Zardari, Samiul Haq condemn Mashal Khan’s murder

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-S (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq on Saturday condemned the murder of Mashal Khan, a student of the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan.

Asif Ali Zardari said the Pakistan People’s Party would continue to reject and oppose the misuse of blasphemy law and ensure that its gross misuse was prevented and perpetrators of crimes in the name of religion were punished in accordance with the law.

"The Easter this year has come at a time when the nation just witnessed an unpardonable barbarity committed in the name of religion by the lynching of Mashal Khan, a student of the Mardan University on unproven allegations," he said.

"The mindset that encourages violence in the name of religion lies at the root of terrorism that must be curbed," he said, adding all forms of religious apartheid and misuse of religion based laws should be rejected.

"I felicitate the Christians any where in the world, particularly those in Pakistan on this auspicious occasion," he said in a message on the occasion.

Zardari also paid tribute to the members of the Christian community as 'peaceful, law abiding and loyal'. The role played by them in the advancement and development of the country was most laudable, he added.

News Desk adds: Maulana Samiul Haq on Saturday termed the shocking murder of student Mashal Khan as barbarism and said that Islam never allowed the murder of anyone without solid evidence.

Maulana Sami-ul-Haq was talking to the media after attending the ‘Dastar Bandi’ ceremony at the Jamia Ashrafia in Peshawar. He strongly reacted to the murder of a journalism student at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan and said no individual had the right to kill anyone in the name of blasphemy.

“It is the state’s responsibility to award punishment to a blasphemer,” he explained. He said that blasphemy is a sensitive issue and needed solid evidence adding that killing someone for blasphemy on basis of mere allegations was a crime.

He said Pakistan has blasphemy laws to deal with such cases and nobody had the right to take them into their hands. “Legislation and implementation of laws are the sole responsibility of the state,” he said. Maulana Samiul Haq demanded of the provincial government to form a judicial commission for investigation of the incident.