- By: Shahid Ali Tareen
The horrific murders of “Mashal Khan in 2017” and “Mufti Nigar in 2023” underscore the serious risks of mob justice, abuse of blasphemy laws, and religious intolerance in Pakistan. These murders are part of a larger trend of violence that has claimed the lives of numerous people accused frequently falsely of blasphemy. These incidents still take place because of a combination of legal loopholes, absence of law enforcement, religious extremism, and societal intolerance, which provide the environment for accusation to result in murder without due process. The “Constitution of Pakistan” makes Islam the state religion while ensuring the right to profess and practice one’s religion.
Still, penal code blasphemy laws have punishments as harsh as the death penalty, although no one has been executed under the laws by the state. Unluckily, most accused individuals are kept behind bars for decades, subject to delays in appeals, threats from radicals, and ostracism. Judicial fear of acting in such cases fear of retaliation has also encouraged mob violence and vigilante justice. In the case of Mashal Khan, a student at Abdul Wali Khan University was falsely accused of blasphemy and lynched by a crowd on campus. Subsequent investigations confirmed that the charges were spurious, but the mere accusation was sufficient to trigger mass violence.
In the same vein, in May 2023, a religious cleric Mufti Nigar was beaten to death in Sawaldher, Mardan on the grounds of blasphemous comments. His murder was especially surprising because he was also a religious scholar, demonstrating that nobody is above the risks of mob violence. Such occurrences reflect in other instances, like the February 2023 lynching of a man in Nankana Sahib, where a police failure allowed a mob attack to take place. This is a serious issue regarding law enforcement agencies’ capability to maintain justice and safeguard suspected people from brutality. “Abuse of blasphemy laws” can be seen in the fact that 329 individuals had been accused of blasphemy in a single year 2023, and 75% of them were Muslims. These statistics, presented by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), indicate that blasphemy laws are frequently used for personal scores, land disputes, or sectarian disputes. Religious minorities, especially Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus are subjected to the worst abuses, including forced conversions, desecration of houses of worship, and social discrimination. Preventing violence of this sort involves multi-dimensional action, such as legislative reform, tightened law enforcement, dialogue between communities of faith, and economic uplift. Blasphemy laws should be revised in order to end their abuse, enact penalties on false charges, and provide speedily conducted trials with protection of the accused. Police need to disperse mobs, arrest agitators, and prosecute them instead of impunity operating in the dark.
Religious leaders have a vital role to play in restraining extremism. The clergy need to discourage mob justice and encourage patience, tolerance, and respect for the legal system. Most clerics play a role in spreading extremist narratives, but their influence can also be mobilized for peacebuilding. The state has to regulate religious sermons and act against hate speech that incites violence.
Economic reasons are also a cause of radicalization and extremist violence. Most perpetrators of mob attacks are youths who are unemployed and susceptible to being manipulated by extremist organizations. Educating the masses, employment opportunities, and training in skillscan mitigate exposure to radical ideology. People must be informed of the repercussions of vigilantism and the necessity of believing in the state’s justice system.
The world community, including the U.S. and human rights groups, has time and again raised concerns about Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and religious intolerance. In December 2024, Pakistan was again designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act, reiterating the urgency of reforms.
The killings of Mashal Khan and Mufti Nigar Alam are bitter reminders of the consequences of allowing mob rule to override legal justice. Pakistan needs to end this cycle of violence by making its legal system more robust, holding culprits to account, and fostering interfaith tolerance and harmony. No group or person has any right to take the law into their hands, justice should be delivered through courts, not through vigilantism.