National Assembly condemns lynching of student

The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution unanimously to condemn the barbaric and cold-blooded murder of Mashal Khan, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan who was killed on blasphemy charges, and expressed its resolve to insert strong safeguards into the blasphemy law to prevent its abuse. Initially, the resolution was proposed by the opposition, which was later moved by Federal Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain in the house.
The house unanimously adopted the resolution. According to the resolution, "This house unanimously condemns the barbaric and cold-blooded murder of Mashal Khan and resolves to ensure that strong safeguards may be inserted into the blasphemy law to prevent its abuse through such atrocities in the future, including by mobs involved in such crimes."
The resolution further said, "This house strongly demands the federal and provincial governments to take strict action, in accordance with law, against the perpetrators and facilitators of this crime, including those making hate speeches.
"This house condemns all those who take the law into their own hands and engage in vigilantism, resulting in loss of innocent human lives," it said. Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said while speaking on a point of order that Mardan incident has threatened the government so much that nobody is willing to issue a statement against the culprits. He proposed the resolution on Mashal Khan's murder, saying the government should look into it as laws on blasphemy need to be reviewed. Shah said that Parliament should play its active role to curb incidents like lynching in the name of religion and blasphemy.
Naeema Kishwar, a member of JUI-F, said that passage of the resolution is useless as the government has totally failed to stop circulation of blasphemous and sacrilegious contents on social media. The government should take serious steps to stop the abuse and introduce cogent measures against misuse of the blasphemy law, she said, adding that "university administration and a local government councillor are also involved in Mashal's murder."
PTI MNA Dr Arif Alvi urged the government to build a counter-narrative with the help of religious clerics to stop misuse of the blasphemy laws. "Our youth needs to understand real meaning of Islam that is peace and love," he said. MQM MNA Sajid Ahmad said that such incidents damage positive image of Pakistan in the international community and urged the government to pursue against criminals and terrorists.
Later, the members of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) staged a walkout from the National Assembly for the fifth consecutive day in protest against alleged abduction of three close aides of former President Asif Ali Zardari. Khursheed Shah accused the government of weakening the federation and urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to come into the house and issue a statement if he was facing any pressure from any institution or whatsoever.