#rememberingmashalkhan - Mashal Khan Lynching: Twitter Mourns The Brutal Killing Of Student Over Blasphemy

 Arhama Altaf

On Tuesday, Twitter mourns the brutal killing of student Mashal Khan, who was murdered in Abdul Wali Khan University after allegations of blasphemy.


#rememberingmashalkhan is trending on Twitter as people mourn the loss of Mashal Khan over blasphemy allegation, later cleared by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC).

Earlier in 2020, in the murder case, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had maintained a life sentence to seven convicts and three years jail term to 25 others.

The appeals were filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Mashal’s father and the convicts who were awarded jail terms by the trial court.

Father’s Plea

Mashal’s father, Iqbal Khan had filed an appeal in the PHC against the ATC’s verdict, demanding further punishment for the accused.

In the review petition, Iqbal Khan pleaded that those who were sentenced to life imprisonment should be put on death row.

He had also appealed for an increase in the punishment of those sentenced to three-four year jail sentences.

Mashal Khan Murder Over ‘Blasphemy’

Mashal, 23, a student at Mardan, was brutally lynched by a mob on April 13, 2017, instigated by rumours that he had committed blasphemy by posting sacrilegious content online.

The court cancelled the bails of 25 convicts and ordered their arrest from the courtroom.

A 13-member joint investigation team (JIT) was formed to probe the case.

On February 07, 2018, the ATC sentenced the prime suspect to death while five others to 25 years’ imprisonment in the case.

ATC  had acquitted 26 suspects and awarded three years of jail term to 25 other accused in the case.

Convict Imran, who was awarded capital punishment, was found guilty of firing shots at the victim student from his pistol.

He had also confessed to the crime before the court.

Nearly 50 prosecution witnesses testified against the suspects during the course of the hearing conducted inside Haripur Central Jail.

The prosecution charged 61 people in the case, while 57 of them were arrested and produced before the court for trial.

https://www.bolnews.com/pakistan/2021/04/mashal-khan-lynching-twitter-mourns-the-brutal-killing-of-student-over-blasphemy/


ہر سوچنے والا مشال خان ہے #rememberingmashalkhan

عبدالستار

سوچنا، غورو فکر کرنا اور کائناتی رازوں کو ڈی کوڈ کرنا ہر ایک کے بس کی بات


نہیں ہوتی کیونکہ اس کی بھاری قیمت چکانا پڑتی ہے۔ اس حقیقت کی تاریخ شاہد ہے کہ سوچنے والے اذہان کو کس قدر دربدر کیا گیا اور ان کی سوچ پر پہرے بٹھائے گئے اور بہت ساروں کو تو سوچنے کی قیمت اپنے خون سے بھی چکانا پڑی۔ یہ الم ناک سلسلہ آج بھی جاری ہے، آج بھی سوچنے والوں مختلف کفریہ القابات سے نوازا جاتا ہے۔ اس جنونیت کا نہ جانے کتنے قیمتی ہیرے شکار ہو چکے ہیں۔

13 اپریل 2017ء میں بھی ایک دلخراش واقعہ پیش آیا تھا، اس بار اس ظالمانہ روش کا شکار عبدالولی خان یونیورسٹی کا ایک عظیم سپوت ہوا تھا۔ یونیورسٹی کے ایک جنونی جتھے نے محض جھوٹے الزامات کی بنیاد پر مشعال کو گستاخ مذہب قرار دے کر انتہائی سفاکی اور بے دردی کے ساتھ اینٹیں مار مار کر اس کے پورے وجود کو ہی چھلنی کر ڈالا اور یہ ظالمانہ اقدام کر کے انہوں نے اپنا نام وارثان جنت کی فہرست میں جلی حروف میں درج کروا لیا تھا۔

