— Nawaz says state will not tolerate citizens taking law in hands
— Nisar says religion does not permit any maltreatment of even atheist
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that the perpetrators, behind the murder of Mashal Khan, should know that the state would not tolerate citizens taking the law into their own hands.
He expressed his shock and sadness over the senseless display of mob ‘justice’ at the Wali Khan University (AWKU) in Mardan that resulted in the murder of a student Mashal Khan. “I am shocked and saddened by the senseless display of mob ‘justice’ that resulted in the murder of Mashal Khan,” he said.
Prime Minister Nawaz said that the police have been directed to apprehend those responsible in the act. “No father should have to send his child off to be educated, with the fear of having him returned in a coffin,” he said. The prime minister urged the nation to stand united to condemn this crime and to promote tolerance and rule of law in the society.
Before the prime minister, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had condemned the brutal murder, saying: “Falsely accusing someone of blasphemy without verification is also blasphemy. This is not the teaching of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).”
Maryam Nawaz, the prime minister’s daughter, also tweeted regarding the incident soon after her father’s statement, saying: “Shocked to see Mashal Khan’s killing video. Vigilantism and mob justice are indicative of regressive and putrid mindset. Is that what we stand for?”
“Images of brutal killing of two brothers in Sialkot years ago still haunts and now Mashal Khan. Do we want to be known as benighted nation,” she questioned. On April 13, Mashal, 23, was shot and beaten to death by a violent mob inside the university.
The mob had also wanted to burn his body before police intervened, a senior police official had said. He had been accused of blasphemy by fellow students. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak told the provincial assembly that no evidence had been found to suggest that Mashal Khan had committed blasphemy.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Minister for Interior Affairs Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan expressed disappointment over the cold-blooded murder of Mashal Khan, saying it is unfortunate that people who are behind his murder are associating religion with the act.
Terming it as a blatant murder, he said it was the law of the jungle given the manner the young university student was killed. “Even if accusations against someone are true, there is a process to pursue the case,” he added. “Islam is a model; it has a framework of justice,” Nisar said.
He said that the religion does not permit any maltreatment of a non-Muslim or even an atheist. “I think the provincial government has taken the right decision to call a judicial inquiry,” he said, adding this is an appropriate way to go about it. “It is an area in which the entire country has felt revulsion,” he said, regretting that the incident showed how certain people still misuse the name of Islam.
Earlier, the interior minister said that the heads of Islamic countries have appreciated Pakistan for its efforts to curb the sharing of blasphemous content on social media. “We have been successful in removing a lot of blasphemous posts,” he said, adding that the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had appreciated Pakistan’s efforts as blasphemy is a major issue.
“But we need to find a permanent solution to this problem,” the interior minister said. “A Facebook vice president will be visiting Pakistan early next month,” Nisar said, adding that they have removed more than 80 per cent posts with blasphemous content. He said that Facebook was working with the government on a fast-track basis whenever there is a complaint regarding blasphemous content.
Nisar said that people have the right of expression and that they should exercise it, but he was repulsed how some people referred to some of the most celebrated religious personalities in gutter language. “You can disagree. You have your religion, I have my religion. You can disagree with the principles of our religion… but the way some of the holiest personalities were referred to was beyond my imagination,” he added.
The interior minister said that the government, upon the recommendation of the OIC, was planning to hold a conference in the coming months, in which not only OIC members but also service providers as well as the counterpart agencies of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority would also be invited. The conference, the planning of which is underway, is likely to be held after the month of Ramazan.