Mashal Khan lynching: Shooter Imran Ali sentenced to death, 5 given 25 years in jail [Update #280]

[Adil_94]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] yes large sections of the population have been radicalised. The state isnt extremist but a lot of its people are now.

 

[Adil_94]

@Cpt.Rishwat the druge dealers who get these big funerals are often people from their same biraderi or area in pakistan who is a well known person who gets people coming to his funeral.

No one is citing these people as moral examples or people we should elevate to the status of a saint or a hero. Like People have done to Mumtaz Qadri. Religious organisations that have influence over millions of pakistanis were venerating Qadri like a hero calling him a ghazi aashiq e rasool. Not just those who attended his funeral but the millions on social media who were praising him.

Ghamkol Sharif the largest mosque in the U.K supported this guy as did other British Imams. This is much more of a problem than people turning up to gangsters funerals.

Then again your habit of starting obscurantist arguments whenever Pakistan or Islamic Extremism in the country is criticised shows its head again.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

@Cpt.Rishwat the druge dealers who get these big funerals are often people from their same biraderi or area in pakistan who is a well known person who gets people coming to his funeral.

No one is citing these people as moral examples or people we should elevate to the status of a saint or a hero. Like People have done to Mumtaz Qadri. Religious organisations that have influence over millions of pakistanis were venerating Qadri like a hero calling him a ghazi aashiq e rasool. Not just those who attended his funeral but the millions on social media who were praising him.

Ghamkol Sharif the largest mosque in the U.K supported this guy as did other British Imams. This is much more of a problem than people turning up to gangsters funerals.

Then again your habit of starting obscurantist arguments whenever Pakistan or Islamic Extremism in the country is criticised shows its head again.

I was talking about a white gangster funeral actually, not every bad thing in the UK revolves around Pakistanis. No one has heard of Ghamkol Sharif either, if you can find me a news article about them in a reputed UK news site point me in the direction I'll look them up. Maybe they are being discussed on Newsnight. That was my point, I don't see what's obscurantist about it. No one cares about these issues in the UK, they wouldn't have heard about them unless they come on here.

 

[Adil_94]

@Cpt.Rishwat our discussion was on primarily is Pakistan an extremist country or are large sections of the population radicalised. But this has also found its way into some parts of British Pakistani communities too.

http://5pillarsuk.com/video/video-m...his-stance-on-mumtaz-qadri-at-ghamkol-sharif/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/rel...-imams-who-applaud-barbarism-in-Pakistan.html


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...kistani-muslim-who-murdered-a-blasphemer.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37032419

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...yre-muslims-life-for-ahmadis-after-asad-shahs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35928848

https://youtu.be/LxJGnHU5lTA





https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/01/funeral-pakistani-mumtaz-qadri-executed-salmaan-taseer

100 thousand its estimated at Qadris funeral in Pakistan. Thats a lil more than your local druglord will get. Be it A white one a black one or an asian one.

When u have some British Imams praising a murderer like Qadri then this doesnt bode well for the future generation. But in the U.K its not as much of an issue as it is in Pakistan when these organisations are allowed to propagate their extremism openly. Which is why u get so many people turn up to a murderers funeral and millions on social media calling him a hero.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

@Cpt.Rishwat our discussion was on primarily is Pakistan an extremist country or are large sections of the population radicalised. But this has also found its way into some parts of British Pakistani communities too.

http://5pillarsuk.com/video/video-m...his-stance-on-mumtaz-qadri-at-ghamkol-sharif/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/rel...-imams-who-applaud-barbarism-in-Pakistan.html


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...kistani-muslim-who-murdered-a-blasphemer.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37032419

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...yre-muslims-life-for-ahmadis-after-asad-shahs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35928848

https://youtu.be/LxJGnHU5lTA





https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/01/funeral-pakistani-mumtaz-qadri-executed-salmaan-taseer

100 thousand its estimated at Qadris funeral in Pakistan. Thats a lil more than your local druglord will get. Be it A white one a black one or an asian one.

When u have some British Imams praising a murderer like Qadri then this doesnt bode well for the future generation. But in the U.K its not as much of an issue as it is in Pakistan when these organisations are allowed to propagate their extremism openly. Which is why u get so many people turn up to a murderers funeral and millions on social media calling him a hero.

No one cares enough in the UK about what goes on in Pakistan or in Pakistani community unless it directly impacts on British daily life. At the moment it's minimal, hence no one apart from a few who study and obsess over Islamic issues like yourself perhaps, will have heard of that group you mentioned before. When there was an incident where the Ahmadi was murdered in Glasgow that certainly made the news for a while, but that was a one off, and unless it becomes a pattern, the general British public just don't care.

 

[Sidilicious]

As did every mainstream politician. That's my issue with his ilk. Condemnations are well and good but where's the action? On the one hand he condemns every incident like this one and on the other his government has thrown it's weight behind policies that produce more Qadris and mobs, not Taseers and Mashals.

Would IK have said the same comments of it was proven that Mashal had indeed said something that might have been considered blasphemous? If the guy did commit 'blasphemy', and then Imran Khan was against the guy's murder then it would have been a brave move.

 

[DW44]

Would IK have said the same comments of it was proven that Mashal had indeed said something that might have been considered blasphemous? If the guy did commit 'blasphemy', and then Imran Khan was against the guy's murder then it would have been a brave move.

Don't want to pull things out of thin air so I don't know what he'd have said had the victim actually said something considered blasphemous by the poor excuses for human beings that like to kill people for stuff like that. Either way, I've made it clear that my objection isn't to what IK has said or hasn't said, it's to what he has done or hasn't done. All the anti extremist rhetoric in the world is meaningless if it's coming from someone whose actions enable terrorists and extremists.

 

[Adil_94]

@Cpt.Rishwat yeah the average Brit wont know or care about Mumtaz Qadri or Mashal Khan but this is part of a wider discussion of religious extremism in Pakistan and a lot of those extremist clerics are part of organisations that train scholars to come and teach and preach in the U.K so while it isnt an issue for now for most Brits it could become one with demographic changes.

Religious extremism in Pakistan is a big issue and i dont think anyone can deny that.

 

[Sidilicious]

Don't want to pull things out of thin air so I don't know what he'd have said had the victim actually said something considered blasphemous by the poor excuses for human beings that like to kill people for stuff like that. Either way, I've made it clear that my objection isn't to what IK has said or hasn't said, it's to what he has done or hasn't done. All the anti extremist rhetoric in the world is meaningless if it's coming from someone whose actions enable terrorists and extremists.

Fair enough. I am not from Pakistan, so I don't know anything about the ground realities. As a fellow atheist (some may even call me a militant atheist for my choice of words) I follow your posts eagerly. I grew up in India (when it was more tolerant. Having said that it is still tolerant for atheist. Not so for muslims) and now live in the west, so cannot even imaging what you have to endure.

Given whats happening in India and Bangladesh, the whole of South Asia is coming to a cross roads where they'll have to chose a particular path that will either lead to destruction or progress. There will be no looking back once the country chooses that path. Unfortunately for Pakistan, it is much closer to the point of no return than India and Bangladesh.

But, barring a handful of posters on PP, most have condemned the act with very strong words. I believe thats definitely a positive sign. I understand that PP is not representative of Pakistan in general. But surely those who make the political elite come from similar backgrounds as those on PP. So, in the years to come, I would expect them to be more vocal about this sort of stuff.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

@Cpt.Rishwat yeah the average Brit wont know or care about Mumtaz Qadri or Mashal Khan but this is part of a wider discussion of religious extremism in Pakistan and a lot of those extremist clerics are part of organisations that train scholars to come and teach and preach in the U.K so while it isnt an issue for now for most Brits it could become one with demographic changes.

Religious extremism in Pakistan is a big issue and i dont think anyone can deny that.

Perhaps so, I just found it amusing that you described my arguments as obscurantist, when in fact as a British person you would fit that description far better.

 

[DW44]

Fair enough. I am not from Pakistan, so I don't know anything about the ground realities. As a fellow atheist (some may even call me a militant atheist for my choice of words) I follow your posts eagerly. I grew up in India (when it was more tolerant. Having said that it is still tolerant for atheist. Not so for muslims) and now live in the west, so cannot even imaging what you have to endure.

Given whats happening in India and Bangladesh, the whole of South Asia is coming to a cross roads where they'll have to chose a particular path that will either lead to destruction or progress. There will be no looking back once the country chooses that path. Unfortunately for Pakistan, it is much closer to the point of no return than India and Bangladesh.

Point of no return was breached a long time ago. No government, elected or dictatorial, can now roll back the policies that enable such an environment without running into the kind of public resistance that would destroy even a military dictatorship. The only time people in Pakistan have united for anything so unanimously was from 2006 to 2008 when Musharraf was forced to step down. People in Pakistan, when peddling the poor people oppresed by corrupt leaders narrative, conveniently disregard how powerful our public is when it really wants something done. Forcing an army dictator to step down is no mean feat and the backlash to any steps towards mitigating the damage done till now will make the resistance to Musharraf look like a warm up act.

But, barring a handful of posters on PP, most have condemned the act with very strong words. I believe thats definitely a positive sign. I understand that PP is not representative of Pakistan in general. But surely those who make the political elite come from similar backgrounds as those on PP. So, in the years to come, I would expect them to be more vocal about this sort of stuff.

The majority of politicians are from very different backgrounds to the majority of PPers. The political elite created this situation and the Interior Minister, Chaudhary Nisar, practically sanctioned this lynching with his recent war on blasphemy and statements like "blasphemy will no longer be tolerated". In a country where blasphemy is already a capital offense, the common man will see that statement as a go ahead for mob violence against alleged blasphemers. There are three main parties, PML-N, PPP and PTI, and all three are very much enablers of terrorists and extremists, not people who will oppose terrorism when the time is right. Even secular parties like ANP have to issue pro extremist statements from time to time in order to not lose votes(ANP is secular according to their manifesto and one of their former ministers, a distant relative of mine, once offered a bounty of Rs. 1 million for some blasphemer's head).

