MARDAN/SWABI/ISLAMABAD: Prime Mini*ster Nawaz Sharif and leaders from across the political spectrum on Saturday condemned the “cold-blooded murder” of Abdul Wali Khan University student Mashal Khan in the harshest terms.
In a statement issued two days after the lynching, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warned that the state would not tolerate citizens taking the law into their own hands and directed the police to “apprehend” all those responsible for the unfortunate incident.
“I am shocked and saddened by the senseless display of mob justice that resulted in the murder of a young student Mashal Khan,” a statement issued by the PM House said.
“Let it be known to the perpetrators of this act that the state shall not tolerate citizens taking the law in their own hands,” the statement said.
“No father should have to send his child off to be educated, with the fear of having him return in a coffin,” PM Sharif said, asking the nation to unite against such crimes.
“The nation should stand united to condemn this crime and to promote tolerance and rule of law in the society,” the prime minister said.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar also took a suo motu notice of Mashal Khan’s brutal murder and called for a comprehensive report on the incident from the Khyber Pakh*tunkhwa Ins*pector General within the next 36 hours.
Though the notice was taken on media reports, the Civil Society Network had also requested the chief justice to intervene.
The Pakistan Bar Council, too, in its meeting on Saturday, condemned the tragic incident and demanded the formation of a judicial commission under a Peshawar High Court judge.
Also on Saturday, police arrested five suspects accused of involvement in lynching Mashal Khan.
The suspects were presented before an antiterrorism court in Mardan amid tight security which remanded them in police custody for four days.
The five were nominated in the FIR lodged at the Sheikh Maltoon Town police station against the brutal murder, which also named four university officials and 16 students.
A statement issued by Mardan District Police Officer Dr Mian Saeed claimed that police special teams had been constituted soon after the incident, which identified the suspects through video footage. He said that a total of 13 suspects had been taken into custody so far.
The DPO also said the autopsy report confirmed that Mashal was killed by a bullet.
The provincial government, meanwhile, has asked the Peshawar High Court to nominate a judge to hold a judicial inquiry into the incident, an official said.
In Swabi, a number of political figures called on Mohammad Iqbal — Mashal Khan’s father — to pay their respects and express sympathy with the bereaved family at their Zaida city home.
Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal, KP Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar, ANP leaders Afrasiab Khattak, Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Latif Afridi and Swabi District Nazim Ameer Rehman also visited the bereaved family to offer their condolences.
Mr Iqbal told media persons that at first people had doubts over whether his son was involved in blasphemy, but it was now clear that this was not true. Now, he said people had started pouring in to pray for the soul of the departed.
Mashal’s mother demanded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan ensure that justice is served, adding that those involved in her son murder should be punished.
Condemnation
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the brutal killing. In a series of messages from his Twitter account, the defence minister said that “falsely accusing someone of blasphemy without verification is also blasphemy… this is not the teaching of our [Holy Prophet (peace be upon him)]”.
At a presser, the interior minister dubbed the lynching “a cold-blooded murder”, saying that while the killing was being linked to religion, Islam was “a model framework of justice”.
The prime minister’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, also tweeted about the incident soon after the PM’s statement, saying: “Shocked to see Mashal Khan killing video. Vigilantism & mob justice are indicative of regressive & putrid mindset. Is that what we stand for?”
“Images of brutal killing of two brothers in Sialkot years ago still haunts & now Mashal Khan. Do we want to be known as benighted nation?” she tweeted.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Asif Ali Zardari also vowed to reject all forms of religious apartheid and misuse of religion-based laws.
In his Easter message, Mr Zardari said the nation had just witnessed “unpardonable barbarity” committed in the name of religion.
“The PPP will continue to reject and oppose the misuse of blasphemy law and ensure that its gross misuse is prevented and the perpetrators of crimes in the name of religion are punished in accordance with the law,” he said, adding that “the mindset that encourages violence in the name of religion lies at the root of terrorism that must be curbed”.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1327263/pm-wants-nation-united-in-slamming-mashals-lynching
