First death anniversary of Mashal Khan: Activists say slain student’s family still facing social isolation

PESHAWAR: Civil society activists on Friday said that Mashal Khan's family was still facing social isolation due to the prevalent fear in the society.

Speaking at a discussion in the Peshawar Press Club to commemorate the first death anniversary of Mashal Khan, civil society members, including Rukhshanda Naz, Bushra Gohar and Gulalai Ismail and others expressed concern over the institutions' failure to provide justice to Mashal Khan’s family.

The speakers said that an atmosphere of fear had been created in the society through religious fanaticism and extremism. They said the lynching of Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of the Mass Communication Department of the Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, was a result of the state's pro-extremism policies for the last three decades.

They said that judiciary and administration had soft corner for the perpetrators of the crime despite their public confession."The accused not only publicly confessed [to the crime] but also vowed to commit such crimes [again]," said Bushra Gohar, a former member of the National Assembly from Awami National Party.

She said the university should have organised debates over intolerance and should have encouraged the students to discuss peaceful coexistence. Bushra Gohar deplored that attention had been shifted from the involvement of the university administration in the murder of Mashal Khan and demanded action against the university officials as well.

The speakers said that Mashal Khan was killed by religious extremists and asked the judiciary to bring the perpetrators to justice. They accused the judiciary and investigation for their alleged leniency to the accused.

The speakers appreciated the judiciary's action for bringing improvement in other institutions but also demanded reformative steps within the judiciary. They said that society was suffering from intolerance where nobody could discuss common issues for fear of being accused of blasphemy and treason, adding the state patronage of the violence had resulted in dangerous situations.

Gulalai Ismail said that silence over the murder continued until the civil society raised voice for the Mashal's family. However, she admitted that the fear still persisted in the society. She lamented that the authorities had not learnt any lesson from the past mistakes.

Other speakers asked the nation and media to play role in forcing the state to change its narrative, saying that it was the responsibility of the citizens to ensure that their own Mashals did not fall prey to extremism and fanaticism.

They said that policies which supported and nourished violence and extremism must be challenged and demanded collective efforts for bringing an end to these suicidal policies. The speakers asked the state to change policies to make the society peaceful.