 

[Adil_94]

@Cpt.Rishwat my main post was talking about religious extremism in Pakistan. What i was highlighting was that these same religious organisations in Pakistan that are praising murderers like Mumtaz Qadri. Also have extensive links with mosques in the U.K too they provide a lot of literature and scholars too who come and preach in U.K mosques to British people. So its not obscurantist to bring this up when u have scholars teaching British kids who hold views like this it should be a cause for concern .

Then again you live far away from places like Bradford and Birmingham where these organisations have a lot of influence in the mosques so it probably wont affect you or be an issue in your locale.

 

[Adil_94]

@Cpt.Rishwat to bring up a few hundred turning upto the funeral of a gangster and compare that to 100,000 turning up for the funeral of a Murderer praising him chanting his name. calling him a hero. That is an obscurantist point.

Family and friends turning up for a mobster is a whole different kettle of fish to people from all over the country in fact from other countries too turning up to honour and celebrate a terrorist as a hero.

 

[dhump]

Public opinion seems to be divided into two camps: those who see the lynching as a heinous crime, a minority, and those who see it as more of an operational error than a crime i.e. it would have been justified had the victim actually been guilty of blasphemy but in this case it isn't because the blasphemy allegation has been proven false conclusively. The latter case accounts for the bulk of public opinion. There's very little outright support for the lynching and the perpetrators like there was in Salman Taseer's case.

This topic will be raised in election regardless of what IK does because that's how politics work. The same people who will raise it now would have raised it in a different way if he hadn't visited the victim's family. My point is that it's ultimately a meaningless gesture when his party's policies and their network of alliances is still very much in line with the far right in the same way that Nawaz Sharif condemning a Lashkar e Jhangvi attack in Quetta is meaningless when his party is in an electoral alliance with them and make policies that enable their actions. I wouldn't hold my breath on his rhetoric being followed by actions because this isn't the first time IK has verbally expressed outrage in the aftermath opf an Islamist attack while retaining policies that favor the Islamists heavily. JI needs to go and the litmus test of IK's true intentions will be how the school curriculum issue is dealt with from here on because he can condemn the "operational error" all he wants, if his government is still allowing JI to dictate school curicullum and getting it approved by Sipah Sahaba for good measure, his condemnation is meaningless because through his actions(or inaction), his schools are producing a hundred more mobs like the one that killed Mashal.

In short you just simply don't want to give any credit because disagree with him on some other points.
Public opinion is in kid's favour? Did you really follow what happened? Imran Khan was the first key politician to totally stand behind Mashal and his family and went as far as saying that "Ye jungle ka qanoon nahi chalega" knowing very well what it could mean in a blasphemy case. This was within few hours after this incident and many people criticised Imran's statement for being blunt. All the Bilawals and Sharifs took couple of days to condemn this after finding out what exactly had happened.

Beyond statements and condemnations, key culprits had been arrested within hours, CM KPK had adddressed the media, parliament and made it clear that Mashal was innocent. Imam who refused janza prayer was arrested and even PTI's councillor has been arrested. Imran Khan has since visited the family and completely stood behind the innocent person from beginning to now.

So quite clear that NOTHING is ever going to be enough for people like you.

I dont think I need to answer in any detail after the psot above. I would suggest you to review your opinion on Imran Khan stance on this case you will find it brave and better than all others a the moment.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

@Cpt.Rishwat my main post was talking about religious extremism in Pakistan. What i was highlighting was that these same religious organisations in Pakistan that are praising murderers like Mumtaz Qadri. Also have extensive links with mosques in the U.K too they provide a lot of literature and scholars too who come and preach in U.K mosques to British people. So its not obscurantist to bring this up when u have scholars teaching British kids who hold views like this it should be a cause for concern .

Then again you live far away from places like Bradford and Birmingham where these organisations have a lot of influence in the mosques so it probably wont affect you or be an issue in your locale.

You are right, I don't live in an area with the volumes of Pakistanis such as Bradford or Birmingham so perhaps I don't have my finger on the pulse as it were. That said, my belief is that very few British Pakistanis have time for extremist figures the ones that do are probably people like yourself who study it and post religiously on these topics on websites like this one.

I am sure that if the problem ever becomes one where it affects lives of the British public then it will be dealt with very firmly. Until then you can continue to bring up obscure religious leaders no one has ever heard of in Britain and the rest of the population will probably go on watching films or football on tv.

If you want to talk about Pakistan and it's hero worship of extremists feel free. I don't know enough about that country so didn't comment, I only interjected in this topic because a fellow Brit (you) started talking about British Pakistanis.

 

[mani1]

@Cpt.Rishwat my main post was talking about religious extremism in Pakistan. What i was highlighting was that these same religious organisations in Pakistan that are praising murderers like Mumtaz Qadri. Also have extensive links with mosques in the U.K too they provide a lot of literature and scholars too who come and preach in U.K mosques to British people. So its not obscurantist to bring this up when u have scholars teaching British kids who hold views like this it should be a cause for concern .

Then again you live far away from places like Bradford and Birmingham where these organisations have a lot of influence in the mosques so it probably wont affect you or be an issue in your locale.

Which Mosques in Bradford do these "Extremists" preach.

As for praising murderers like Qadri what's your view on White English/European's praising Christian Barbarians such as Milosovich, Blair, Bush, even Hitler etc never mind that genocidal savage Churchill who's mug we have to endure on our 5ers

 

[KingKhanWC]

if you say No you've got your head in the sand

Care to explain?

Infact I will start a thread on it.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Ok so you're fine with the state punishing people for 'blasphemy?'...I don't know your views hence I ask ...

You only criticise Pakistan when it allows you to take a jab at the Americans ...ie on drones or Afghanistan ...

Nonsense. I criticise Pakistan the most for it's corruption, use the search function if you'd really like to know.

But as Adil correctly points out your comments show your hypocrisy ...you got a little offended when a Pakistani on the ground said there was an issue with the treatment of minorities ...

If a group of white guys lynched a Muslim in the UK you would have been up in arms ...

Being a nationalist is fine by the way but you're not a true one when all you're interested in is misrepresentation ...rather than actually offering something constructive ...

You probably found Malala more offensive than the attack itself ...

lol. I don't get offended at anything and it's ironic coming from a defender of Israel.

 

[Slog]

Care to explain?

Infact I will start a thread on it.

Nothing to explain

Whether it is the laws, or the general opinion of the people according to polls, Pakistan is an extremist country by most measures

Do start a thread asking this question

 

[KingKhanWC]

Nothing to explain

Whether it is the laws, or the general opinion of the people according to polls, Pakistan is an extremist country by most measures

Do start a thread asking this question

So the majority of Pakistani's in Pakistan are religous extremists?

Which polls are you reffering to?

 

[Heisenberg]

So the majority of Pakistani's in Pakistan are religous extremists?

Which polls are you reffering to?

It absolutely is

 

[KingKhanWC]

It absolutely is

I'd love to take your word but please provide some evidence to support your belief.

 

[Syed1]

Nothing to explain

Whether it is the laws, or the general opinion of the people according to polls, Pakistan is an extremist country by most measures

Do start a thread asking this question

Pakistan is extremist in both senses of the word. The religious lot is constantly in a state of Sajda while the liberal brigade has bottles of liquor flowing like there is no tomorrow. Miyana ravi ki kami hai.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Pakistan is extremist in both senses of the word. The religious lot is constantly in a state of Sajda while the liberal brigade has bottles of liquor flowing like there is no tomorrow. Miyana ravi ki kami hai.

This. The rabid religious right and the playboy type liberal fascists are two sides of the same coin, and both should be condemned.

 

[PakLFC]

Terrible just terrible what has been done to this young man. When the authorities and many within support such extremism it is difficult to punish the perpetrators. In any civil country only the law can decide even if a person is accused of blasphemy. In Pakistan especially KPK region extreme students who see blasphemy everywhere don't give a damn about what any law says as long as their thirst for blood is quenched. From the gruesome video seen hundred's are beating up the poor man to the chanting of "naraah-e-taqbeer". I just can't see how all these people can be bought to justice by a man who wants the Taliban to have offices in Islamabad!!

 

[Adil_94]

@mani1 Not supportive of Churchill being on our fivers. Brits view of Churchill is the wartime hero who defeated the Nazis. How can people support Churchill and Hitler that doesnt even make sense. No one praises him for his actions during the Mau Mau Rebellion or him wanting to keep India. Brits have a one sided view of Churchill. Though i agree we should be taught a more balanced view of Churchill because he was a seriously flawed individual. People who still support colonialism and people like Hitler and Milosevic guilty of genocide tend to be Far Right nationalist and neo nazis and of course they should be condemned. Luckily most people in the West dont support Hitler or Milosevic or we’d be toast. Bush and Blair are widely criticised in the U.K and most of Europe tbh. Iraq has stained Blairs legacy in all sectors of society. Who is calling Bush and Blair heroes its widely acknowledged that the invasion of Iraq was a huge mistake. Bush and Blair certainly arent heroes to majority of Brits and Americans.


In Bradford Ulema from Hanfia like Imam Muhammad Asim Tablighi Jamaat Masajids like Toller Lane and Westgate ulema from their like Ansar ul Qadri. Irfan Shah Mashadi. Allama Hamdami. All these organisations like Pir Maharoofs lot were supporting Qadri and calling him aashiq e rasool. You had Ghamkol e Sharif in Bham praising Qadri These are same guys who are respected amongst the congregations of these mosques supposedly role model for kids.

 

[Adil_94]

@Cpt.Rishwat like you said you live away from the places where these guys have any influence in mosques or religious organisations. In certain parts of Bradford that isnt the case. When u see a lot of mosques u went to as a kid supporting people like Qadri then it will be brought to your attention. But yeah those British Pakistanis who live away from these areas or who arent regular mosque goers wont pay attention to these type of people. The ones that do though is the worry.

