"“Bitter Winter” has recently spoken with a number of Pakistanis from different religious backgrounds, wishing to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. They are alarmed by the constant climate of serious intolerance that reigns in the country, where a bigoted interpretation of Islam, intermingled with politics, persecute all religious minorities. In Pakistan, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims of Shia (including the Hazaras) and Ahmadi persuasion live under the sword of Damocles of that set of norms that are generally and commonly referred to as the “blasphemy law.” Many feel threatened by a situation that apparently never improves, even if better signs appear at times. They–for example the Ahmadis—are in fact even scared that those better signs could be superficially or ideologically exploited by some outside or hostile forces to imply that, after all, the situation is not that bad."