The lynching of Mashal khan
On 13th April 2017, a group of about 10 students shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the attack on fellow student Mashal Khan, who was stripped naked and beaten with planks until his skull caved in as other students looked on. Mashal Khan was a Pashtun and Muslim student at the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan who was killed by an angry mob in the premises of the university on April 13, 2017, over fake allegations of posting blasphemous content online.
Blasphemy is a highly sensitive topic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where insulting the Prophet Mohammed is a capital crime that has dozens languishing on death row and where even an accusation can lead to violence.
In recent months, Pakistan's government has been vocal about the issue, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issuing an order last month for removal of blasphemous content online and saying anyone who posted such content should face "strict punishment under the law".
At least 65 people have been murdered over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to figures from a Center for Research and Security Studies report and local media. In 2011, a bodyguard assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer after the governor called for reforming blasphemy laws.
Taseer's killer, executed last year, has been hailed by religious hard-liners as a martyr to Islam and a shrine has been erected at his grave. A month after Salman Taseer was killed, Religious Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who spoke out against the laws, was shot dead in Islamabad, underlining the threat faced by critics of the law.
Critics say blasphemy laws, which allow the death penalty in some cases, are often misused to oppress minorities. The offences relating to religion were first codified by India's British rulers in 1860, and were expanded in 1927. Pakistan inherited these laws when it came into existence after the partition of India in 1947.
Between 1980 and 1986, a number of clauses were added to the laws by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq. He wanted to "Islamicise" them and also legally to separate the Ahmadi community, declared non-Muslim in 1973, from the main body of Pakistan's overwhelmingly Muslim population.
During the 1980s the blasphemy laws were created and expanded in several instalments. In 1980, making derogatory remarks against Islamic personages was made an offence, carrying a maximum punishment of three years in jail. In 1982, another clause prescribed life imprisonment for "wilful" desecration of the Koran, the Muslim holy book. In 1986, a separate clause was inserted to punish blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad and the penalty recommended was "death, or imprisonment for life", in that order.
Data provided by National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) Pakistan, shows a total of 633 Muslims, 494 Ahmedis, 187 Christians and 21 Hindus have been accused under various clauses of the blasphemy law since 1987 to November 2014.
What the section 295-C Pakistan Penal Code says ?
295-C – “Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet” :
Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.
The law prescribes a fixed death penalty for all those who are found guilty. The option of life imprisonment was made defunct after a 1991 Federal Shariat Court judgement.
Other Religious Offences and Punishments
PPC | Description | Penalty |
298 | Uttering of any word or making any sound or making any gesture or placing of any object in the sight with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person. | 1 years imprisonment, or fine, or both |
298A | Use of derogatory remarks etc., in respect of holy personages. 1980 | 3 years imprisonment, or fine, or both |
298B | (Ahmadi blasphemy law) Misuse of epithets, descriptions and titles etc., reserved for certain holy personages or places, by Ahmadi. 26 April 1984 | 3 years imprisonment and fine |
298C | (Ahmadi blasphemy law) Aka Ordinance XX: f a Muslim, or preaching or propagating his faith, or "in any manner whatsoever" outraging the religious feelings of Muslims, or posing himself as a Muslim. 26 April 1984 | 3 years imprisonment and fine |
§ 295 | Injuring or defiling places of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class | Up to 2 years imprisonment or fine, or both |
§ 295A | Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. 1927 | Up to 10 years imprisonment, or fine, or both |
§ 295B | Defiling, etc., of Quran. 1982 | Imprisonment for life |
§ 295C | Use of derogatory remarks, spoken, written, directly or indirectly, etc. defiles the name of Muhammad 1986 | Mandatory Death and fine (Feb. 1990) Trial must take place in a Court of Session with a Muslim judge presiding. |
Aftermath
The 13-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in response to the lynching gave its final report on 3 June 2017. The report cleared Mashal of all blasphemy charges and termed his lynching a premeditated murder done by certain elements in the student body and the university administration. The report also cleared Mashal's two friends, Abdullah and Zubair, of any blasphemy while raising questions about the efficacy of Mardan Police's response to the incident.