Cleric lynched near Mardan over alleged blasphemy
MARDAN: A cleric was lynched by an enraged mob on Saturday after rumours swirled that he had uttered “blasphemous” remarks during a corner meeting at a village near Mardan.
According to District Police Officer Najeebur Rehman, an FIR had been registered against unidentified persons under section 11 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and sections 295, 302, 353 and 186 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Funeral prayers for Nigar Alam, the cleric, were offered amid tight security and he was laid to rest within a few hours of the occurrence.
“We have provided security to the dead man’s family,” the DPO said.
Nigar Alam was lynched minutes before the end of a public meeting organised by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf at Sawaldher village to show solidarity with the judiciary.
His remarks were interpreted by a section of the crowd to be allegedly blasphemous.
Hundreds of people started beating him with sticks, causing his death.
In reply to a question, the DPO said a joint investigation team (JIT) would be formed to investigate the lynching.
Video footage of the cleric’s speech, as well as that of his killing, went viral on social media.
The furious mob is seen jumping over the body.
Mashal Khan’s lynching
This was the second lynching incident in Mardan over the past six years. Mashal Khan, a student at the mass communications department of Abdul Wali Khan University, was killed over blasphemy allegations on April 23, 2017.
That episode had attracted attention of the international media and there was widespread outcry at home.
The incident took place on the premises of the university and was caught on video.
A total of 61 people were tried, but an anti-terrorism court handed down death sentence only to the prime accused, Imran Ali.
Seven of the accused were awarded life imprisonment and 25 others got three years’ jail while the 28 others were acquitted.
The Peshawar High Court upheld all the convictions in Nov 2020, but commuted the sentence of death awarded to the prime accused to that of life imprisonment.
Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023