 

[Adil_94]

@Syed1 the liberal alcoholics arent blowing people at least. The liberals who arent part of the upper class generally want more human rights in Pakistan and freedom of expression yet they are called extremist when the mullahs are the one with the mobs and militants.

The two are nowhere near on the same level when it comes to the damage done to Pakistani society.

 

[yasir]

Pakistan is extremist in both senses of the word. The religious lot is constantly in a state of Sajda while the liberal brigade has bottles of liquor flowing like there is no tomorrow. Miyana ravi ki kami hai.

Liberal in America are the ones giving most stick to Trump on all discriminatory issues including Muslim ban, and that too after drinking truck load of Alcohol , maybe not truck load because liberals are health conscious - Cabanas yes, that's healthy.

Not drinking Alcohol has made Muslim conservatives such a model citizen

Bhutto also played with illetrate population as well. Selling them cheap and junk ideology like banning Alcohol, making Quran above constitution and democracy, Qadarni Kafir, oil is Muslim bomb etc. He was not a liberal, either he did not understand what liberal means or he was playing with centiments of masses. How in the world you you surrender to core values of liberals?? - He gave country back to both Mulla and Amry, he laid platform for them.

Pakistanis should be happy, first we build Taliban in neighboring country now we are home growing it. Our universities are epic center of Taliban, Amry must be very proud, Zia and Hameed Gul would have moved to one more level in heaven, we are seeing fruits of there efforts

You are too much focus on surface level values like most, liberals are not defined by how much Alcohol they drink . I have met many in Pakistan who drank next to me, not only 10% of them were liberal. That speice is very rare in Pakistan. Most of them has left the country.

What Pakistan need is big injection of liberals. No society can evolve without liberals, they are the agent of change and innovation. You take liberals out of USA, what will be left? Trump land

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

@mani1 Not supportive of Churchill being on our fivers. Brits view of Churchill is the wartime hero who defeated the Nazis. How can people support Churchill and Hitler that doesnt even make sense. No one praises him for his actions during the Mau Mau Rebellion or him wanting to keep India. Brits have a one sided view of Churchill. Though i agree we should be taught a more balanced view of Churchill because he was a seriously flawed individual. People who still support colonialism and people like Hitler and Milosevic guilty of genocide tend to be Far Right nationalist and neo nazis and of course they should be condemned. Luckily most people in the West dont support Hitler or Milosevic or we’d be toast. Bush and Blair are widely criticised in the U.K and most of Europe tbh. Iraq has stained Blairs legacy in all sectors of society. Who is calling Bush and Blair heroes its widely acknowledged that the invasion of Iraq was a huge mistake. Bush and Blair certainly arent heroes to majority of Brits and Americans.


In Bradford Ulema from Hanfia like Imam Muhammad Asim Tablighi Jamaat Masajids like Toller Lane and Westgate ulema from their like Ansar ul Qadri. Irfan Shah Mashadi. Allama Hamdami. All these organisations like Pir Maharoofs lot were supporting Qadri and calling him aashiq e rasool. You had Ghamkol e Sharif in Bham praising Qadri These are same guys who are respected amongst the congregations of these mosques supposedly role model for kids.

Brits don't have a one sided view of Churchill, they regard him as a British patriot who went to war with Germany and won. If there was some unfortunate racist views they are ignored because the British don't want to have stains on their historic heroes. He is seen as a war general whereas Chamberlain will go down in history as a wishy washy appeaser of Hitler. I imagine Hitler would have been regarded with the same admiration as Churchill in Germany had he won.

As for Bush and Blair, the only reason they are criticised in the UK is because they couldn't achieve their war aims and we ended up in a quagmire. If the UK/US economies had ended up booming as a result of the action, no one would have cared about the lies and they certainly wouldn't have been criticised in the media. Much the same as most British don't care about what goes on in Pakistan for the most part, it's no more than a side issue. All that would probably be more suited to another topic, not really sure why we are even discussing it in here.

 

[Muhammad10]

Mardan police announce arrest of shooter in Mashal lynching case

Mardan's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Mohammad Alam Shinwari on Thursday announced that the young man who shot Mashal Khan in the Mardan lynching incident had been arrested.

Mashal, 23, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan (AWKUM) was shot and beaten to death by a violent mob on university premises on April 13.

Police officials said that he had been accused of running Facebook pages "which allegedly published blasphemous content".

Addressing the press, the DIG said police had acquired CCTV footage of the incident.

He added that after conducting investigations, police had today arrested a man identified as Imran, who is suspected of having shot the 23-year-old student.

The DIG said the man arrested was Mashal's class fellow and a student in the university's journalism department.

He added that the pistol with which Imran shot Mashal had also been recovered.

"During the initial investigation and interrogation that we conducted, he [Imran] accepted his crime," Shinwari added.

The DIG said the police are "investigating the case from every aspect," adding that members of the Supreme Court-ordered Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the incident had visited the university campus and met with administrative staff there.

Members of the JIT had also interviewed those accused in the case, Shinwari added.

Earlier today, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Waqar Ahmed had told the Supreme Court that the shooter in the case had been identified but remained at large.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was informed by the AAG KP that the person who shot at Mashal thrice has yet to be arrested. Police found three bullet casings from the scene of the crime, he added.

The lawyer submitted a report detailing that a total of 36 accused, including nine university staffers, had been arrested in connection with the case, six of whom have confessed to involvement in Mashal's murder before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The main accused in the case, Bilal Baksh, a security in-charge at Abdul Wali Khan University, had been taken into custody earlier this week.

The lawyer told the bench that as per the court's instructions, a Joint Investigation Team including representatives from Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Federal Investigation Agency had been set up to probe the lynching.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1329590/mardan-police-announce-arrest-of-shooter-in-mashal-lynching-case

 

[Syed1]

Mardan police announce arrest of shooter in Mashal lynching case

Mardan's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Mohammad Alam Shinwari on Thursday announced that the young man who shot Mashal Khan in the Mardan lynching incident had been arrested.

Mashal, 23, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan (AWKUM) was shot and beaten to death by a violent mob on university premises on April 13.

Police officials said that he had been accused of running Facebook pages "which allegedly published blasphemous content".

Read more: Mardan university student lynched by mob over alleged blasphemy: police

Addressing the press, the DIG said police had acquired CCTV footage of the incident.

He added that after conducting investigations, police had today arrested a man identified as Imran, who is suspected of having shot the 23-year-old student.

The DIG said the man arrested was Mashal's class fellow and a student in the university's journalism department.

He added that the pistol with which Imran shot Mashal had also been recovered.

"During the initial investigation and interrogation that we conducted, he [Imran] accepted his crime," Shinwari added.

The DIG said the police are "investigating the case from every aspect," adding that members of the Supreme Court-ordered Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the incident had visited the university campus and met with administrative staff there.

Members of the JIT had also interviewed those accused in the case, Shinwari added.

Earlier today, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Waqar Ahmed had told the Supreme Court that the shooter in the case had been identified but remained at large.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was informed by the AAG KP that the person who shot at Mashal thrice has yet to be arrested. Police found three bullet casings from the scene of the crime, he added.

The lawyer submitted a report detailing that a total of 36 accused, including nine university staffers, had been arrested in connection with the case, six of whom have confessed to involvement in Mashal's murder before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The main accused in the case, Bilal Baksh, a security in-charge at Abdul Wali Khan University, had been taken into custody earlier this week.

The lawyer told the bench that as per the court's instructions, a Joint Investigation Team including representatives from Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Federal Investigation Agency had been set up to probe the lynching.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1329590/mardan-police-announce-arrest-of-shooter-in-mashal-lynching-case

 

[Syed1]

Latkaoo iss darenday ko foran se pehlay..

he doesn't deserve to see the light of a single more day.

 

[Moiza]

If it were up to me, I'd have him stoned to death.

Proud of everyone fighting against these disgusting creatures, talking on social media is one thing but going head to head against these extremist is another.

 

[Mian]

Well done KP police

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Mashal's father asks SC to relocate daughters to Islamabad citing 'security threats' at home

The father of lynched Mardan university student, Mashal Khan, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking the government's help for relocation of his daughters and himself to Islamabad in light of alleged security threats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the family's hometown of Swabi.





Muhammad Iqbal Khan in his petition requested the provision of living arrangements and the admission of his daughters at colleges in Islamabad.The petition maintains that since Mashal's murder, his sisters have "not been able to pursue their studies for obvious security concerns", adding that "The education of the two daughters has become impossible in Swabi or anywhere in KP. There is an urgent need for the two being shifted to Islamabad.

"The petition maintains that in this light, it would be necessary for the applicant, Muhammad Iqbal Khan, to move to Islamabad, but this is impossible due to limited financial resources.The petition requests that the government provide living arrangements on a rent basis to allow Khan to move to Islamabad, and seeks admission for his older daughter "in any medical college at Islamabad/Rawalpindi"

.Khan claimed that it has become "very difficult" for his elder son, a civilian clerk in the Pakistan Air Force, to continue working at his post and said that once he shifts to Islamabad to "oversee the education of his daughters", he will leave his son his small business to run.

Iqbal had previously asked the SC to provide protection for his daughters, who he claimed were scared of going to school after Mashal Khan’s murder on April 13."My kids have never missed school or college. But since Mashal Khan’s incident, my daughters have not been to school or university. So I have asked the court to provide protection for my daughters.

"In April, a vigilante mob, incited by rumours attacked Mashal for allegedly "publishing blasphemous content online". The mass communication student was beaten and shot by the mob and succumbed to the injuries he received.


https://www.dawn.com/news/1338018

 

[Waseem]

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x5pceg1" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5pceg1_1895ju_people" target="_blank"></a> <i><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/" target="_blank"></a></i>


PTI KP speaker Asad Qaiser visited Mashal's house once again upon instructions from Imran Khan and assured of financial support to fight their case and also provided security to his family. Mashal's father thanked Imran Khan for his continuous support.

