Mob storms Pakistan police station and lynches man accused of blasphemy

A mob in eastern Pakistan stormed a police station on Saturday and snatched a Muslim man accused of blasphemy from police custody and lynched him, in the latest religion-linked killing in the conservative Islamic country.

Muhammad Waris, in his mid-30s, was in police custody in the eastern city of Nankana Sahib in Punjab province, 80km (50 miles) from the eastern city of Lahore, for desecrating pages of the Qur’an.

“The angry mob stormed the police station using a wooden ladder, dragged him out and beat him to death,” Waqas Khalid, a police spokesperson, told the Guardian. “After lynching they were still not satisfied and tried to burn his body,” he added.

There have been a number of cases in the Muslim-majority south Asian country of angry mob killings against people accused of blasphemy, the most high profile among them the lynching of a Sri Lankan citizen in 2021.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, where even false allegations can stir violence. Under Pakistani law, charges of blasphemy carry the death penalty.

Video of the incident, posted on social media showed hundreds of young people surrounding a police station and dragging a man by his legs in the street, stripping him naked and beating him with metal rods and sticks.

The prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, condemned the incident and ordered an investigation. “Why didn’t the police stop the violent mob? The rule of law should be ensured,” he said.

International and Pakistani rights groups say blasphemy accusations are mostly used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal vendettas.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a non-governmental rights group raised concerns. “HRCP is deeply shocked by the brutal lynching of a man by a charged mob in Nankana Sahib, after allegations of blasphemy. This is yet another failure of the state to prevent mob ‘justice’. Lip service and weak measures against law enforcers give the state the appearance of a helpless observer, not a protector of the citizens lives and property.”

Last week HRCP released a report titled A Breach of Faith: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2021-22, showing alarm over rising blasphemy issues.

“The threshold of evidence regarding blasphemy accusations must be raised in the country. It must be ensured that the laws in question are not weaponised by people to settle personal vendettas, as is so often the case,” the group said.

The report data showed at least 585 cases of blasphemy were registered by the police across Pakistan, most of them in Punjab province.