{"id":9301,"date":"2024-06-22T15:57:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T15:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=9301"},"modified":"2024-06-22T15:57:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T15:57:19","slug":"parliament-must-jointly-resolve-to-eliminate-radicalization-and-mob-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/parliament-must-jointly-resolve-to-eliminate-radicalization-and-mob-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament must jointly resolve to eliminate radicalization and mob violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press release<\/p>\n

Parliament must jointly resolve to eliminate radicalization and mob violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lahore, 22 June 2024<\/em>. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) calls urgently on the federal government to take strict action following the recent mob lynching of a 40-year-old man in Swat, after he was accused of having desecrated pages of the Quran\u2014a charge he reportedly denied while in police custody. The savagery with which the victim was lynched, the mob\u2019s violent articulation of moral self-righteousness, and the fact that this is the second such incident in less than a month (following the death of Nazir Masih in Sargodha), should make it clear that the state has, knowingly or otherwise, surrendered its writ in matters of faith-based mob violence.<\/p>\n

Such incidents are no longer merely a question of problematic laws that are easily weaponized on grounds of blasphemy. Instead, they are a direct result of decades of pandering to, and deliberately cultivating, far-right religious groups and militancy. The state has been directly complicit in this: it has accorded impunity to perpetrators of faith-based violence and appeared indifferent to such incidents where decisive action was necessary.<\/p>\n

Nor are mob lynchings confined to faith-based violence any longer. In at least three recent incidents in Karachi since March, aggrieved crowds caught and killed suspected criminals. This reflects a near-breakdown of law and order, a deep mistrust of the criminal justice system and a general sense of economic and social despondency.<\/p>\n

It is a matter of great concern that a proposal to the National Assembly for establishing a house committee to probe vigilantism was not taken further on the floor of the house. This must be reintroduced and a strong committee set up immediately for this purpose. Nothing less than the full resolve of the Parliament\u2014across all political parties and ideologies\u2014to combat radicalization, hate speech and faith-based violence is acceptable at this stage. HRCP also notes the feeble role played by the Council of Islamic Ideology in this context and demands that it take every possible step to counter vigilantism.<\/p>\n

Asad Iqbal Butt<\/strong>
\nChairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>