In a concerning development, a Sri Lankan factory Manager was lynched & burned by a mob in Pakistan over blasphemy. The incident was reported on December 3, 2021 in Pakistan’s Punjab province’s Sialkot district. The top executive of an enterprise had reportedly destroyed posters of Prophet Muhammad, triggering a hardline mob. Pakistan’s prominent newspaper Dawn reported that accused were being identified by the authorities with the CCTV footage found and as many as 50 persons have already been arrested. The entire hair-raising incident was shot on video and was later viral on social media platforms. In the video, a mob of men can be seen cheering as the body of the Sri Lankan man was burned.

Contents hide
1. Background
2. The Facts of the Matter
3. Sri Lankan Man Had Committed Blasphemy, Factory Workers Protest
4. Police Severely Outnumbered, Dozens Turn Into Hundreds
5. Sri Lankan Brutally Tortured & Burned by Pakistan Mob
6. Hundreds Already Arrested & Transferred to Unidentified Location
7. Pakistan PM Imran Khan Reacts To ‘Vigilante Attack’

Background

Following the suit of previous years, Pakistan harbored significant human rights violation in 2020, a year that was riddled with COVID-19 and the pandemic induced lockdowns. The violations included forced conversions, crimes against women, curtailing of freedom of expression across different mediums. These findings came from the country’s own Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) annual report.

Similarly, the human rights annual report by the US State Department published earlier this year also expressed concern over the unlawful killings, disappearances, and other human rights violation in Pakistan.

While Pakistan PM Imran Khan has expressed his concerns over the issues, more has been desired from his actions.

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The Facts of the Matter

Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara had been working at Punjab province’s Rajco Industries since the last 10 years. The Christian Sri Lankan national was working as a manager and on Friday, he was lynched and later burned to his death by a mob on blasphemy allegations.

Sri Lankan Man Had Committed Blasphemy, Factory Workers Protest

According to The Dawn, Priyantha was alleged to have committed blasphemy by tearing a poster of in which Quranic verses were written. Later, workers of the factory where he worked came together and protested on the factory’s premises.

Police Severely Outnumbered, Dozens Turn Into Hundreds

To curb the protest, 3 policemen reached the spot, however, they were soon turned into helpless spectators as the mob grew from a dozen to a hundred. Large number of locals gathered and traffic was suspended on the busy Wazirabad Road.

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Sri Lankan Brutally Tortured & Burned by Pakistan Mob

Meanwhile, the lynching victim rushed to the factory’s roof. However, the protestors soon found him hiding on the roof and brought him on the road. Kumara was then beaten by sticks, stones and tortured. He was killed on the spot.

The mob then went on to burn his body on the road. The entire incident was caught on video and horrific videos show the mob applauding and cheering as Kumara’s body was burning.

Later, CM Usman Buzdar took to Twitter and wrote, “I am extremely shocked at the horrific Sialkot incident. I have instructed IG Police to thoroughly investigate it. No one is allowed to take law in their hands. Rest assured, individuals involved in this inhumane act will not be spared!!”

 

Hundreds Already Arrested & Transferred to Unidentified Location

Further, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi offered his condolences and claimed that 50 persons had already been identified and more were being looked for from the CCTV footage. It should be noted that over 100 people have already been arrested and have been transferred to unidentified location.

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Pakistan PM Imran Khan Reacts To ‘Vigilante Attack’

Later, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also reacted to the incident and claimed that “responsible will be punished with full severity”.  “The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot & the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan. I am overseeing the investigations & let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress, PM Khan tweeted.