Pakistan was shocked by the news of a blasphemy-fueled mob lynching incident in Swat, where a local tourist was forcibly taken from a police station where he was arrested and burnt alive by an angry mob. This incident reflects the glaring shortcomings and failure of Pakistan’s administrative, governance and legal systems in ensuring fundamental human rights such as security of life and honour as enshrined in the Pakistani Constitution.
This is not the first time that someone has been accused of blasphemy and lynched in Pakistan. Recently, there has been an alarming increase in the trend of using blasphemy for personal revenge. It is not clear at this point whether the Swat incident was one of those episodes, but looking back, there have been multiple reported cases in the last year of 2023 alone where people were accused of blasphemy and then lynched to death.
- In February 2023, a Muslim man named Muhammad Waris was lynched by an angry mob in Nankana Sahib after he was arrested by police on blasphemy charges.
- In April 2023, a Chinese engineer was accused of blasphemy by Pakistani workers and nearly lynched, but was rescued by police and flown to safety.
- In May 2023, a local Muslim leader named Maulana Nigar Alam was accused of blasphemy and killed by an angry mob at a political rally in Mardan district.
Thus, while such incidents are not new in Pakistan, there are two worrying aspects that can have far-reaching implications for the state and society. Most obviously, incidents like Swat have exposed corruption at the societal level. People who are uneducated and do not understand Islamic law usually commit such heinous crimes. Lack of education fosters fundamentalist tendencies among the masses, which are further amplified by poorly educated local imams. As a result, at the grassroots level, no one thinks of committing crimes like mob lynching, which goes against the teachings of Islam, which clearly commands Muslims to remain just and not to go beyond certain limits, such as setting fire to dead bodies, even in the pursuit of justice. This has led the country to the second far-reaching impact, namely, perpetuation of a sense of insecurity against minorities in Pakistan. There has been a clear rise in violent incidents against minorities, despite constitutional protections for them.
Law enforcement training to deal with mobs is non-existent. This was highlighted again in the Swat incident where the police initially rescued the victim and detained him at Madian Police Station. However, the police failed to protect the victim by consulting higher-ups or by moving him to a safer location, thus exposing him to an angry mob that stormed the police station. This happened because the police officers at Madian Police Station did not have a clear operational strategy to ensure the safety of the accused. However, as mentioned earlier, this failure is not an isolated incident.
An examination of past cases reveals a pattern of systematic inability of the police to intervene swiftly in cases of mob lynching and uphold the rule of law by prosecuting the perpetrators. For example, in the Swat incident, the police spread accusations through loudspeakers in mosques and failed to identify those who lured people into violence and mob justice instead of relying on due process.
The lack of effective governance to prevent and respond to such violence speaks volumes about the state’s priority of protecting all its citizens equally. The lack of state commitment to take bold steps to combat religious hatred and extremism emboldens perpetrators and instills fear in everyone else, which in turn leads to a larger societal dilemma where such actors subject the entire society to an environment of intolerance and fear. In such a society, the space for free expression and debate automatically diminishes and Pakistani society has become hostage to such elements due to state inaction for too long.
The prevailing crisis is not only a challenge for minorities, but also a long-standing sense of insecurity among the silent Muslim majority when it comes to expressing a desire to participate in discussions about religion and belief systems. This precludes freedom of speech and critical analysis of various social practices, resulting in backwardness in the society. Without freedom of speech, no society can thrive and Pakistan is no exception in this regard.
Mob vigilantism also poses a major diplomatic challenge for Pakistan. Such incidents, and the state’s inability to bring the perpetrators to justice, are reported in the global media, casting Pakistan in a negative international light. Such incidents inspire opponents to launch campaigns to isolate Pakistan in foreign capitals where human rights are a high priority diplomatic tenet.
The most unfortunate aspect of this national ordeal is that such cases are often used by political actors as political opportunities for retaliation. Not only have victims of violence been accused without any conclusive judicial process, but we have also seen perpetrators celebrated as national heroes and Islamic warriors. The case of Mumtaz Qadri is a stark reminder of this fact.
There are no easy or quick solutions to this growing challenge, but if left unaddressed, it will only get worse, with long-lasting repercussions for the country. Providing swift and fair justice for victims of mob violence can be a starting point. In this regard, the Swat incident presents an ideal opportunity for the state. At the same time, Pakistan needs to train its police and other LEAs so that they can intervene effectively to prevent escalation in such situations. This trend also explains why Pakistan needs an education emergency in the country.
As the world watches, Pakistan faces a defining moment in its journey toward justice, tolerance and respect for human dignity. The question is, will Pakistan rise to the challenge?
