HAD it not been for timely action by the police, the horror that was Kot Radha Kishan could have been replayed all over again on Tuesday in Makki, another village in Punjab. The circumstances were similar — a poor Christian couple, a blasphemy allegation, hate-mongering clerics inciting a mob to violence, and a possible underlying motive that had nothing at all to do with religion. The utter lack of reason was, of course, a given: the victims, who were illiterate, had found an old panaflex advertisement for various colleges which they were using to sleep on. Some Arabic inscription, allegedly from the Quran, was part of the text which led two clerics and a barber — who, it is said, coveted the couple’s home — to accuse them of committing blasphemy. According to a senior officer of the district police, a mob had dragged the couple out of their home and was beating them to death when the police intervened and rescued them. One of the clerics who incited the mob has been arrested while the other two instigators are still at large.

It is, unfortunately, rare that law enforcement comes down so assertively on the side of marginalised groups, particularly when faced by mobs baying for blood. Perhaps the Kot Radha Kishan incident last year, in which a young Christian couple was lynched upon being accused of committing blasphemy and burnt in the brick kiln where they worked, was a watershed of sorts. The court has been insistent upon a thorough police investigation into that case, and recently indicted over 100 suspects, including the three clerics who had allegedly incited the mob. In the current instance as well, all those involved must be brought to book, and the victims enabled to return to their home in dignity. While the actions of the police were no more than what their job demands, they must be commended — for such a stand on their part sends a powerful message to those seeking power or pelf by exploiting religion.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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