Police Station In Pakistan, Kills Man Accused Of Blasphemy

A man accused of blasphemy was lynched by an angry mob at a police station in Nankana Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Saturday.

Reports said Muhammad Waris, accused of “desecrating the Quran”, was taken into custody at the Warburton Police Station some 80 km from Lahore, when an angry mob scaled its main gate and stormed inside the building. The mob dragged Waris through the streets by his legs, and stripped off his clothes before setting his body on fire, according to reports.

Total madness!!! An angry mob attacked the police station in Nankana Sahib. Reportedly an accused of blasphemy was killed and body burnt by the mob. Apparently police was unable to control the situation. pic.twitter.com/1kdNGFmqro

— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) February 11, 2023

Another video that has surfaced, shows young children – purportedly part of the mob — inside the police station, as broken glass and overturned furniture are scattered around.

A mob lynched a person, who was arrested by police on #blasphemy charges, after attacking a police station in Nankana Sahab, Punjab, #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/qPR2g72Pqs

— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) February 11, 2023

Waris was arrested in 2019 on a previous charge of blasphemy and was in prison until last year, says a report by Al-Jazeera. On Saturday, he was beaten up by people who allegedly saw him desecrate the Quran when the police rescued him and took him into custody.

According to a police statement, Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar has suspended Nankana Sahib Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police Nawaz Waraq and Warburton Station House Officer Feroz Bhatti for failing to prevent the mob lynching.

No one is allowed to take the law into their hands no matter how influential they are,” the Punjab IG was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.No First Information Report (FIR) about the incident has been registered yet, said the news report.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an inquiry into the lynching and said that ensuring peace and order was the first priority for the relevant institutions responsible for that duty, according to the Dawn.

“Sad and dangerous trend that continues to haunt our society! Need to counter with an effective narrative to achieve peace and harmony. We must learn to coexist and be tolerant. Pakistan was founded on strong principles that allowed everyone to live freely,” wrote Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi termed the incident as “unconstitutional and un-Islamic.” According to a report in The Nation, Ashrafi said if someone had committed a crime, it was the court’s jurisdiction to penalise the accused, it was none of the group, party or individual’s discretion power to announce sentence against anyone.

توہین مذہب کا الزام لگا کر کسی کو قتل کردینا پاکستانی آئین کے خلاف ہے: مولانا طاہر اشرفی
مزید تفصیلات: https://t.co/TFuIeBJHsh pic.twitter.com/m19lfqfHRK

— Independent Urdu (@indyurdu) February 11, 2023

Blasphemy is a crime under Pakistani law, which can carry a penalty ranging from a fine to a death sentence. International Human Rights groups have long criticised Pakistani authorities for not doing enough to stem lynchings over accusations of blasphemy in the country.

According to the Dawn, a report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies states that as many as 89 citizens were killed in 1,415 accusations and cases of blasphemy in the country since 1947.In a case, that saw international condemnation in 2021, a Sri Lankan engineer was lynched and set on fire by factory workers in Sialkot. He was accused of blasphemy over some posters bearing words from the Quran, which he had allegedly taken down.