 

[PakLFC]

He should be punished without mercy. As he is so keen on it give him a proper Islamic punishment by hanging the basket!

 

[WebGuru]

Calling all the desi liberals here is the real face of your fav ANP FYI Mardan Nazim is the right hand of Hoti


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Witnesses in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> case have told his father that Mardan's Nazim Himayatullah Mayar of ANP is harrassing them to give false evidence <a href="https://t.co/SKhI4UmgRr">pic.twitter.com/SKhI4UmgRr</a></p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/923475729727225856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Waseem]

Mashal Khan lynching: Shooter Imran Ali sentenced to death, 5 given 25 years in jail

A Haripur Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday announced its verdict in the Mashal Khan lynching case, with initial reports suggesting that one person had been handed a death sentence, five were sentenced to 25 years in jail, 25 others were given at least three years in jail, whereas 26 will be acquitted without punishment.

The ATC is closed to reporters and a copy of the verdict has not been issued yet. We will strive to corroborate the initial reports received from outside the courtroom as soon as more information is available.

Breakdown of sentences:

Prime accused Imran Ali given death sentence
5 accused given 25 years in jail
25 accused given 3 years in jail
26 acquitted
61 people were charged in the FIR; 57 suspects were arrested

ATC Judge Fazal Khan Subhan read out the verdicts against each of the 57 arrested suspects presented before the court.

Prime accused Imran Ali, who had earlier confessed to shooting Mashal before a judicial magistrate, has been given the death sentence under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and fined Rs150,000.

Bilal Bakhsh, Fazal Razaq, Mujeebullah, Ashfaq Khan and Mudassir Bashir are the five accused handed 25 years in jail, BBC Urdu reported.

Twenty five convicts were given two concurrent sentences.

They were handed three years in jail under Sections 297/148/149 of the PPC and ordered to pay a Rs50,000 fine.

Separately, the ATC handed them a sentence of one year in jail under Section 11-WW Anti-Terrorism Act and a fine of Rs50,000.

In case of non-payment of fine under either of the sentences, six months will be added to their sentences.

Both sentences will run concurrently, and the longest sentence will be counted as total time period of imprisonment for the 25 convicts.

The court said those acquitted did not play a role in the lynching of the Mardan university student.

The counsel for the defence said they would challenge the ATC's verdict on Thursday.

'Hope no one else suffers this way'
Speaking to the media outside the courtroom as the verdict was being read out, Mashal's brother Aimal said that he hoped no one ever has to go through the ordeal his family suffered.

"We will consult our lawyers and see if we are satisfied with the verdict," Aimal said, adding: "My only appeal to the KP police is to arrest the rest of the suspects and bring them to justice as well."

Of the total 61 people accused ─ the majority of them students and university employees and a tehsil councillor belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ─ and charged in the first information report, 57 were arrested within a few days of the horrific lynching, while another one was arrested only last month.

Aimal said the family had not received any threats as the verdict was announced. He expressed satisfaction with security arrangements made for the family.

Extra security arrangements have been made due to the sensitivity of the case, with roads leading to jail closed off. The jail administration has also banned the entry of visitors, and provided security to Mashal's family at their residence.

"[PTI Chairman] Imran Khan had promised he would rename Swabi University after Mashal Khan, but that has yet to happen. We appeal to him to fulfil his promise," Aimal said.

"Mashal was not an ordinary person, he was a visionary," he added.

The family and lawyers of Iqbal Khan, Mashal's father, are hopeful that they will get justice. "The case is very strong. Police have provided strong evidence, including videos, of the incident," Fazl Khan, Iqbal's lawyer told DawnNews earlier.

Iqbal is in London, while Mashal's mother and sisters are in Swabi and will stay there due to security concerns.

The lynching of Mashal Khan
23-year-old Mashal Khan, a student of Mass Communications at Mardan's Abdul Wali Khan University, was beaten and shot to death by an angry mob on April 13, 2017, after he was accused of blasphemy.

The lynching took place within the premises of the university and was recorded on video which later circulated on social media.

The brutal incident shocked the nation and sparked a debate over the misuse of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.

The verdict in the case was reserved on January 27 after the court concluded the hearing of the case.

The prosecution had also presented video clips and pictures of Mashal's lynching in the ATC as evidence that the [suspects] were involved in his murder.

The court completed the hearing of the case in five months and 10 days.

JIT terms blasphemy allegations against Mashal as baseless
In June 2017, a 13-member joint investigation team — that was formed to investigate the murder — concluded in its report that the allegations of blasphemy against Mashal were unfounded and were used as a pretext to incite a mob against the slain student.

The JIT report had said that Mashal was murdered in line with a plan allegedly hatched by Sabir Mayar, the president of the Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF) and Ajmal, the president of the employees at AWKU, where Mashal was studying Mass Communication.

Mashal had been vocal about the rights of students at the university and even challenged the appointment of a new vice chancellor (VC) at the university to ensure that students were able to obtain their degrees, which is not possible without the VC's signature, the report had added.

Days before he was lynched by the mob, Mashal in an interview to Khyber news channel, had spoken against activities at the university and the administration.

The investigation revealed that illegal and criminal activities persisted in the university hostel and female students were also exploited in the university.

According to the report, Mayar viewed Mashal's stance against activities on campus to be a threat to the PSF.

The case regarding his murder was supposed to be heard in an ATC in Mardan, however, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) transferred it to a court in Haripur Jail on the request of Mashal's father who feared that his "influential adversaries" would try to sabotage the case proceedings.

The court started hearing the case in September last year after indicting 57 arrested suspects.

This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1387707/m...i-sentenced-to-death-5-given-25-years-in-jail

 

[Waseem]

Another great outcome and great to to see justice has been served.

Hopefully remaining accused can also be arrested and punished including some PTI Councillor who has apparently fled the country.

KPK government to appeal against release of some culprits due to lack of evidence.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KPK Govt decides to go in appeal against those who got released in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> murder case.</p>— Ajmal Jami (@ajmaljami) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajmaljami/status/961181921815523328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[waqar goraya]

Local chapters of JI and JUI trying to stir instability in Mardan. Will they get support from their top leadership and other mullahs? Will these so called protests spill over to other areas?

Every one knows that Mashal had never committed any blasphemy. Yet these people want to keep relevant by twisting the narrative and using it for their political aims.

 

[waqar goraya]

JUI-F workers in Mardan protest Mashal Khan case verdict, welcome acquitted 'heroes'

https://www.dawn.com/news/1387937/j...al-khan-case-verdict-welcome-acquitted-heroes

 

[waqar goraya]

Calling all the desi liberals here is the real face of your fav ANP FYI Mardan Nazim is the right hand of Hoti


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Witnesses in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> case have told his father that Mardan's Nazim Himayatullah Mayar of ANP is harrassing them to give false evidence <a href="https://t.co/SKhI4UmgRr">pic.twitter.com/SKhI4UmgRr</a></p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/923475729727225856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This Mardan Nazim has tried his very best to gain political mileage out of little Asma's murder. He was also caught on camera in physical brawl at one of the hospitals.

 

[Bewal Express]

JUI-F workers in Mardan protest Mashal Khan case verdict, welcome acquitted 'heroes'

https://www.dawn.com/news/1387937/j...al-khan-case-verdict-welcome-acquitted-heroes

Just imagine if they were allies of IK and not NS.

 

[humzy]

How is this any different to Blacks being lynched in America during the 1900s?

Get it together Pakistan.

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Anti Terrorism court? I presume this is military court?

Just absurd to be using anti terror courts for this. Might as well shut normal courts.

 

[Couch Cricketer]

Calling all the desi liberals here is the real face of your fav ANP FYI Mardan Nazim is the right hand of Hoti


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Witnesses in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> case have told his father that Mardan's Nazim Himayatullah Mayar of ANP is harrassing them to give false evidence <a href="https://t.co/SKhI4UmgRr">pic.twitter.com/SKhI4UmgRr</a></p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/923475729727225856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Lol quoting one of the most liberal pakistani to bash desi liberals.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

How is this any different to Blacks being lynched in America during the 1900s?

Get it together Pakistan.

In my opinion this is worse.

Those were different times and people were uninformed.

But in this day and age....

Kudos to Pakistan justice for capital punishment.

No one has right to kill another human being.

 

[in_cutter]

Hang him in public IMMEDIATELY I would

 

[DW44]

SHABQADAR : Political workers of two religious parties in Mardan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), have welcomed the release of 26 people acquitted in the Mashal Khan lynching case, terming them ‘heroes’.

Led by JUI-F provincial leader and former Member of National Assembly (MNA) Shujaul Mulk and JI leader Maulana Attaur Rehman, the workers gathered at Mardan Motorway on Wednesday to welcome the acquitted, who were released from Haripur jail.

One of the released, namely Izaz Khan, also issued a threat as he addressed workers from atop a stage, showing no remorse as he vowed to strictly punish those who commit blasphemy in the future.

Workers of the two parties welcomed the acquitted with chants of Ghazi (warrior of Islam), showering them with flowers, and announcing a rally after Friday prayers in their honor.

The gathering was attended by local Khatm-e-Nabuwat workers, who chanted slogans in favour of those in jail, as well as those released, condemning the deceased Mashal Khan as a blasphemer.

On April 13, 2017, the country had witnessed the brutal lynching of journalism student Mashal Khan at Abdul Wali Khan University in broad daylight, after he was accused of blasphemy.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident afterwards.

The FIR – registered under section-302, 148, 149, 297, 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code along with section-7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act – said that the tragic event was preceded by a students’ protest in which the mob accused Mashal and his two friends – Abdullah and Zubair – of committing blasphemy.

