It trended around February 12 last year again. But we didnt see a repeat last month.

While 10 million might be significant exaggeration, a Gallup poll of 50,000 people found that 2percent of Pakistanis self-identified atheists in 2012, which had doubled from the 1percent in 2005.

Pakistani atheists a broad term encompassing agonistics, the irreligious, deists, and humanists alike have been lazily painted by the Islamists as liberals and seculars, despite the fact that many believing and practicing Muslims identify as such as well.

Muslims openly identifying as atheist in Pakistan would be an open invitation to violence, considering the states blasphemy laws are interpreted to outlaw apostasy, coupled with the National Database and Registration Authoritys (NADRA) refusal to let citizens officially change Islam as their religion. Hence, the aforementioned secular liberal label also provides refuge to the atheists.

Even so, in websites and social media pages that are critical of Islamic theology, the Islamists at the helm of state institutions have found the filter to sift atheists. Justice Siddiqui himself was quick to clarify that non-Muslims shouldnt be considered in the ongoing case against blasphemers, clearly underscoring apostates as the intended target.

And while these atheists of Muslim heritage arent an organized political entity as is the case in Bangladesh the IHCs verdict, and the capital police registering a case weeks after action against secular activists had already been taken, smacks of a thirst for blood.

Whether the episode is being staged to mollify Islamists amidst the crackdown on jihadists, or if theres a genuine clampdown against free-thought, remains to be seen. But the state seems more than willing to sacrifice its nonbelievers at the altar of its security failures.

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Pakistan's War on Atheism - The Diplomat