The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Tuesday expressed grief and anger over unchecked shooting of a college principal by a student under the suspicion of blasphemy in Shabqadar District of Charsadda. The shocking incident occurred after the student was allegedly reprimanded over his absence from the college. The student reportedly skipped college to attend the Faizabad sit-in of November 2017.
HRCP chairperson Dr Mehdi Hasan said this killing is yet another shameful reminder of how easy it is to manipulate the existing blasphemy laws to avenge personal grievances. "Blasphemy remains a highly sensitive issue and allegations do not need to be proven before provoking murder," he added. He said Mashal Khan's murder by a mob in Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan led to countrywide outrage and called for the blasphemy law to be modified. Mashal Khan had been accused of blasphemy over social media.
"It is regrettable that no lessons are being learnt from these incidents and no action is being taken at all by the authorities to prevent such episodes. This incident is further confirmation of the slide toward extreme intolerance in societies and inability of the authorities to meet the challenges of extremism," he added.
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