“We must take notice of this incident as our nation is on the brink. We have now reached a point where we are using religion to justify mob violence and street justice, flagrantly violating the Constitution, the law and the state.”

This statement is not from an Indian minister or leader, even though there is a dire need for such statements in India. Pakistan’s planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury, said this during a debate on the budget in the national assembly of Pakistan. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party leader said that the assembly would have to take a firm stand on this issue as Pakistan was under scrutiny.

Iqbal was reacting to the mob lynching of 40-year-old Mohammad Ismail, a resident of Sialkot. Ismail had gone to Swat, where he was accused of burning some pages of the Quran. The police took him into custody but the mob dragged him out and shot him. It did not stop there. Ismail was set on fire and hanged from a pillar at the crossroads.

Noting that the lynching was not an isolated incident, the minister recalled similar killings in Sialkot, Jaranwala and Sargodha.

Iqbal’s angst is sincere and its expression is courageous. Desecration of the Quran and insulting the Prophet are very sensitive issues in Pakistan. Anyone can be killed on the charge of blasphemy. Criticising mob justice in blasphemy matters can also have terrible consequences. The assassination of Pakistani politician Salman Taseer cannot be forgotten. He had expressed his support for Asia Begum’s plea for pardon after she was convicted of blasphemy. ‘Angered’ by Taseer’s stand, his bodyguard Malik Mumtaz Qadri shot him 27 times.

Iqbal........

© The Wire