On 12 February 2022, Mushtaq Ahmed was killed by a mob in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, after being accused of

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

Background

Blasphemy is a very serious

crime in Pakistan Crime in Pakistan is present in various forms and occurs everywhere, especially in the many major cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Peshawar, Multan, Hyderabad, Islamabad and Quetta. Among other general crimes ...

, for which the maximum penalty is death. Pakistan has

sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. History Early years (1988–1991) Sentenced started in 1988 as Deformity and c ...

people

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is consid ...

of blasphemy to death, although it had not executed any of them. Some people who were accused of blasphemy were lynched, most recently Priyantha Kumara in

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, Punjab, on 3 December 2021. International and

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

human rights group A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awareness ...

s say that blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate

religious minorities A minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of a country, state, or region. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative co ...

Lynching

On the evening of 12 February 2022, in

Tulamba Tulamba (also Tulambah) ( ur, ) is a small town in Punjab, Pakistan. Tulamba is situated on the eastern edge of the Ravi River, between the cities of Abdul Hakeem and Mian Channu. Prior to 1985 Tulamba belonged to the district of Multan, bu ...

Mian Channu Tehsil Mian Channu ( ur, ) is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its capital is Mian Channu Mian Channu, alternately spelled Mian Chunnun, is the capital city of Mian Channu Tehsil in Kha ...

Khanewal District Khanewal District (Urdu and pnb, ) is a district of the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan.Khanewal , Punjab Portal. Retrieved 16 January 2022, from https://www.punjab.gov.pk/khanewal According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the d ...

, Punjab, Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed was accused by the custodian of a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

of burning a

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

inside the building. A mob beat the 41-year-old

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

man to death using batons, axes and iron rods, and hanged him on a tree. The

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

, who were greatly outnumbered by the mob, failed in an attempt to arrest Ahmed. Three

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s were injured; the force arrested about 80 men in connection with the killing. Ahmed's funeral was held on 13 February.

References

2022 in Punjab, Pakistan 2022 murders in Pakistan 2020s crimes in Punjab, Pakistan February 2022 crimes in Asia February 2022 events in Pakistan Khanewal District Lynching deaths in Pakistan Murder in Punjab, Pakistan {{Pakistan-hist-stub