PAKISTAN Sindh, they tried to lynch a health operator for a (false) accusation of blasphemy

Shok Kumar was accused of desecrating the Koran. In reality, there would be personal problems and conflicts with the person who reported it. When word spread, a mob tried to kill the man, who was rescued and later arrested by police. New claim by activists against abuses related to that law.

Hyderabad () – An angry mob tried to lynch Ashok Kumar, a Pakistani Hindu health worker, on a (false) charge of blasphemy, because he had allegedly desecrated the Koran. The incident was triggered by a complaint filed at the Hyderabad police station in Sindh by a local resident, Dandu Khan, who had had a heated argument with the accused.

Investigators have opened a file under section 295B of the Penal Code. Local sources explain that Khan learned from a customer named Nabeel that the Koran had been desecrated at the nearby Rabbi Center. When he arrived at the place he questioned Kumar and, as he did not receive satisfactory answers, he considered him responsible for the events that occurred against the holy book.

When word of the alleged act of blasphemy spread, a crowd gathered in the area with the purpose of bringing justice and killing the man, who was saved thanks to the intervention of the police, who arrested him. At the time he was arrested, the agents explained that the sanitation operator had apparently been the victim of a personal dispute with a neighbor.

Pakistan has already been the scene of attacks, violence and murders of people accused – even unjustly and without evidence – of blasphemy. Last year a Sri Lankan was burned alive in Sialkot and a few years earlier a Christian couple had been killed by an angry mob in Kasur.

In dialogue with , Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP), condemned what happened, once again related to the use of blasphemy laws to settle personal disputes. He hopes that the culprits will be brought to justice and called on the authorities to put an end to the practice of abuses related to the controversial regulation, which is also verified in the workplace and against minorities who are underpaid, exploited and deprived of their rights. “There is a reason, he says, that most health care workers are exposed to numerous health problems. On the other hand, the problem related to the security of Ashok Kumar in prison, and also of his family, to whom the State should guarantee protection, remains open”.

Samson Salamat, president of Rwadari Tehreek, calls for harsh action to be taken against those who “spread hate and terror” against the Hindu community. “What happened in Hyderabad – he affirms – is a clear example of the purpose of attacking religious minorities under the pretext of accusations of blasphemy, when once again the real culprit was a Muslim”.