Warbartan Blasphemy Killing In Pakistan: Ulema, Police and Media Pass It Off As A New Normal
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
6 March
2023
A Man
Was Lynched For Alleged Desecration of the Quran In Warbartan, Pakistan Two Weeks
Ago
Main
Points:
1. The Ulema
condemned the killing.
2. Prime
Minister Shahbaz Sharif took 'serious note' of it.
3. The police
has formed an inquiry committee to probe the incident.
4. The SHO has
been suspended.
5. The media
held debates on the incident and on blasphemy as usual.
6. 50 persons
have been arrested.
------
A man gestures toward the house of Waris, a
blasphemy suspect who was lunched by an angry mob, in Warburton, an area of
district Nankana, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023. | Photo Credit: AP
------
In Mid-February,
another report of mob lynching of a person (a Muslim) for alleged desecration
of the holy Quran came from a small town called Warbartan in the district of
Nankana Saheb in Pakistan. The victim, Mohammad Waris, was dragged out of the
local police station by an angry mob and beaten up badly by iron rods. Before
lynching him, the mob stripped him naked. After his death, the mob tried to set
him on fire.
The
allegation is that he desecrated the holy Quran. According to reports, the man
was performing some objectionable act with the Quran with his former wife's
photograph in his house. Someone secretly photographed the act and circulated
it among the people of the locality. Soon the word of the desecration of the
Quran spread in the area. Someone made the announcement of the incident from
the loudspeaker of the mosque. The police arrived and took him to the police
station. But an angry mob gathered at the police station and demanded the
custody of the man. Inna short time, a huge mob gathered there and entered the
room where the victim was lodged. The angry mob dragged the man out of the
police station and stripped him naked. They beat him with sticks and iron rods
till he died. After his death, the mob tried to set him on fire. The SHO and
all the policemen fled from the police station.
The man had
not committed the alleged blasphemy in public but he was performing some
magical acts on his former wife with the help of the Quran out of his
ignorance. He was perhaps trying to harm his former wife who had left her or
taken divorce. Such superstitious acts are common in Pakistan and India. Some
people in Pakistan sit in open graves with Quran and recite it to invoke evil
forces to harm their enemies or to get desired benefits. The intent is not to
desecrate the Quran as they are Muslims. Mohammad Waris was probably also one
of the ignorant people who used the Quran to invoke evil forces against his
former wife. And he was doing this inside his home. But some 'peeping Tom'
secretly photographed him, violating the injunction of the Quran itself. In
fact, the person who photographed or filmed the act secretly committed
blasphemy by violating the injunction of the Quran that asks Muslims not to spy
on others. Doing so is a grave sin.
In
Pakistan, desecrating the Quran or blasphemy against the prophet pbuh is an
unpardonable crime. This is the narrative that has been propagated so widely
that once a person is blamed for such act is not given any opportunity to give
clarification or show repentance or remorse. Once blasphemy has been committed
cannot be undone and the only punishment is death on the spot. According to
this narrative, the police, the judiciary and the laws of the country apply
only on all other issues except blasphemy. Once blasphemy is reported, the
people will decide the fate of the accused. The police has to leave the scene.
In the
video of the mob gathered at the police station, some people are seen in skull
caps and turbans. It shows that along with hooligans, people with religious
affiliations were also present there. The accused was killed in a ghastly
manner. He was first dragged out of the police station and then and stripped
before being lynched. Acording to the police, the accused had been booked under
a similar charge and had been released from jail after two years.
After the
lynching, the state of Pakistan reacted in a routine way. The Prime Minister
Shahbaz Sharif said the culprits should be dealt with an iron hand. According
to a TV channel anchor, the Ulema condemned the lynching. The police arrested
50 people and an inquiry committee was formed.
However,
the TV channel did not elaborate on the grounds of condemnation by the Ulema.
Did they condemn the lynching because they do not believe in death for
blasphemy? Or did they condemn it because the mob stripped the man before
lynching? Or did they condemn it because they only prescribed ' Sar Tan Se
Juda ' (slitting the throat) punishment for blasphemy?
The fact is
that this routine condemnation is a hogwash. In Pakistan, almost all the sects
of Sunni Muslims unanimously believe that even a Muslim can be punished for
blasphemy. And the only punishment for blasphemy is death. So why did they
condemn it?
The social
and political analysts and some liberal clerics also differ on the trend of mob
lynching in Pakistan. Tahir Malik says that religion has nothing to do with mob
lynching. He cites the statistics of a certain survey of Pakistanis which shows
that 75 per cent of Pakistanis suffer from depression and psychological
disorders. People do not lynch only persons accused of blasphemy, they lynch
men and boys acused of theft also. He cited a couple of examples in support of
his argument. But a renowned televangelist Engineer Mohammad Ali Mirza
disagrees. He is of the opinion that religious fanaticism is the root cause of
the mob violence over blasphemy. He also says that the condemnation by the Ulema
is only a sham. They use ambiguous words while condemning such incidents. He
says that those who condemn such incidents only prepare such boys with violent
ideology.
Tahir Malik
and Engineer Mohammad Ali Mirza both are correct from different perspectives.
The culture of mob violence is common in Pakistan. In the past hungry men have
been lynched by the mob for stealing food from shops. Punishing a thief is not
the responsibility of the people. Once a man was lynched by the mob because he
had snatched a pizza from a man who had just come out of the pizza shop with a
pizza in hand. The snatcher was hungry for two days. But the mob lynched him
instead of defending him or arranging food for him. A boy who was accused of
stealing food from a shop was beaten and paraded in the market though the boy denied
stealing. His father arrived on the scene and freed him. But the boy said to
his parents that now the people would call him a thief all his life. Next day
he was found dead in the nearby river.
So once the
mob culture was promoted, it can be used for religious issues as well. Mullahs
announce from the loudspeakers that a man has committed blasphemy and the mob
sets out to kill someone and get rewards in the Hereafter.
Engineer
Mohammad Ali Mirza said that the only solution of the mob violence in the name
of blasphemy is formulating a counter- narrative on blasphemy. The law should
take its own course but the problem here is that even if the accused is
acquitted from the court, he is killed extra-judicially. He said that in any
blasphemy case, all the judicial processes should be followed and people do not
have any right to punish an individual, whatever be the crime. But
unfortunately, such sane voices are rare in today’s Pakistan.
URL: https://newageislam.com/muslims-islamophobia/warbartan-blasphemy-pakistan-ulema-/d/129253
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