An anti-terrorism court in Abbotabad on Wednesday awarded death sentence to one and 25-year-prison to five others in the Mashal Khan murder case, releasing 26 other suspects.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1629256/1/

The true face of Islamofascism in Pakistan. These are our future leaders but never mind, these people have the nation's best interests at heart. To think that the largest party involved in these celebrations has also been writing KPK's textbooks for the last five years should give anyone without an obvious bias chills. Brace yourselves for another Taliban generation coming from KPK's educational institutions in about ten years, similar to how Zia era educational policies produced one on a nationwide level.

 

[DW44]

Just imagine if they were allies of IK and not NS.

IK's allies, JI, are the ones leading the celebrations. Both JI and JUI were part of the welcoming committee celebrating the acquittal of the murderers with JI (IK's allies) cadres outnumbering their JUI-F (NS' allies) counterparts. The same JI that has been writing KPK's textbooks for the last five years despite both the education and higher education ministers being from IK's party. The same JI that IK is on the record as saying "have the same ideology as us".

 

[Waseem]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1629256/1/

The true face of Islamofascism in Pakistan. These are our future leaders but never mind, these people have the nation's best interests at heart. To think that the largest party involved in these celebrations has also been writing KPK's textbooks for the last five years should give anyone without an obvious bias chills. Brace yourselves for another Taliban generation coming from KPK's educational institutions in about ten years, similar to how Zia era educational policies produced one on a nationwide level.

 

[DW44]

Sure, keep laughing. Those who don't learn from their mistakes and all that jazz. It's not like this hasn't been done before or the results aren't there for all to see. Keep supporting T.Khan, I would expect nothing less from a populist's supporters. Afterall, Trump still retains a 61% approval rating among evangelicals despite being a PoS so why should things be any different with other populists.

 

[Waseem]

Sure, keep laughing. Those who don't learn from their mistakes and all that jazz. It's not like this hasn't been done before or the results aren't there for all to see. Keep supporting T.Khan, I would expect nothing less from a populist's supporters. Afterall, Trump still retains a 61% approval rating among evangelicals despite being a PoS so why should things be any different with other populists.

Sorry if i offended but it really made me laugh.

By the way, is your main concern the massive and shocking change that current government made "Quaid e Azam is "secular" lawyer to "competent" lawyer that will produce new breed of extremists or are there more such shocking examples??

 

[DW44]

Sorry if i offended but it really made me laugh.

By the way, is your main concern the massive and shocking change that current government made "Quaid e Azam is "secular" lawyer to "competent" lawyer that will produce new breed of extremists or are there more such shocking examples??

Glad you brought the barrister example up because its the one used most commonly by PTI supporters to trivialize legitimate concerns over JI's role on shaping the school curriculum in KPK. This is but a drop in the ocean and one of the many small hangers that add up. Zia era schoolbooks did not tell people to blow themselves up, they did the same thing i.e. push an Islamocentric worldview with the most conservative interpretations. The results are there for all to see.

 

[Waseem]

Glad you brought the barrister example up because its the one used most commonly by PTI supporters to trivialize legitimate concerns over JI's role on shaping the school curriculum in KPK. This is but a drop in the ocean and one of the many small hangers that add up. Zia era schoolbooks did not tell people to blow themselves up, they did the same thing i.e. push an Islamocentric worldview with the most conservative interpretations. The results are there for all to see.

Sorry i genuinely don't know any change other than Mr Jinnah being secular lawyer or competent lawyer. Can you pass me examples what shocking changes they have made they will produce more extremists than Zia era? It is genuinely shocking for me, i will try to forward these to people who may be able to get answers.

 

[DW44]

Sorry i genuinely don't know any change other than Mr Jinnah being secular lawyer or competent lawyer. Can you pass me examples what shocking changes they have made they will produce more extremists than Zia era? It is genuinely shocking for me, i will try to forward these to people who may be able to get answers.

How can you not? We have had this exact exchange dozens of times before the secular/competent barrister controversy emerged and every time you dismissed my concerns as trivial in the grand scheme of things. Before I move on to the examples, I should add that the secular/competent barrister issue isn't trivial either. Jinnah occupies a pivotal role in Pakistan's national mythology and the perception of him as someone who had Islamist leanings is critical in the hard right taking ownership of the idea of a theocratic Pakistan as envisioned by Jinnah. The political legitimacy one can claim by taking ownership of Jinnah cannot be underestimated.

Now, on to the examples. I'll post them over the next several posts. They list is by no means exhaustive:

KP schools will teach Jihad again

Liberal activists and politicians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have expressed concerns about the provincial government's decision to undo recent curriculum reforms and teach young children about Jihad. The Tehrik-e-Insaf led government will add verses of the Holy Quran about Jihad in elementary and secondary school syllabus.

Habibur Rehman, a provincial minister belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which is part of the ruling coalition, admitted that a committee consisting of educationists, experts and religious scholars had been formed to make changes in the syllabus by the end of 2013.

In an effort to overcome religious extremism, the previous provincial government led by the Awami National Party (ANP) had carried out curriculum reforms in the province.

The content of Pakistan's official textbooks has often been criticized for promoting religious intolerance and hatred, leading calls for curriculum reforms. Several studies have criticized Pakistani textbooks for propagating irredentist and extremist beliefs about Pakistan's history and culture and downplaying the tolerant aspects of religion.

Khadim Hussain, a Peshawar-based political analyst, says hate material was incorporated into the curriculum during the Ziaul Haq regime to inculcate the spirit of Jihad among Pakistanis.

Officials in the education department said the process of curriculum reforms began at the federal level in 2006, when the administration of Gen Pervez Musharraf started to implement what it called the 'National Textbook and Learning Material Policy and Plan of Action'.

"Then provincial government of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal had rejected the syllabus proposed by the federal government, because it was secular. They took out the verses about Jihad from textbooks," said Habibur Rehman.

When education became a provincial subject following the 18th Amendment, "the ANP government made an effort to review the curriculum, included indigenous history (chapters on local heroes, for example Khushhal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, and Baacha Khan), human rights, peace and religious tolerance, and removed historic distortions, hate material, and harsh sentiments against non-Muslims", said Bushra Gohar, former parliamentarian and central vice-president of the ANP.

Religious parties, especially the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, opposed the reforms. "At the behest of foreign forces and international NGOs, the ANP government had removed material about Jihad and Islam from Islamic Studies and Social Studies books at elementary and secondly level," Habibur Rehman said. "Our party will not compromise on this issue." He said his party's leadership had taken Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and its chairman Imran Khan in confidence.

"The new provincial government's statements on curriculum reforms in the media have exposed its pro-Taliban agenda to radicalize the society by imposing on it the Salafi Jihadist narrative through the education system," Bushra Gohar said.

A PTI parliamentarian from Peshawar said his party's leaders were being pressured by Jamaat-e-Islami. "The JI was very keen to have the education ministry, but the party's central leadership decided not to give it to them," he said.

The main objective of the recent efforts to change the syllabus is to promote Jihadism among young people, and propagate distorted accounts of history, said the PTI leader. "Jihadist material in school curricula has been partly responsible for the growing extremism in the society. School curricula, sectarian speeches, and easy access to jihad literature and websites have played an active part in the rise of fundamentalist movements in Pakistan."

http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20130823&page=2

 

[DW44]

Sorry i genuinely don't know any change other than Mr Jinnah being secular lawyer or competent lawyer. Can you pass me examples what shocking changes they have made they will produce more extremists than Zia era? It is genuinely shocking for me, i will try to forward these to people who may be able to get answers.

Revised curriculum: JI pushes through its agenda on textbooks in K-P

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has agreed to revisions in the curriculum for government schools here – including the removal of pictures of schoolgirls with their heads uncovered – for the new academic session commencing April 1, 2015.

The PTI’s coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) raised objections over the curriculum which was approved in 2006. The JI said Islamic chapters had been removed in 2006 syllabus; the party also wanted secular chapters removed from the textbooks. The religious party asked for the removal of “objectionable” materials and the addition of 18 Quranic verses to grade 9 Chemistry book and “Assalam-o-Alaikum” instead of “Good Morning” being taught in first graders’ textbooks.

The JI expressed reservations over images in the Science textbooks for grade 4 and demanded the exclusion of chapters on Raja Dahir and Ranjit Singh in Pakistan Studies grade 8. As per the revised curriculum earlier, verses on jihad were removed from the ninth-grade Islamiat textbook and added to the grade 11 course.

The JI had requested these changes in September and warned the PTI government that what it saw as objectionable material must be removed from the texts or “the JI would be independent to decide its future course of action.”

According to Directorate of Curricula and Teacher Education (DCTE) Director Bashir Hussain Shah, the provincial government has accepted all of JI’s demands. The education department has notified all public sector institutes to revert to the curriculum set in 2002. The government managed to convince JI leaders to leave chapters on Bacha Khan and other Pukhtun personalities in the syllabus.

Caving in?

Earlier this month, Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ghani told a delegation of Peshawar Textbook Board that all objectionable material had been eliminated from textbooks.

He added that ‘objectionable material’ was included in books in 2006-2007, but the PTI government took notice and after long consultations with alliance parties and educations experts, it had decided to remove such material.

“From the next academic session new books will be taught in our province’s schools which will not have any objectionable material,” said Ghani. He added 4.5 million new books need to be printed and the government was trying to get that done as soon as possible.

A history of revisions

In 2006, the federal government wanted to remove duplication from various primary and secondary level textbooks and therefore the syllabus for all government schools was changed. However, the then MMA government in K-P condemned the centre’s decision. It formed a committee comprising leaders of various political parties and asked the federal government to refrain from making these changes; some of its demands were accepted.

