Pakistan Defence Minister Defends Sialkot Lynching, Says Sri Lankan Was Burnt Alive ‘Out of Emotions’

On false blasphemy charges, Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara was burnt alive in Pakistan's Sialkot on Friday (December 3).

Two days after a Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara was lynched and burnt in Pakistan's Sialkot by a murderous Muslim mob, Pakistan Defence Minister Pervez Khattak justified the killing saying the mob killed Kumara' out of emotions'.

"You know the reasons [behind this incident] too. When children … grow up, they become spirited and do things out of emotions", Dawn quoted Khattak.

He added, "So this happens among kids, fights take place and even murders. [Does] this mean it is the government's fault?"

Bowing to pressure from terrorists, the Imran Khan Niazi government in Pakistan had lifted the ban on terrorist organisation Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on November 8.

A murderous mob of Muslims in Pakistan's Sialkot burnt alive a Sri Lankan national after accusing him of blasphemy. The Sri Lankan national, later identified as Priyantha Kumara, was an export manager in a factory RajCo.

"A Sri Lankan factory manager in #Sialkot has been brutally murdered by a mob chanting slogans of Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan. According to reports the mob made a false accusation blasphemy to justify the murder. #TLP was recently unbanned by the govt.", posted The Pakistan Daily editor had Hamza Azhar Salam.

"Religious minorities remained unable to enjoy the freedom of religion or belief guaranteed to them under the constitution. For the Ahmadiya community in Punjab, this included the desecration of several sites of worship. Both the Hindu and Christian communities in Sindh and Punjab continued to report cases of forced conversion. In Punjab, girls as young as 14 were forcibly converted and coerced into marriage", an Observer Research Foundation (ORF) report published in May 2020 noted.

As reported by the Organiser in August this year, an 8-year-old Hindu boy in the Rahim Yar Khan district of Pakistan's Punjab was charged with blasphemy for urinating in a madrasa library. 

According to a report published by The Organization for World Peace on September 26, "Blasphemy laws have a long history in Pakistan all the way back, from form the British Colonial rule. According to section 295-C of the blasphemy penal code, the code charges anyone who makes derogatory terms against the prophet's name or Quran. Most religious minority groups are continuously accused of blasphemy without any proof and face mob violence."

Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said the matter would be investigated thoroughly, and the guilty would be punished.

He posted on Twitter, "No one is allowed to take law in their hands. Rest assured, individuals involved in this inhumane act will not be spared!!"

Some media reports suggested Kumara was already dead when he was set on fire.

The murderous mob shouted the slogan "gustakh-e-nabi ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda sar tan se juda."