اساتذہ، والدین اور قریبی دوستوں کے مطابق مشال ایک مؤدب اور آؤٹ آف دی باکس جا کر سوچنے والا انسان تھا اور اپنی سوچ کا اظہار انتہائی شائستہ اور پڑھے لکھے انداز میں کرتا تھا۔ بعض دفعہ وہ اپنی سوچ کا اظہار اپنی فیس بک کی وال پر بھی کر دیا کرتا تھا، وہ سیکھنے اور جاننے کا اتنا متلاشی تھا کہ سکالر شپ کی بنیاد پر روس کی ایک یونیورسٹی میں انجینئرنگ پڑھنے بھی گیا مگر گھریلو مالی حالات کی وجہ سے تعلیم مکمل کیے بغیر ہی وطن واپس لوٹنا پڑا۔

اس کے بعد مشال نے ماس میڈیا اور صحافت میں ماسٹرز کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا، یہ تعلیمی سفر ابھی جاری تھا کہ ایک دن چند جنونیوں نے ظلم و بربریت کی ایک الم ناک داستان رقم کر دی اس روشن خیال انسان کو ہمیشہ کے لیے خاموش کر دیا اور ایسا خوف کا سما ں پیدا کر دیا تھا کہ چند لوگ ہی اس عظیم انسان کے سفر آخرت میں شریک ہو سکے تھے مگر یہ قربانی رائیگاں کیسے جا سکتی تھی؟

اس کے جانے کے بعد شعور و آگہی کا ایک نہ تھمنے والا سلسلہ شروع ہو گیا تھا، اس کی الم ناک موت پر دانشوروں نے سوال اٹھائے، طالب علموں نے سوال اٹھائے، ہر سوچنے والے ذی شعور نے سوال اٹھائے حتیٰ کہ کھوج لگانے والی سرکاری کمیٹی جو اس الم ناک واقعے کی تفتیش کر رہی تھی انہوں نے مشال کو معصوم قرار دے کر تمام الزامات سے بری کر کے انسانی تاریخ کے آگے سرخرو کر دیا۔ سوال یہ پیدا ہوتا ہے کہ آخر مشال کا قصور کیا تھا؟

اس کے جسم کو بے رحمانہ طریقے سے کیوں کچلا گیا؟ اس کی زندگی کا فیصلہ چند بے رحم جنونیوں کے رحم و کرم پر کیوں چھوڑ دیا گیا؟ میری نظر میں اس کا قصور صرف یہ تھا کہ وہ سوچنے لگ پڑا تھا اور اپنی سوچ کا وائرس دوسرے سوچنے والے اذہان میں بھی منتقل کر رہا تھا اور یہ بات تو طے ہے کہ سوچنے کی بیماری جس کسی بھی سماج میں سرایت کر جائے تو پھر ”اسٹیٹس کو“ کا جمود ٹوٹنے لگتا ہے اور لوگوں میں شعور پنپنے لگتا ہے اور یہی شعور لوگوں کو سوال اٹھانے پر مجبور کرنے لگتا ہے۔

مشال خان اسی شعور کا نقارچی تھا مگر اس کی انالحق کی صدا کو گستاخی سمجھا گیا اور جس یونیورسٹی میں وہ شعور کی منزل حاصل کرنے آیا تھا ، اسی یونیورسٹی کے کھوکھلے جنونیوں نے اس کی شعوری آواز کو خاموش کر دیا مگر یہ بات روز روشن کی طرح عیاں ہو چکی ہے کہ ہر سوچنے والا مشال خان ہے اور یہ سلسلہ یونہی چلتا جائے گا۔

https://www.humsub.com.pk/387522/abdul-sattar-91/ 

Pakistan’s new law criminalises military criticism with 2-yr jail term, sparks outrage

