Tariq Saeed
Yet another unfortunate incident of lynching was reported from the serene valley of Swat a couple of days back where the uncontrolled mob burnt alive a tourist over the accusation of blasphemy. This happened just few weeks after an unpleasant incident when the charged crowed lynched a man in Sargodha over the similar allegations.
The unruly mob lynched a local tourist over blasphemy allegations besides setting on a fire a Police station and number of Police vehicles in the picturesque spot Madyan, Swat district, of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday late night. Thus also causing a serious blow to the tourism in KP where a separate Tourism Facilitation Force has been set us that is working quite effectively.
Though taking strong exception of the gory incident KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has directed the Inspector General of KP Police to submit a report immediately besides taking practical steps to control the situation developing in the wake of the mob attack and also Pakistan Ulema Council condemning the incident in strong words, the ugly happenings, it is apprehended, would continue till the time the general mindset of the people is not changed. Besides the law enforcement agencies are also required to find out the motives of the unabated incidents of lynching as the ground realities show that in most of the cases the motive behind was settling personal scores.
In the fresh incident in Swat the tourist, who was burnt alive by the infuriated outlaws, was arrested by the Police in the jurisdiction of Police Station Madyan for the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. Uncontrolled mob, instigated by the local elders and even clergy, stormed the police station and killed the accused. Some eight people were also reported wounded during the vandalism.
According to reports the accused was apprehended by individuals and handed over to the police after some people announced in a market that he had committed blasphemy. The police brought him to the Madyan police station. But shortly afterwards, announcements were made from mosques in Madyan, a known tourist destination in the picturesque valley of Swat, mobilizing people towards the police station in anger, which was later stormed by the mob, police and local residents said.
The mob torched the suspect’s body, besides setting on fire the police station, and around eight Police vehicles and bikes. Witnesses reported that the mob demanded the suspect be handed over to them, and when the police refused, the mob forced their way into the station. Police officials fled to save themselves while calling for reinforcements to manage the tense situation.
“People set fire to the police station and police vehicles,” said Swat DPO Dr. Zahidullah, adding that the man was “burnt alive” adding that eight people were also injured in the incident.
According to a Police officer no charge of the desecration of Quran could be substantiated against the victim Salman hailing from Sialkot district and who had hired a room in a hotel in Madyan on June
18. He said the lynching of Salman appeared to be preplanned as how could the crowd know the victim had desecrated Quran pages while he was inside the room. Moreover, the eyewitnesses say the mob itself was carrying the burnt pages before they broke into his room. Besides, a vehicle with loudspeaker was making announcements, instigating the public to take the law into their own hands. So much so that they had also gathered a pile of woods to bunt the man alive
When SHO Madyan Police interrogated the accused asking if he was Qadiyani, he replied in negative with full faith saying being a Muslim he could not even think of burning the Quran pages. The Police officer took him to his quarter to save him from the public wreath, the charged crowd broke into the Police Station and then the officer’s quarter and burnt Salman alive.
Unfortunately the fresh lynching marks the first incident of its kind in Malakand division, though similar incidents have been recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past. In April 2017, Mashal Khan, a student in Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, was lynched by the mob following blasphemy accusations. On March 29, 2022, a lady teacher was fatally attacked with knives on her throat in Anjumabad area of Dera Ismail Khan on charges of blasphemy. Similarly, on May 7, 2023, Maulana Nigar Ali was killed during a political rally in Sawal Dher area of Mardan due to anger over blasphemy allegations. The large numbers of such cases taking place in other parts of the country are in addition.
In majority of the cases solid evidence of desecration could not be established and later it came to fore that incidents were planned only to settle personal scores under the guise of blasphemy.
This is very unfortunate that the lynching of people under the charges of blasphemy has become a very safe and easy tool to settle personal scores and enmities at the behest of some influentials and the elders of the society. The dangerous aspect of the whole episode is that not only indisciplined masses are exploited to commit the crime without any fear but also the local clergy is used quite effectively certainly under some temptations.
The Government, the law enforcers as well as the civil society members besides righteous Ulema are required to take the matter very seriously and formulate a joint strategy to do away with this poisonous trend without further delay.
