PAKISTAN

Sindh, Hindu health worker risks lynching after (false) blasphemy charge

by Shafique Khokhar

Ashok Kumar accused of desecrating the Koran to mask personal issues with the person who denounced him. When word spread, a mob tried to kill the man, who was picked up by the police and then arrested. New call by activists against norm-related abuses.



Hyderabad (AsiaNews) - Ashok Kumar, a Pakistani health worker of the Hindu religion has risked being lynched on a (false) charge of blasphemy, for having profaned the Koran. The incident was triggered by a complaint lodged at the police station in Hyderabad, Sindh, by a resident of the area, Dandu Khan, who had allegedly had a heated argument with the accused beforehand.

Investigators opened a file under Section 295B of the Penal Code. Local sources explain that Khan heard from a customer named Nabeel about a desecration of the Koran that had taken place in the nearby Rabbi Centre. Upon arriving at the scene, he questioned Kumar and, not receiving a satisfactory answer, held him responsible for the act against the holy book.

When word of the alleged act of blasphemy spread, a crowd gathered in the area with the aim of taking justice into their own hands and killing the man, who was saved thanks to the intervention of the police who arrested him. At the time of the arrest, the officers explained that initial investigations revealed that the health worker was the victim of a personal dispute with a local resident.

In the past, Pakistan has been the scene of attacks, violence and killings of people accused - even unjustly and without proof - of blasphemy: last year a Sri Lankan citizen was burnt alive in Sialkot; a few years earlier a Christian couple died at the hands of an angry mob in Kasur.

Interviewed by AsiaNews Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan (Hrfp), condemned the incident, which was once again linked to the use of blasphemy laws to settle personal disputes. He hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice and appealed to the authorities to stop the practice of abuse linked to the controversial regulations, including in the workplace and against underpaid, exploited and disenfranchised minorities.

He says 'there is a reason that most health workers are subject to numerous health problems. Moreover, there is an open question of security in prison for Ashok Kumar and also for his family, who should be guaranteed protection' by the state. Samson Salamat, president of Rwadari Tehreek, calls for strict measures against those who 'spread hatred and terror' against the Hindu community.

'The latest incident in Hyderabad is a crystal-clear example of attempts to target religious minorities under the pretext of blasphemy accusations, when the real culprit in this case too was a Muslim,' he concludes.