US deplores religious violence in Pakistan after mob kills man for burning Koran

June 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Tuesday lamented the religious violence in Pakistan just days after a mob lynched and killed a man who allegedly burned a copy of the Koran, leading to the arrest of more than twenty people.

“We are very concerned by these reports. We share our condolences with the victim’s family and wish a speedy recovery to those injured in the collective violence. (…) Violence or the threat of violence against another person is never an acceptable form of expression, and we oppose blasphemy laws around the world, including Pakistan, because they endanger the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion or belief,” Miller said during a conference of press.

Following this, he has urged the Pakistani authorities to respect religious freedom after the Police in the province of Punjab allegedly destroyed dozens of graves of a minority.

In that sense, he highlighted that Washington speaks regularly with Islamabad about these issues, and that the large number of these types of incidents causes Pakistan to be designated as a “Country of Special Concern.”

The Pakistan Police have announced that 23 people have already been arrested for their alleged participation in the lynching and death on Thursday in the municipality of Maydan of a man accused of setting fire to a Koran, whose body ended up incinerated in the middle of the street by a crowd. who first attacked the police station where he was taking shelter in an incident that also left eight police officers injured.

This is the second lynching reported in recent weeks in the country. Last month, police had to intervene to rescue a Christian from an angry mob in Sargodha, Punjab, precisely after being accused of desecrating the Muslim holy book, but the victim ended up succumbing to his injuries nine days later.