In 2010, the 18th Amendment brought education under the province’s control and the ANP-led government of the time made some more changes to the syllabus.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/781717...ushes-through-its-agenda-on-textbooks-in-k-p/

With KP’s cleaner administration one expected better. The earlier ANP government had considerably softened textbooks in KP. But after Imran Khan’s PTI entered into an alliance with the Jamaat-i-Islami (and now possibly with arch-conservative Maulana Samiul Haq), there was drastic backpedaling. For example, there are newly added chapters in KP textbooks that glorify Ghazi Ilm Din — who preceded Mumtaz Qadri by almost a century — for murdering a blasphemer. This will gladden the hearts of those in Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s dharna who have paralysed Islamabad now for over two weeks and will surely swell their future ranks.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1372660/textbooks-kudos-to-punjab

Islamisation of school books in KP sparks debate

PESHAWAR: As teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai prepares to receive her Nobel Peace Prize, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — her hometown — is pushing for Islamic content in school textbooks that critics claim promotes violent jihad.

Malala, 17, is set to be awarded for her struggle against religious extremism and for the right of children, especially girls, to an education K-P — where Taliban militants tried to kill her two years ago.

The challenge is enormous: some 25 million children aged from five to 16 in Pakistan are out of school, 14 million of them girls, according to education campaign group Alif Ailaan.

But the biggest debate surrounding education in KP is not how to improve attendance, hire more teachers or repair dilapidated infrastructure: instead, the regional government is attempting to determine how best to reclaim the curriculum in the name of Islam.

The move is being led by Jamaat-e-Islami, the junior member of the coalition led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).

“There are errors in current text books which go against our values,” Inayatullah Khan, local governance minister, told AFP.

The project foresees, for example, reintroducing verses of the Koran that deal with jihad (holy war), and adding passages on the divine creation of the universe into science textbooks.

It also envisages rolling back changes made during the last period of reform, 2006, when authorities “removed religious chapters on social science texts” to replace them with “chapters on Nelson Mandela, Karl Marx, Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama and Neil Armstrong,” according to the minister.

They also want to pull primary school textbooks that depict girls without veils.

“We live in an Islamic society, women don't wear skirts here,” said Khan.

The project, confirmed by provincial education minister Atif Khan, pertains to public schools as well as those private schools which do not have the means to procure their own texts — covering the vast majority of students in the province.

Emphasis on Islam in non-religion related school texts began as early as the 1960s, but increased in the 1980s under the rule of hardline military dictator Ziaul Haq. The PPP and the PML-N, project a more moderate vision.

Fightback?
In response to the provincial government's plan, Sharif has launched a counter-attack by ordering the Higher Education Commission to seek changes to all texts, from primary to university level, to promote the country's “democratic” heritage over its history of coups.

The main problem however is that following recent devolution steps it is the provinces, not the central government, that have the final say on curriculum in order to cater to the region's particular cultural and linguistic values.

“There is a lot of confusion at the moment,” with some provinces refusing to allow the central government to participate in the writing of texts, explains A.H. Nayyar, an academic and leading voice for reform.

Current textbooks are already heavily criticised by liberals, who say they project a revisionist version of history that is highly nationalistic, especially over the country's rival India, while also being dismissive towards religious minorities.

Sardar Hussain Babak, a spokesman for the Awami National Party that sits in opposition in KP, blamed PTI for striking a deal with the Jamaat-i-Islami to ensure its fragile ruling coalition survived.

“There is a compromise between Tehreek-i-Insaaf and Jamaat-i-Islami. Now Jamaat-i-Islami points will be part of curriculum,” he said.

“Jamaat-i-Islami is a radical religious party which is provoking jihad, definitely now jihadi elements will be part of curriculum.”

A recent US study of 100 Pakistani school texts found that minorities — especially Hindus — were depicted as “second-class” citizens and “enemies of Islam”.

The rhetoric is even more worrying for the country's liberals than the rising number of attacks on religious minorities, saying it lays the groundwork for further radicalisation.

Even the country's Western donors, who give millions of dollars in education aid, are privately worried about the “re-Islamisation trend”.

Others see it as simply a populist move with little chance of succeeding in the short term. After the last set of reforms in 2006, authorities took seven years to print new editions, according to one Western diplomat.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1149956

 

[Waseem]

How much has actually changed? Lot of them seem to be proposals by JI.

JI won't be part of next government so hopefully there won't be any compromises made and i really hope PTI forms next government without any alliance.

 

[DW44]

How much has actually changed? Lot of them seem to be proposals by JI.

JI won't be part of next government so hopefully there won't be any compromises made and i really hope PTI forms next government without any alliance.

Virtually all of their demands were implemented. I think the only time there was any debate was sometime in 2016 and they still reached a settlement. The Pervez Hoodbhoy article cited is from November 2017 and Hoodbhoy is someone who has been analyzing Pakistan's textbooks religiously for several years now. That article states just how vast the gulf between KPK's textbooks and Punjab's is at this point. Hoodbhoy is not someone known for being political - in the paragraph concerning KPK, he starts by acknowledging their cleaner administration - so he has no reason to favor one party over the other. If anything, given his left wing political views he should be just as opposed to PML-N as he should be to PTI (a common misconception being that liberals support PML-N, another ASWJ ally).

 

[DRsohail]

Virtually all of their demands were implemented. I think the only time there was any debate was sometime in 2016 and they still reached a settlement. The Pervez Hoodbhoy article cited is from November 2017 and Hoodbhoy is someone who has been analyzing Pakistan's textbooks religiously for several years now. That article states just how vast the gulf between KPK's textbooks and Punjab's is at this point. Hoodbhoy is not someone known for being political - in the paragraph concerning KPK, he starts by acknowledging their cleaner administration - so he has no reason to favor one party over the other. If anything, given his left wing political views he should be just as opposed to PML-N as he should be to PTI (a common misconception being that liberals support PML-N, another ASWJ ally).

What was wrong in that whole scenario..i mean like what was the big deal,,adding verses of Quran etc....?

 

[DW44]

What was wrong in that whole scenario..i mean like what was the big deal,,adding verses of Quran etc....?

You do know what happened the last time this exact thing was done, don't you? The last thing we need is another generation of extremists which is precisely what we got when this was first done in the 70s and 80s. There's a reason that every province cleaned up their school curriculum of this stuff in recent years in a country that takes its religion this seriously. A strong cause-effect relationship between Islamization of school curricula and radicalization in Pakistan has been established by now and one would think they'd know better than to repeat Zia and MMA's mistakes.

 

[MenInG]

Multiple religious parties are set to protest on Friday against the conviction of 31 men found to have been involved in the brutal murder of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student Mashal Khan, who was lynched in April 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy.

The protest will be held after Friday prayers at a mosque in Mardan, where different religious and political parties will converge under the 'Khatm-i-Nabuwwat Mardan' banner to protest the convictions.

The protest has been sponsored by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Maulana Samiul Haq's Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.

The JI is also holding a gathering in Mardan on Thursday (today) to 'welcome' those acquitted by the ATC.

JI's Emir in Mardan, Dr Attaur Rehman, while speaking to DawnNews today said that the party is a constitutional and religious party which wants Shariah law imposed in Pakistan.

"The Haripur ATC honourably acquitted 26 individuals in the Mashal Khan case. This means they are innocent and today we are gathered to give them an exemplary welcome," he said.

JUI-F's Provincial General Secretary Shujaul Mulk, when asked about the reasons behind the Friday protest, told DawnNews that the 26 who were acquitted in the case by the Haripur Anti-Terrorism Court on Wednesday will address protesters tomorrow.

Mulk said that those let off were allegedly eyewitnesses to the lynching of Mashal Khan and continue to claim that he (Mashal) had committed blasphemy. He added that they had included this information in the statements recorded in court.

He also alleged that the men arrested for the murder of Mashal were beaten and forced confessions were extracted from them.

He said the men acquitted will tell attendees of the protest tomorrow about how they were treated in custody.

"Despite all this, the government cleared Mashal," the JUI-F leader said. "We are not going to sit quietly, we will approach the Supreme Court and challenge the punishments handed to each of the convicts," he insisted.

He added that the religious parties workers will ask the government to avoid appealing against the acquittals in the Mashal Khan case "as it will hurt the sentiments of Muslims" and warned that the move "may spark protests across the country."

A formal decision in this regard will be made at the gathering on Friday, Mulk said.

On Wednesday night, a jubilant crowd of religious party workers had gathered at the Mardan Motorway Interchange to "welcome" the 26 "heroes" who had been acquitted by the court, and to protest the ATC's verdict against the 31 men convicted of Mashal's murder.

The charged crowd chanted slogans against the murdered student and vowed to "move the Supreme Court against the verdict".

At least six of the acquitted reached Mardan on Wednesday night. One of the acquitted, Aizaz, was welcomed and garlanded enthusiastically by the crowd.

Aizaz, who was showered with petals and carried on the shoulders of supporters, addressed the crowd in Pashto, vowing that anyone who committed blasphemy or spoke against Khatm-i-Nabuwwat would "meet the same end as Mashal".

Meanwhile, JUI-F's Mulk said that the court may have sentenced one "lover of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)" to death, "but that there are thousands more Imrans on the streets" ready to act.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388140/r...e-of-men-convicted-in-mashal-khan-murder-case

 

[DW44]

The protest has been sponsored by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Maulana Samiul Haq's Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.

I rest my case. Two of those are PTI allies and the third is an ally of both PML-N and PPP. When it comes to the politics of religion in Pakistan, there are no morals, principles or different camps, everyone is in the same camp.

 

[Waseem]

So Nusrat Javed sees something most liberals can't see and he is a critic of Imran Khan.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ehg1y#tab_embed

Secular and liberal ANP leader Ameer Haider Hoti greets one of the accused in Mashal case to congratulate him but what do these people see instead? Yes PTI's allies celebrating, Nusrat Javed summed up what i have been trying to say. So called Taliban Khan has taken an extremely clear stance on this which is key reason why case has been resolved (even if partially) in such a short period.

 

[Kroll]

'Stop us if you can': Religious parties in Mardan protest conviction of 31 men in Mashal's murder

Life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Mardan district came to a halt on Friday as thousands of workers and supporters of religious parties took to roads to pressure the government into releasing the 31 men convicted in the brutal murder of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student Mashal Khan, who was lynched in April 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy.

