ISLAMABAD: Police has arrested several persons in connection with horrific killing of Sri Lankan national manager of local company by a mob in central Punjab’s industrial city Sialkot on blasphemy charges.
Priyantha Diyawadana, worked as a manager in a factory that reportedly made gears for Pakistan cricket team for the recently held T-20 World Cup.
Terrifying video images circulating on social media show he was beaten to death and his corpse was set on fire over blasphemy accusations. He was the General Manager of Rajco Industry in Sialkot, Punjab.
The inhuman act took drew condemnations from all sections of society across the country.
Some videos showed young men among the mob appearing for TV interviews defending their action in the name of sanctity of Prophet (PBUH). They along with their accomplices chant slogans popularly associated with Tehreek e Labeek (TLP) an extreme rightwing party formed and thrived on issue of blasphemy.
Are they arrested @ImranKhanPTI ? #Sialkot pic.twitter.com/HALEQzjbmP
— Shama Junejo (@ShamaJunejo) December 3, 2021
The incident took place on Wazirabad Road, Sialkot, where the workers of private factories lynched the Sri Lankan national. There are unconfirmed reports that the manager admonished a supervisor on cleanliness matter. Enraged supervisor twisted it as blasphemy matter and gathered a mob that lynched the manger in an inhuman manner.
The Sri Lankan citizen was working as export manager at the factory. Soon after the incident was reported, condemnations started coming from different segments of the society. However, this is not the first such incident in the country. Few days back a similarly charged mob in KPK province burned a police station in protest of police not handing them over an accused facing blasphemy charges.
Several persons have been killed in the country on such charges and many are languishing in jails. Former Governor Salman Taseer was killed by his own body guard Mumtaz Qadri for giving some remarks about a Christian woman who was facing blasphemy charges.
Qadri was given capital punishment by courts however a segment of society most of them claim to follow Brailvi sect of Islam still deem him a hero. TLP was born out of Qadri supporters. The party has vote back in almost every constituency, especially in Punjab.
The government in April this year declared it a proscribed organization and arrested its key leader Saad Rizvi, son of firebrand founder Khadim Rizvi who died in December last year days after staging another sit in at one of the busiest road interchange that links garrison city Rawalpindi with capital Islamabad.
Senior Rizvi along with his hundreds of followers had earlier staged an almost one month long sit-in in 2017 against then government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) alleging it of conspiring to change some clauses of a declaration that a parliamentarian signs before taking oath legislator. TLP believed that it would have amended some sentences that proclaim finality of Prophet (PBUH).
In November 2020 TLP once again brought its supporters to Islamabad, this time with the demand to expel French Ambassador from Pakistan to protest against publishing of blasphemous cartoons in France.
TLP finished its protest after making an agreement with government which assured it of taking the matter in the parliament. Few months after the agreement TLP under the leadership of Saad Rizvi again announced to come to Islamabad for another sit-in to press the government implement agreement it signed with his father.
Government arrested Saad and declared TLP as banned organization. In October this year TLP again started a violent march towards Islamabad with demand to release Saad Rizvi and implement 2020 agreement.
Several police officials were killed in clashes with TLP workers in attempt to stop the marchers. Government capitulated; it released Saad Rizvi and delisted TLP from proscribed organization. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party top office bearers from Punjab visited Saad and greeted him after his release.
Prime Minister’s office in a tweet said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will supervise the investigations into killing of Sri Lankan national.
The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot & the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan. I am overseeing the investigations & let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 3, 2021
Police has arrested more than 50 persons so far. It is conducting raids in different localities around the area using video footages.
Meanwhile, Punjab Labour Minister Ansar Majeed Khan has taken notice of the incident, as per a statement issued by his office. According to the statement, the DG Labour has submitted an initial report to the minister.
The statement said the incident took place in RAJCO Industries, Sialkot, adding that the minister has summoned a comprehensive report from the minister.
This lynching of the foreign national over the alleged blasphemy comes days after a mob in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), ransacked a police station and burned it down over similar allegations.
The K-P police had refused to hand over a man detained over alleged blasphemy to the mob.
