The death of Abdul Ali, a small hotel owner who was killed in a context of popular pressure instigated by Islamists, once again demonstrates the spread of extremism even within institutions. Yousaf Benjamin, executive director of Dignity First Pakistan, said that “what happened raises questions about the police officers themselves.”
Quetta () – A middle-aged Muslim man, Abdul Ali, owner of the small Sakhi Hotel, was killed by a policeman in the Cantonment of Quetta where he had been detained for two days on charges of blasphemy. According to some reports, Abdul Ali, a resident of Kharotabad, had made questionable comments about the Khatme Nabuwwat and the Prophet Muhammad; the telephone conversation he allegedly had had gone viral on social media and sparked furious criticism and protests in the city. This is another case of violence supported by Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which are often used to accuse minority groups without any judicial process.
Following the demands of the angry crowd, the police arrested the accused under Sections 295c and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. After registering the act, the police officials negotiated with the leaders of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) – a far-right Islamist movement – and managed to disperse the crowd, but later a group of angry people belonging to different religious parties – including the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan itself – gathered again in front of the Kharotabad police station, where the accused was initially detained. The crowd demanded that he be handed over, attacking the police station with stones and even grenades.
According to information circulating on social media, Abdul Ali was a practicing Muslim, he has two sons, one of whom is Hafiz-e-Quran and the other is religious. The policeman who killed him yesterday is named Syed Khan Sarhadi and the killing was carried out at the police station. Abdul Ali died on the spot and his body has several bullet wounds.
Speaking to writer Aamir Kakkazai said: “In Quetta, Pakistan, a sad episode has once again occurred. A person was killed in the name of alleged blasphemy charges. This time, the unfortunate thing is that the killer is a policeman on duty and the person he killed was in his custody.” Thus underlining the peculiarity of this case: a murder committed by people responsible for ensuring order who in the past also found themselves helpless against the violence of angry mobs. “This reminds us of the death of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, who was killed by his own guard. The sad thing is that all parties and religious leaders are standing in solidarity with the killer and claiming that he has now become a ghazi (the one who fights against the infidels and does not die, ed.) like Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of Salman Taser.”
Yousaf Benjamin, Executive Director of Dignity First – Pakistan, said: “The abuse of blasphemy laws and the extrajudicial killing of a citizen is unjustifiable. For decades, human rights advocates have been urging the authorities to fight religious extremism, but no action has been taken, leading to frequent abuse of blasphemy laws.” The evidence of the lack of intervention is the killing of three citizens in the space of four months. “This incident raises questions about the training and mental growth of police officers as we have seen several police officers take justice into their own hands and kill. There is much to be done in this regard, such as removing hate material from textbooks and properly educating and training law enforcement officers.”
Jamshed Iqbal, a teacher and writer, said, “Syed Khan Sarhadi is a hypocritical person – he does not see a person’s mistakes as an excuse, but he looks at the excuse and kills a person. I am not usually disappointed, but I am when I see that Pakistan is sick with extremism and there is no cure. Now, anyone who tries to cure the disease will die of the same disease.” There is a general adamancy in questioning the use of violence. “You can cure a person when he thinks he is sick, but when a patient thinks his disease is right, what can a doctor do for him? Believe me, this country can get out of the economic crisis but it cannot be freed from extremism and fundamentalism.”
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