Recently, a 36-year-old man, Muhammad Ibrahim (a Muslim) tourist from Sialkot, was set on fire by extremists after being dragged out of the police station, tortured, and lynched to death for the unproven blasphemy charges of desecrating the Holy Quran in Swat. The police attempted to protect him by taking him into custody and locking him in jail to face the forces of law. However, the outraged mob, demanding swift action against the alleged blasphemer, set the police station ablaze and decided the case by establishing a ‘Mob Court’ to lynch the alleged individual to death. They first tortured policemen and him. He was dragged out and shot directly in the police station and then burned alive, even without the blasphemy charges being proved, marking an advent of mob rule.

Rather, these charges needed to be dealt with in accordance with the law. However, in a country established and developed around religious principles, where politics, the judiciary, and laws are influenced by clerics and religious sentiments, such incidents are likely. Wasn’t the 2nd amendment passed in 1974 in the constitution of 1973 of Pakistan a clue to rapidly diminishing the country’s peace, putting minorities at risk? This is why several people belonging to the Ahmadiyya community were jailed and prosecuted this year for performing Eid-ul-Adha and sacrificing animals, allegedly violating the constitution and Section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which specifically targets Ahmadis, restraining them from pretending to be Muslims or preaching and propagating the Islamic faith. Section 298-C of the PPC criminalizes Ahmadis (including the Qadiani and Lahori groups) if they call themselves Muslims, making it punishable with imprisonment for a........

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