Almost a quarter of the countries in the world punish blasphemy. Research by Pew indicates that while laws restricting blasphemy are found in several countries (including in Europe), they are most common in the Muslim world and unsurprisingly, the notion of blasphemy or “offending religion” also continues to be a particularly sensitive issue in parts of the Muslim world.

In December, a man belonging to the Ahmadi community was shot dead, for no apparent reason, in Pakistan allegedly after religious and media personalities incited hatred against members of that community – a people who have often found themselves accused of blasphemy by the very exercise of practicing their belief.

Earlier that month, in Indonesia, the editor of the prominent newspaper, the Jakarta Post, had been summoned for questioning by the police on blasphemy charges, for publishing a cartoon.

While readers will be quite familiar with the design and application of the blasphemy law in Pakistan and also the sudden spike in the extrajudicial killings carried out to punish alleged blasphemy, this article briefly touches upon the blasphemy laws of three Muslim majority countries which sit in different parts of the world, all of which privilege religion in their national constitution.