Thousands of members of the Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat Organisation, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) joined by locals participated in the protest that began at Pakistan Chowk after Friday prayers.

Holding banners that read "Mashalyon [Mashal supporters], stop us if you can!", the protesters chanted slogans against Mashal and the government.

The demonstration was led by Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat leader Qari Ikramul Haq. Several of the men acquitted by the court, including Ajmal Mayar, attended the rally and were given a "Ghazi welcome" [Muslim fighters' welcome].

The rally was scheduled to march from Pakistan Chowk to College Chowk, but concluded earlier at Katlang Chowk after a dua (grand prayer) for those acquitted. The protest resulted in heavy traffic jams in the area.

Advocate Syed Akhtar, a JI leader and one of the counsels of the accused in the Mashal Khan murder case, in his address to the rally said the "entire ummah" stands behind those who have been convicted.

He said the protesters wanted to warn the government that if it goes ahead with appealing the acquittal of the 26 men in court, then "we will block the roads".

Incidents such as Mashal's murder will continue to occur if the blasphemers are not punished by the courts, Akhtar said.

'Heroes' welcome'
The JI had also held a gathering in Mardan on Thursday to 'welcome' those acquitted by the anti-terrorism court (ATC).

On Wednesday night, a jubilant crowd of religious party workers had gathered at the Mardan Motorway Interchange to "welcome" the 26 "heroes" who had been acquitted by the court, and to protest the ATC's verdict against the 31 convicts.

The charged crowd chanted slogans against the murdered student and vowed to "move the Supreme Court against the verdict".

At least six of the acquitted reached Mardan on Wednesday night. One of the acquitted, Aizaz, was welcomed and garlanded enthusiastically by the crowd.

Aizaz, who was showered with petals and carried on the shoulders of supporters, addressed the crowd in Pashto, vowing that anyone who committed blasphemy or spoke against Khatm-i-Nabuwwat would "meet the same end as Mashal".

It is pertinent to note here that the joint investigation team (JIT) tasked by the court with probing the murder of Mashal Khan found the student had not committed blasphemy. The JIT in its report stated that a group in the university had incited a mob against the 23-year-old on pretext of blasphemy.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388351/s...rotest-conviction-of-31-men-in-mashals-murder

 

[Syed1]

Pata nahi kab inn mullah se nijaat milaygi.... these mullahs are Allah's azaab on us.

 

[DRsohail]

[MENTION=26195]DW44[/MENTION] [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION] i think i am rightly preparing for my USMLE exam where doctors are tortured everyday and many things happen.

 

[Waseem]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ANP has to decide between principles & votes. PSF members conspired to kill <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> as per JIT. Its Mardan Nazim Himayatullah harrassed witnessess & in this background Ameer Hoti visited one acquitted. Time for self reflection & internal reforms instead of joining the madness</p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/961880432525520901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Liberal and secular ANP's pathetic role in Mashaal murder.

Apparently University administration (mostly ANP) were worried about their corruption being exposed (Zara Hut Kay show on Dawn) so they kind of initiated the whole blasphemy accusations. One journalist on twitter even claimed that ANP's Mardan Nazim Himayatullah asked Hoti how to deal with Mashal and his instruction was "Take him out whatever you need to do"

By the way this ANP Mardan Nazim Himayatullah is same person who went to Asma's house (who was murdered by 15 year old cousin) and tried to play politics against PTI gov, parents kicked him out and asked him to stop playing politics as police is doing everything and they are happy with government.

But all that doesn't matter, they changed the textbooks to say "Quaid e Azam was secular lawyer" so we will support them no matter what.

 

[DRsohail]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ANP has to decide between principles & votes. PSF members conspired to kill <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> as per JIT. Its Mardan Nazim Himayatullah harrassed witnessess & in this background Ameer Hoti visited one acquitted. Time for self reflection & internal reforms instead of joining the madness</p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/961880432525520901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Liberal and secular ANP's pathetic role in Mashaal murder.

Apparently University administration (mostly ANP) were worried about their corruption being exposed (Zara Hut Kay show on Dawn) so they kind of initiated the whole blasphemy accusations. One journalist on twitter even claimed that ANP's Mardan Nazim Himayatullah asked Hoti how to deal with Mashal and his instruction was "Take him out whatever you need to do"

By the way this ANP Mardan Nazim Himayatullah is same person who went to Asma's house (who was murdered by 15 year old cousin) and tried to play politics against PTI gov, parents kicked him out and asked him to stop playing politics as police is doing everything and they are happy with government.

But all that doesn't matter, they changed the textbooks to say "Quaid e Azam was secular lawyer" so we will support them no matter what.

Remember this himayat mayar is the person who provoked mob to kill a doctor on duty for nothing but just to show he cares for the patient,,,few days back he did it again with another doctor on duty .
But this time we are not going to spare him.

 

[saeedhk]

Remember this himayat mayar is the person who provoked mob to kill a doctor on duty for nothing but just to show he cares for the patient,,,few days back he did it again with another doctor on duty .
But this time we are not going to spare him.

How did he kill a doctor?What is the background? Only in Pakistan are intellectuals treated as garbage.

 

[saeedhk]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ANP has to decide between principles & votes. PSF members conspired to kill <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MashalKhan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MashalKhan</a> as per JIT. Its Mardan Nazim Himayatullah harrassed witnessess & in this background Ameer Hoti visited one acquitted. Time for self reflection & internal reforms instead of joining the madness</p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/961880432525520901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Liberal and secular ANP's pathetic role in Mashaal murder.

Apparently University administration (mostly ANP) were worried about their corruption being exposed (Zara Hut Kay show on Dawn) so they kind of initiated the whole blasphemy accusations. One journalist on twitter even claimed that ANP's Mardan Nazim Himayatullah asked Hoti how to deal with Mashal and his instruction was "Take him out whatever you need to do"

By the way this ANP Mardan Nazim Himayatullah is same person who went to Asma's house (who was murdered by 15 year old cousin) and tried to play politics against PTI gov, parents kicked him out and asked him to stop playing politics as police is doing everything and they are happy with government.

But all that doesn't matter, they changed the textbooks to say "Quaid e Azam was secular lawyer" so we will support them no matter what.

Investigation into the case found that Mishal's murder was premeditated and the university was behind the plot to portray Mishal as a blasphemer and get him lynced as Mishal was vocal about the corruption and corrupt practices in the university.

He had also spoken to a local television station about the unprofessionalism and corruption in the university days before his brutal murder.

There was no blasphemy.

 

[DRsohail]

How did he kill a doctor?What is the background? Only in Pakistan are intellectuals treated as garbage.

He physically tortured him and was about to kill him through mob but he escaped on time and 3 days earlier he just tried to beat another DMs casualty.video of the later one is available on youtube

 

[Syed1]

Investigation into the case found that Mishal's murder was premeditated and the university was behind the plot to portray Mishal as a blasphemer and get him lynced as Mishal was vocal about the corruption and corrupt practices in the university.

He had also spoken to a local television station about the unprofessionalism and corruption in the university days before his brutal murder.

There was no blasphemy.

The university had also issued rustication order for Mashal and his friend a day before the lynching on fake blasphemy charges. Mashal's friend Abdullah is lucky that the police intervened because they were going after him next.

 

[DRsohail]

[MENTION=48598]saeedhk[/MENTION] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9o-Qdaro4Y

 

[Third_Umpire]

Life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Mardan district came to a halt on Friday as thousands of workers and supporters of religious parties took to roads to pressure the government into releasing the 31 men convicted in the brutal murder of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student Mashal Khan, who was lynched in April 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy.

Thousands of members of the Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat Organisation, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) joined by locals participated in the protest that began at Pakistan Chowk after Friday prayers.

Holding banners that read "Mashalyon [Mashal supporters], stop us if you can!", the protesters chanted slogans against Mashal and the government.

The demonstration was led by Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat leader Qari Ikramul Haq. Several of the men acquitted by the court, including Ajmal Mayar, attended the rally and were given a "Ghazi welcome" [Muslim fighters' welcome].

The rally was scheduled to march from Pakistan Chowk to College Chowk, but concluded earlier at Katlang Chowk after a dua (grand prayer) for those acquitted. The protest resulted in heavy traffic jams in the area.

Advocate Syed Akhtar, a JI leader and one of the counsels of the accused in the Mashal Khan murder case, in his address to the rally said the "entire ummah" stands behind those who have been convicted.

He said the protesters wanted to warn the government that if it goes ahead with appealing the acquittal of the 26 men in court, then "we will block the roads".

Incidents such as Mashal's murder will continue to occur if the blasphemers are not punished by the courts, Akhtar said.

'Heroes' welcome'
The JI had also held a gathering in Mardan on Thursday to 'welcome' those acquitted by the anti-terrorism court (ATC).

On Wednesday night, a jubilant crowd of religious party workers had gathered at the Mardan Motorway Interchange to "welcome" the 26 "heroes" who had been acquitted by the court, and to protest the ATC's verdict against the 31 convicts.

The charged crowd chanted slogans against the murdered student and vowed to "move the Supreme Court against the verdict".

At least six of the acquitted reached Mardan on Wednesday night. One of the acquitted, Aizaz, was welcomed and garlanded enthusiastically by the crowd.

Aizaz, who was showered with petals and carried on the shoulders of supporters, addressed the crowd in Pashto, vowing that anyone who committed blasphemy or spoke against Khatm-i-Nabuwwat would "meet the same end as Mashal".

It is pertinent to note here that the joint investigation team (JIT) tasked by the court with probing the murder of Mashal Khan found the student had not committed blasphemy. The JIT in its report stated that a group in the university had incited a mob against the 23-year-old on pretext of blasphemy.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388351/s...rotest-conviction-of-31-men-in-mashals-murder

This is heartbreaking and shameful, to see the extent of moral decay in our society.

