Under the guise of investigations against sacrilegious material allegedly posted on social media, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has also added some NGOs to the list. These organisations are allegedly backing sacrilegious campaigns. The FIA has informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology that it has started investigations against the local as well as international non-governmental organisations that it believes are funding, supporting and disseminating blasphemous content and related activities in the country. The agency has already arrested four persons in this regard. This development comes after Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued directions to the government to crack down on alleged blasphemy on social media, following which the Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan had directed the FIA to initiate an inquiry against social media bloggers posting sacrilegious material. Let us consider a few points. First, while one can fault NGOs for many things — these allegations that they are promoting blasphemous content or pornographic material appear to be somewhat far-fetched. On a very fundamental level, they are difficult to digest unless one is in a state of immense anxiety and unnecessary excitement. One is reminded of similar right-wing and conservative hysteria around ‘foreign NGOs with a foreign agenda’ promoted by the Modi-led BJP government in India. Second, the allegations of blasphemy against certain bloggers arrested earlier have not only tarnished their image but also threatened their lives at the hands of religious zealots, forcing most of them to flee the country. Those allegations were never substantiated, except on the airwaves, where a handful of shrill anchors held court and issued bloodcurdling calls for violence. Therefore, the agency must ensure that the identities of any people that it takes into custody, from this point onward, are kept secret. The least that one can expect is that the due process be followed. The state in the past has targeted some NGOs unfairly, alleging wrongdoings without any proof. The possibility of a repeat cannot be ruled out. Therefore, once the investigation is complete, evidence of foreign or local NGO involvement in the alleged activities must be presented in court and the representatives must be given a fair trial. Above all, state authorities and self-appointed moral authorities must realise that allegations of blasphemy are a sensitive matter in this country. They are capable of generating very real violence against very innocent people, and as such, ought not to be thrown around lightly and later conveniently forgotten. *