REVATHI KRISHNAN
The Pakistani government has proposed a law that will criminalise the criticism of the military, which has been approved by a panel of the National Assembly — the lower house of the country’s parliament.The bill, which was approved by Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on 7 April, proposes to change the country’s criminal law and states that anyone who “intentionally ridicules, brings into disrepute or defames” the country’s military will undergo a two-year prison sentence or will be fined more than $3,200 (Rs 5,00,000) or both.
The bill, however, still needs majority approval in the National Assembly and the Senate (upper house) of the country’s Parliament.
It was introduced by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Amjid Ali Khan, in response to the growing criticism of the armed forces. Several members of the military have been subject to criticism for their alleged interference in matters related to governance.
During deliberations on the law in the panel, opposition leaders from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz) had opposed the law and said that it could be used against freedom of expression in the country.
Criticism of the law
Rights activists, politicians and other social media users have vociferously criticised the law. Even Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet ministers have expressed reservations about the bill.
Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council Khush Dil Khan, in a statement, said that if the bill is passed, it will be used as a tool against political victims. “If it is passed, then the Pakistan Bar Council will oppose it tooth and nail.” The move was also criticised in a strongly worded editorial in the newspaper Dawn, which said that “no one is above criticism, including the senior leadership of our security apparatus — this includes those perceived as going beyond their scope of responsibilities”.
The editorial cited Pakistan’s checkered political history that has seen abrogation of the Constitution, dismissal of elected governments and military intervention and noted that the new legislation will also “give weight to the argument that the present dispensation is a hybrid regime”.
“Freedom to question here does not mean that the military’s role in defending the country is being doubted. It simply gives people their constitutional right to question the alleged involvement of an institution of the state in affairs that are beyond its constitutional mandate,” the editorial said, adding that the bill should be dismissed in “the interest of democracy”.
The controversial legislation comes against the backdrop of the Pakistan government trying to control the social media ecosystem in the country.
Earlier in April this year, Pakistan resumed access to Tik Tok after banning it in March for spreading offensive content.
https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/pakistans-new-law-criminalises-military-criticism-with-2-yr-jail-term-sparks-outrage/638520/

#Pakistan - #PPP rejects controversial census validation by the CCI


“Unbelievable that the Council of Common Interest could validate a massive fraud in the shape of Census 2017 against the right of people of Sindh to be counted correctly”, said Senator Taj Haider Member PPP Core Committee in a Press Statement issued today against the validation of the provisional figures of Census by the CCI.Senator Taj Haider reminded that all parties of the Senate had signed an agreement for a recount in 5% population blocks and the correction of the Census figures. This agreement also bears the signatures of Senator Azam Swati who at that time was Parliamentary leader of the PTI.
The agreement of all leaders of parliamentary parties of the Senate to correct Census figures concluded with the then Prime Minister Mr. Shahid Khakan Abbasi in chair was a trick played against Sindh by the PML (N) government in order to get the 24th Amendment passed. The present Government instead of implementing that agreement is promising fresh census in 2023 which is yet another deception. No one in his right mind can trust this Government.Sindh is not prepared to be deceived twice on the same issue. This Government has come to power through an electoral fraud and its record shows that it wants to perpetuate every fraud against the people of Pakistan.In spite of the Chief Minister Sindh reminding the other CCI members again and again that migrants from other provinces into Sindh had been counted in the fraudulent Census in their original provinces and not in Sindh, the CCI opted for the first time in history to take decisions with majority vote and not by consensus.
The real population of Sindh counted in different surveys by internationally accepted de-facto method is around 62 million and not 47 million as counted by the anti-Sindh de-jure method. The loss of representation and divisible resources due to this fraud can never be ignored or forgotten by the people of Sindh. Even livestock animals are counted correctly, why not us Sindhis?Senator Taj Haider pointed out that going back on written and signed agreements between the Provinces cuts at the roots of the Federation which is a much greater loss for all those who have been struggling for the strengthening of the Federation. Let everyone know that Pakistan People’s Party shall not take this injustice lying down. The Senator appealed every patriotic Pakistani and specially those who had signed the All Parties Agreement for the correction of Census figures to condemn this injustice and to join the PPP in its struggle against this fascist Government.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24648/