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MOB IN PAK TORTURES SRI LANKAN TO DEATH FOR ‘BLASPHEMY’

A mob in Pakistan’s Sialkot, in Punjab province tortured a Sri Lankan man to death before burning his body, in a case of alleged blasphemy. The workers of private factories attacked the export manager of a factory and burnt his body after killing him, reported Dawn newspaper. A large contingent of police has been sent […]

A mob in Pakistan’s Sialkot, in Punjab province tortured a Sri Lankan man to death before burning his body, in a case of alleged blasphemy. The workers of private factories attacked the export manager of a factory and burnt his body after killing him, reported Dawn newspaper. A large contingent of police has been sent to the city of Sialkot to bring the situation under control. The incident took place in the Wazirabad Road area.

Several videos doing the rounds of the internet showed scores of men gathered at the site. People can be heard chanting slogans of “Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah” in some of the videos. Police said the victim has been identified as Priyantha Kumara of Sri Lanka.

Pakistan Prime Minister condemned the incident by tweeting, “The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot & the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan. I am overseeing the investigations & let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress.”

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar termed the incident as “very tragic”. “Every aspect of the incident should be investigated and a report should be submitted. Action should be taken against those who take the law into their own hands,” Buzdar was quoted as saying by Dawn.

According to Dawn, Armagan Gondal, the Sialkot police chief said that the factory workers accused Priyantha Kumara of “desecrating posters bearing the name of Prophet Muhammad”. Gondal added that the victim was killed inside the factory premises. Dawn reported that it had video footage which showed men surrounding the burning corpse, raising slogans and recording video.

According to Sri Lankan media, Priyantha Kumara was the General Manager of Sialkot’s Rajko Industries, which had made the cricket jersey and gear for the Pakistan T20 team for World Cup.

The Sri Lankan media also reported that Colombo has told Islamabad that it expects the Pakistani authorities to investigate the incident and ensure justice.

Highlighting the grim reality of “spiralling radicalisation” in Pakistan, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday condemned the killing of the Sri Lankan man on “flimsy allegations of blasphemy”. “The unthinkable savagery with which a Sialkot mob has tortured a Sri Lankan man to death and burned his body on flimsy allegations of blasphemy should bring home once and for all the grim reality of spiralling radicalisation in Pakistan,” HRCP said in a statement.

Slamming the Imran Khan government, the rights group said the state’s response has been “cowardly at best and complicit at worst.” “We demand an immediate, transparent inquiry into the incident. Not only must the perpetrators be brought to justice, but the state must also cease its collusion with far-right elements,” the statement added.

Pakistan’s civil society expressed anguish at the killing. Expressing anger over the killing, actress Mahira Khan said that she was ashamed and disgusted due to such incidents happening in her country. “Ashamed!! Sick to my stomach,” Mahira said in a tweet on Friday referring to the Sialkot incident. Mahira also said that she was looking at “Prime Minister Imran Khan for answers, for justice and to take away this menace from our country”.

Attacking Imran Khan’s government, writer Fatima Bhutto, who is the niece of the late Benazir Bhutto, tweeted, “Horrified by the news from Sialkot. Is there a clearer or more tragic picture of the forces this government has empowered? Every man in that mob should be tried for murder.”

This incident took place as increasing cases of blasphemy in Pakistan continue to be a cause of concern for rights activists. Pakistan has registered thousands of blasphemy cases, which are mostly against religious minorities like Hindus, Christians, Shias and Ahmadiya Muslims from 1987 till today, according to several reports by rights groups. A large number of these blasphemy cases in Pakistan are still awaiting justice.

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