As Pakistan continues to confront the growing issue of blasphemy-related activity on digital platforms, a Pakistani psychologist has shared a disturbing account of an international caller who attempted to involve her in blasphemous discussions while offering substantial financial incentives. Her experience raises important questions about whether online conversations are being used to target, manipulate and potentially trap individuals into blasphemy-related activity.
The psychologist, Maryam Siddiqui, shared her experience on Facebook. According to her post, she received a call from an international number. Because she conducts professional sessions with people living in different countries, she initially believed the caller wanted to take a session. However, she says that during the first conversation, she quickly realised that the purpose of the call appeared to be something different. She ended the call, but the person contacted her again the following day.
According to psychologist Maryam Siddiqui, the caller introduced himself as an orthopedic surgeon from a Pakistani religious family who was living in London. He reportedly claimed that he was working for an organisation where people were given different tasks and were paid large amounts of money for completing them. The most serious part of the conversation was the nature of those tasks.
She says the caller told her that his work involved persuading Muslims, doing blasphemy targeting religious personalities of Islam. He reportedly claimed that hundreds of people in Lahore were already involved in similar activities. But this experience raises an important question:
Can people be approached online through ordinary conversations and then slowly exposed to religiously offensive material, financial offers or attempts to change their beliefs?
How the Contact Reportedly Happened
According to the psychologist, she understood during the first call that she was not being contacted simply for a professional session. She says she continued listening because she wanted to understand the person’s purpose and hoped that she might be able to speak to him peacefully and possibly correct his thinking. The caller repeatedly said that he did not want to discuss the sensitive religious subject or mislead her.
However, she says that he continued bringing the conversation back to the same topic.
She also says that the caller made offensive statements about Islamic religious figures and talked about tasks involving the burning of the Quran. The psychologist then blocked him. But, the contact did not stop. She says the person later called from a Pakistani number. Again, she says, he promised not to discuss the same subject, but eventually returned to it. He also tried to attract her by talking about large amounts of money. She refused and blocked the second number as well.
Why This Experience Matters
One person’s experience does not prove the existence of a large organised operation. But it can raise questions that investigators can examine. The important part is not simply what the caller said. It is the method of contact described by the psychologist.
According to her account, the conversation started through a professional service. The caller then moved toward personal and religious subjects. When she resisted, he reportedly continued the conversation and later mentioned financial benefits. If similar incidents have happened to other people, investigators should examine whether there are common patterns between them.
Read the Doctor’s Original Facebook Post
For readers who want to read the psychologist’s original account in her own words, the original Facebook post is available here: Maryam Siddiqui’s Original Post
