The Accused: Damned or Devoted?

Powerful cleric Khadim Rizvi has one mission: to preserve blasphemy laws in Pakistan - they prescribe a death sentence for disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad. He is running for the country's highest office to carry out his goal, silencing anyone who tries to change the law with death. The film follows the rise of Rizvi’s push for power as people who have been accused, are just pawns in his game.

Powerful cleric Khadim Rizvi has one mission: to preserve blasphemy laws in Pakistan - they prescribe a death sentence for disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad. He is running for the country's highest office to carry out his goal, silencing anyone who tries to change the law with death. The film follows the rise of Rizvi’s push for power as people who have been accused, are just pawns in his game.

Mohammed "Mo" Ali Naqvi talks about his documentary, THE ACCUSED: DAMNED OR DEVOTED?, as a Pakistani, American, and filmmaker. The award-winning director and producer shares his journalistic perspective on Pakistan's blasphemy laws, the nuances of why they exist and how they're legally and justifiably used against its people, and the difference in media coverage by Western vs. Middle East outlets.

On October 31, 2018, the religious party Tehreek-E-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) gathered on the streets of Pakistan to protest the acquittal of Asia Bibi; she had been charged with blasphemy and sentenced to death. Cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi and the members of TLP are in support of the country's blasphemy law which prescribes a death sentence for disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam.

Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman, was accused and charged with blasphemy after an argument with a group of Islamic women. She was sentenced to death and remained on death row for eight years until being acquitted. Asia and her case brought international attention to Pakistan where its blasphemy laws were codified in 1860 under British rule and expanded in the decades to follow.

Mashal Khan, a student at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, was accused of blasphemy, and violently beaten and shot to death by a mob of his fellow students and university staff. His murder affected members of his community but most of all, his father. Iqbal Lala Khan believed his son could have been saved and has sought justice for his loss.