The body of Priyantha Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan engineer who was killed and set on fire in Sealkot, Punjab, Pakistan last Friday, turned to ashes. But the fire that ignited this horrific massacre is still burning. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, who came to power with the votes of extremists, has condemned the incident and instructed the police to enforce the law immediately. As per the instructions, more than 120 people were arrested by the evening of the 5th of this month. But many who know the law in that country say that this is just a sham. That is because blasphemy is a constitutional law in Pakistan. Due to this situation, even before the cases related to religious insults are filed, the persons concerned are brutally murdered and some people have been murdered while being taken to court for trial. Religious fanaticism in Pakistan has escalated to the point of attacking police stations when a person is acquitted of contempt of court.
One country, one law
When I was searching for information about this incident on the internet, the Facebook page of the Government Information Department had published a satirical news. Its story was accompanied by a picture of Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara smiling with a group of Muslims in the East. I wanted to read this photo and this news together with the news about this religious fanaticism coming from Pakistan.
Saharan Haseem, who carried out the Easter attack that killed more than 200 people, grew up in the East. Their religious ideology grew well in the East. Muslim religious extremism is still rampant in the East. On the other hand, when the Saharan Haseems of the East emerged, the BBS was born out of racism and religious fanaticism in the South. Its leader is Ven. Gnanasara Thero of Galagodatte. So look at how ironic it is to read these two events together. On the other hand, the story of Mr. Khan becoming the leader of Pakistan and the story of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa becoming the leader of Sri Lanka.
How many people have been killed by the words of the Quran?
Now let’s go back to our old story. The incident began with a rumor that Diyawadana, who had been the manager of the Sialkot garment factory for seven years, had removed a poster with words from the Koran. On the morning of the 3rd, crowds began to gather near the gates of the factory, and in the evening they entered the factory to catch the diarrhea. Meanwhile, there is no report of anything being done by the police in Pakistan during this period. That is where religion lies behind Pakistan.
Speaking to the media about the incident, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Murtaza said, “Some of the posters may have been removed from the wall due to the renovation of the factory building. So they may have tampered with the posters bearing the name of the Prophet Muhammad. Maybe that’s why the manager was killed. But the motive for the murder could be personal. All of this is under investigation. ‘ Because things like this are common in Pakistan.
Blasphemy and Pakistan
Pakistan’s most notorious blasphemy lawsuit was filed in 2010 against a Christian woman, Asia BB. In this case, she was sentenced to death by two of her maids for blasphemy. A decade later, due to intense international pressure, she had to be acquitted and released. The world will never forget how the Pakistani extremists behaved with this release.
Zia-ul-Haq is the one who introduced this blasphemy law. Since its introduction, it has been used extensively to address personal grievances. After the recapture of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the Western media reported on how much Pakistan was helping the Taliban rise. Pakistan is a safe haven for many Islamic extremist organizations such as the Taliban, the Mujahideen movement and Al Qaeda. We know that the TLP (Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan), an Islamic extremist organization in Pakistan, was recently banned by the Imran Khan government. But the Khan government cannot face the opposition that comes with this ban. Imran Khan has to reverse the ban when these extremists set fire to villages and kill police officers. It is learned that this organization is also involved in the assassination of Priyantha Diyawadana. That is why the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan tweeted that this assassination is a disgrace to Pakistan. It is also said that an award is given to a person who has fought alone to protect Priyantha. This is how things happen. Concentration reductions are everywhere. These dilutions by force end in great tragedy. The best example is the Easter attack in Sri Lanka.
This is the nature of Pakistan⁇
Hussain Haqqani, a former US ambassador to Pakistan, told the Guardian website in Pakistan about the situation – Pakistan has been supporting extremist Islamists for years. Instead of protecting the victims of extremism, they support those who perpetrate violence in the name of religion through the state machinery. They have again allowed the TLP responsible for killing police officers during violent protests. The rise of this organization has led to the generalization of murders on defamation charges. What used to be random events is now like an epidemic.
This is the story. I will end this with a line of words written in a Facebook post. It says:
Pakistan, keep ‘Priyantha’s cremains, give us justice…