 

[Waseem]

The Mashal Khan case verdict brings victory, hope and a lesson for Pakistan

The dawn of April 13, 2017 saw the might of a monster that was long nurtured in Pakistan. A monster of hate, intolerance, violence and one who misuses the blasphemy law as a tool of vengeance. This time the prey was Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old, mass communications student at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The ghastly lynching done as a ‘great service’ to Islam was a manifestation that human beings are capable of carrying unimaginable proportions of barbarity, if they are driven by religious conviction and self-righteousness.

The investigation that followed soon revealed that the allegation of blasphemy against Mashal was, in fact, false. He was premeditatedly murdered because he was critical of the university’s management and spoke against the alleged corruption at the university.

The topic of blasphemy in Pakistan is untouchable and talking about this subject is akin to risking one’s life. The fear is so much that post this tragedy, everyone hid behind their cowardice including the politicians who were supposed to be the first ones to condemn the heinous crime. It was the common citizens of Pakistan whose widespread outcry and protests didn’t let the incident die and led to suo motu notice by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Amidst the fear when everyone in the power halls chose to chicken out, Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), showed immense bravery of not only visiting Mashal’s home but calling it an “all-out murder” and stated that Mashal was “no blasphemer”. This was no small act and this gave others the courage to speak up too.

Imran and his party deserve further commendation. The K-P government, with its sincerity and resolve, and the K-P police, with its integrity and professionalism, together with the prosecution team and Supreme Court served justice in just about 10 months.

The verdict announced by the Anti-Terrorism Court, Haripur, carried mixed responses. While many were appreciating the verdict and its swiftness, others expressed their reservation on the exoneration of 26 accused on the grounds of lack of convincing evidence.

If we look at it rationally, the verdict carries more positivity than negativity.

In Pakistan, where it takes decades to dispense justice, especially in cases which involve murder, this verdict is of historic significance. From arresting the 57 accused, collecting evidence against each one of them, completing the trial and declaring the verdict in less than a year is no less than an achievement.

The criticism attached to the acquittal of half of the accusers is justified, but we must understand that judges are restricted by laws and evidence – they can’t declare hangings on public wishes. Considering the gravity of prevalent religious sentiments in this country, it is very brave of the judges to give a verdict that involves death penalty and life imprisonments on false blasphemy accusations. This gives out a loud message that the state will not show any more tolerance for mob lynching and religious vigilantism. Let’s also not forget that the re-appeal is filed against the released men, so as of today, they are not completely off the hook.

While we are rightly focusing on the decision, its aspects and implications, something worrisome is being overlooked. On the night of the verdict, just a few hours after this encouraging judgment arrived, the rottenness of religious fanaticism began to crawl out, killing the momentary hope. The sympathisers of the convicts began to gather at the Mardan Motorway to garland the released men. They lionised them as ‘heroes’ and ‘ghazis’ (warriors) and vowed to challenge the convictions in the Supreme Court and refused to sit quietly until the convicts are released.

Two days after the verdict, on Friday, supporters and religious parties including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) staged a protest in Mardan to protest against the convictions. The attendees carried banners which read ‘Mashal supporters, stop us if you can’. If this wasn’t disgusting enough, the gathering was addressed by those acquitted by the court who showed no remorse and instead resolved to repeat their actions. They publicly threatened that whoever will commit blasphemy will meet the fate of Mashal.

The years-long use of religion to preach hate, intolerance and violence and the persistent cowardice, negligence and complicity of the state in this matter has strengthened these hardliners who now seem insuppressible and incurable. Amidst all of this, the decision of the K-P government to not bow down before them by deciding to re-appeal against the acquitted men elicits massive respect.

Nevertheless, the dawn of February 7, 2018, was not an ordinary dawn. It brought three things with it – victory, hope and a lesson for Pakistan.

Victory – for the first time in the history of Pakistan, 31 people were convicted on charges of mob lynching and false blasphemy accusations. The much-awaited precedent was set; the much-needed deterrence was created.

Hope – the scale of impunity attached to the misuse of blasphemy law and mob justice is reduced, if not eliminated fully.

Lesson – the death of Mashal is on the hands of the state because what happened to him was the culmination of the state’s failure on multiple fronts. Mashal was swallowed by a volcano that the state so carefully cooked on slow-heat for years. If it is to ensure that no one else meets the fate of Mashal, those in power have to take the responsibility to guarantee indiscriminate strict measures against the individuals and the religious and educational institutions that preach hate, peddle intolerance and promote violence. The state has to establish, both by law and education, that no one has the right to take anyone’s life and that religion is a personal matter and after Allah (swt), the prerogative rests with the state and not with any individual to identify between vice and virtue, prosecute and punish.

With this verdict, today, Pakistan has moved a step further in the right direction. It is to be decided now or never if this case is made a catalyst for the eradication of deep-seated intolerance, hate and the tacit approval of violence, or will this country be left at the mercy of these monsters.

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/...rings-victory-hope-and-a-lesson-for-pakistan/

Very balanced article and sums up all the positives and negatives quite well.

Hopefully further progress will be made same way it has in the past.

 

[Abdullah719]

KP govt files appeals against Mashal case verdict, challenges acquittal of 26 men

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the Mashal Khan verdict, challenging the acquittal of 26 people in the case.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Haripur had announced its verdict in the lynching case on February 7, handing one person two death sentences, five persons multiple terms of life imprisonment, and 25 others jail sentences, and acquitting 26 others for want of sufficient evidence.

Mashal Khan, 23, a student of Mass Communications at Mardan's Abdul Wali Khan University, was beaten and shot to death by an angry mob on April 13, 2017, after he was accused of blasphemy.

Of the total 61 suspected of involvement in the lynching ─ the majority of them were students and university employees and a tehsil councillor belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ─ charged in the first information report, 57 had been arrested within a few days of the incident. A 58th suspect who was arrested in Jan 2018 has yet to be charged.

KP Advocate General (AG) Latif Yoisafzai filed three separate appeals in the court. One of the petitions pleaded the court to set aside the acquittal of the 26 people in the case; the second one pleaded the court against the acquittal of 31 people, including the prime convict, against certain charges; while the third petition asks the court to increase the sentence of 31 convicts who had been given three years in prison.

The petition argued that the trial court had "committed a grave error and illegality by acquitting" the 26 people despite what it called a "plethora of evidence produced against them by the prosecution". The plea further argued that the acquittal was not maintainable in the eyes of the law and is liable to be set aside.

Earlier on February 14, the acquittal of 26 persons in Mashal Khan’s lynching case by an ATC was challenged in the PHC by Mashal’s brother Aimal Iqbal Khan. He had requested the court to set aside their acquittal and award them the death penalty.

Aimal Khan had filed an appeal with the court saying the trial court miserably failed to appreciate the ocular and circumstantial evidence in respect of the acquittal of the 26 accused persons.

Meanwhile, the man who shot Mashal Khan and 12 others given various jail terms for participating in his lynching also challenged their convictions in the high court.

Syed Akhtar, the counsel for the 13 convicts, filed an appeal against the death sentence handed to Ali and the jail terms awarded to five others in the Abbottabad Circuit Bench of the PHC.

Akhtar had told DawnNews that a total of 13 appeals have been filed against the convictions announced by the ATC over the course of a week.

The counsel pointed out what he termed contradictions in the detailed judgment, and urged the high court to release his clients after setting aside the ATC verdict. “The verdict is not accordance with the law as no witness appeared in the trial court to testify that Imran Ali had opened fire on Mashal Khan,” Akhtar said. He also claimed there was no proof or video evidence to show that Imran was present at the time of Mashal's killing.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1390814/k...l-case-verdict-challenges-acquittal-of-26-men

 

[Abdullah719]

Mashal murder case: PHC suspends sentences of 25 convicts

The Peshawar High Court's (PHC) Abbottabad circuit bench on Tuesday suspended the three-year jail terms handed to 25 people in the Mashal Khan lynching case during a hearing on appeals against the Feb 7 Anti Terrorism Court verdict in the case and ordered their release till the appeals are heard.

Mashal Khan, 23, a student of Mass Communications at Mardan's Abdul Wali Khan University, was beaten and shot to death by an angry mob on April 13, 2017 after he was falsely accused of blasphemy.

The lynching took place within the premises of the university and was caught on video, which later circulated widely on social media.

The horrific incident had shocked the nation and sparked a debate over the misuse of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.

On Feb 7, a Haripur Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) had handed the shooter, Imran Ali, two death sentences, five persons multiple terms of life imprisonment, and 25 others jail sentences, but acquitted 26 others for want of sufficient evidence.

The 25 people were each given two concurrent sentences; three years in jail under Section 297 read with Sections 148 and 149 of the PPC along with a Rs50,000 fine; and one year in jail under Section 11-WW ATA along with a fine of Rs50,000.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government and Mashal's family had previously petitioned the PHC against the verdict, calling for the conviction of those acquitted and stricter jail terms for those convicted in the case.

The convicts had, however, challenged their convictions in the PHC. At least 13 appeals were registered against the ATC's verdict by all three parties ─ the KP government, the victim's family, and those convicted.

The two-member circuit bench comprising Justice Lal Jan and Justice Atiq Shah while hearing appeals against the verdict filed by those convicted, today suspended the punishments handed to the 25 and ordered their release from jail on bail.

Syed Akhtar, the lawyer representing the convicted men, in today's hearing argued that there is a provision in the law under which those sentenced to less than five years in prison can be released on bail, according to DawnNewsTV.

After the hearing, Akhtar told reporters that the bench had accepted the argument and issued a short order for the release of the men.

He said he was waiting for a detailed order after which the men will be released from Haripur jail, where they were imprisoned after the Feb 7 verdict. He added that they had already moved bail applications along with appeals against the ATC verdict.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1392061/mashal-murder-case-phc-suspends-sentences-of-25-convicts