Pakistan minister condemns Swat lynchings, says religion is being weaponised to justify ‘street justice’

Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on June 22 condemned the lynching of a man in the city of Swat for allegedly desecrating the Quran, and lamented that religion is being weaponized to justify “street justice” and “vigilante actions”.

The leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told a budget debate in parliament that “mob justice” had brought Pakistan to the “brink of catastrophe” and that parliament must take it seriously, Dawn reported.

On Thursday night, an enraged mob in Pakistan’s picturesque city of Swat shot a tourist, dragged him through the city and publicly hanged him for desecrating the Quran.

Muhammad Ismail, 40, of Sialkot, Punjab, is accused of visiting the hill resort city of Swat in northwest Pakistan and burning pages of the Islamic holy book in Madian tehsil of Swat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Interrupted by Pakistan Peoples Party Vice-Chairman Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Iqbal said, “There has been another case of mob lynching in Swat and Pakistan is investigating.” The 65-year-old PML-N secretary-general added that if it was an isolated incident, “we can get away with it.” However, Iqbal then clarified that vigilante mobs had lynched suspected blasphemers, referring to previous similar incidents in Sialkot, Jaranwala and Sargodha.

Iqbal also recalled an assassination attempt he faced in 2018 when he was shot by supporters of the religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan. Iqbal said he was grateful to have been able to start a new life after being shot at by militants.

“Our country is in crisis and this case deserves our attention. We have now reached a point where religion is being used to justify mob violence and street justice in flagrant violation of the constitution, law and state,” Iqbal said.

In Islam, “even the bodies of heretics must be respected,” he said.

“The mob not only killed people but also set the bodies on fire and made a spectacle of them. It is shameful,” he said.

Iqbal also demanded the setting up of a commission to probe incidents of mob attacks.