Lately, disorder broke out over an incident of alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Hyderabad. In the dead of night, enraged mobs torched several motorcycles and smashed the window panes of police mobile vans. The trouble started when a rumour about the desecration of the Holy Book by a suspect began making the rounds in the area, resulting in the loss of two young lives.
We are in a state of mind where anyone can kill another person without a legal trial. It has been witnessed over the years that unruly mobs grow in size and kill people without taking them to a police station or a court of law. Pakistan’s image has already been tarnished internationally since a mob lynched Sri Lankan man Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana in 2001, who had removed a religious poster due to pending renovation work in the building of his office. In the trial, it was officially declared in court that he was wrongly accused of blasphemy by workers of the factory. Nonetheless, he was set on fire, which showed the apathy and emotional emptiness of the mob.
No one has the right to hurt someone’s religious sentiments. In the same breath, no mob or individual has the right to lynch someone. A fair trial in a court of law is the right of every accused. It is high time the law prevailed over mobs; otherwise, no one would feel safe in this country.
NASIR SOMRO,
Karachi.
