Just an accusation of blasphemy, without even a shred of proof, can be tantamount to a death sentence in Pakistan. The gory murder of Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old journalism student at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, by a mob of students on Thursday is yet another example of how fanatical vigilante justice has become the norm in Pakistani society.
The university had apparently issued an official circular earlier in the day, naming and suspending Mashal and a few other students for alleged ‘blasphemous activities’. Hours later, he was dragged out of his second floor hostel room and thrown to the courtyard, where he was brutally assaulted by a mob, which defiled his corpse and even attempted to burn it before the police intervened. Another student, Abdullah, escaped death but is said to be critical. An eyewitness at the scene of the incident said they were attacked for “promoting the Ahmadi faith on Facebook”.
That Mashal was killed in a place of learning indicates the rot is not limited to the uneducated sections alone. Videos of the horrific lynching went viral on social media, with many Pakistanis questioning the increasingly toxic atmosphere in their society. Many others, however, hailed the lynching, saying the two deserved far worse. While the Pakistani state has never carried out a death sentence for blasphemy, hundreds have been killed by rampaging mobs incited by religious as well as political leaders. And they are emboldened by the fact that the police and legal system usually turn a blind eye to such events, and that is likely to happen in Mardan as well.
Condemning the lynching, a well known Pakistani journalist-turned-politician, however, claimed this phenomenon was not limited to Pakistan. “Look at Bangladesh, where apostates are being slaughtered in broad daylight by religious bigots. Look at the cow vigilantes in India. Unless we somehow ... nip such intolerance in the bud, we are actually looking at anarchy and mob rule across the entire subcontinent soon,” he said.