Shahnawaz had gone underground to avoid police action and attacks by fundamentalists. The doctor also released a video before the police encounter, in which he claimed that his FB account was hacked and no objectionable post about Prophet Mohammad was made by him.
Karachi: A mob in Pakistan's southern Sindh province set the body of a doctor accused of blasphemy on fire after he died in a police encounter. Dr Shahnawaz Qambar , who was accused of blasphemy through a social media post , was killed by police bullets on Wednesday night near Mirpurkhas, about 250 km northeast of Karachi. Police officers claim that he had refused to surrender himself to the police . Instead, Shahnawaz opened fire on them , after which the police opened fire on him in retaliation. The police also claim that it was only after the encounter that the officers realized that Shahnawaz was the same person who was accused of insulting Prophet Mohammad through a social media post .
Maulvi had complained of blasphemyIn fact, a Maulvi from Umarkot had filed a complaint under Pakistan's strict blasphemy law, calling Shahnawaz's Facebook post objectionable . After this, Dr. Shahnawaz went into hiding to avoid police action and attacks from fundamentalists. The doctor also released a video before the police encounter , in which he claimed that his account was hacked and no objectionable post about Prophet Mohammad was made by him .
Angry crowd set the doctor's body on fireViolent protests continued even after Dr. Shahnawaz 's death in a police encounter in Umarkot . During this, angry protesters set his clinic on fire. According to local police officer Shakoor Rashid - " The family brought the body to their native village Janhero for burial , but a crowd gathered there and started demanding to hand over the body to them. " The family members were forced to leave Dr.Shahnawaz's body behind and ran away to save their lives . Then the angry crowd found Shahnawaz's body in a hearse being taken for burial, which they set on fire along with the vehicle.
Human rights organizations expressed concernOrganizations working for human rights have strongly condemned this tragic incident . Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission ( HRCP ) has demanded an immediate high -level investigation into the circumstances under which Dr. Shahnawaz died . In a statement issued on Friday, they said-" This method of violence in blasphemy cases , in which police personnel are also involved , is a disturbing thing . " Dr.Shahnawaz Qambar's murder has happened amid the debate on the misuse of Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws . It provides for the death penalty for those found guilty of insulting Islam , its holy book or the prophets. Although no one has been hanged under these laws so far , but in this era, just an accusation is enough for the mob to take the law in their own hands.
Incidents of mob lynching continue in PakistanPakistan: Doctor brutally killed over a Facebook post that Radical Muslim declared as #blasphemy Umerkot Muslims had demanded his death And the police killed him extra-judicially in a fake police encounter And the threat to Islam has not yet averted.
— Faraz Pervaiz (@FarazPervaiz3) September 20, 2024
https://t.co/zGIvpwRGo8
In a similar incident in Sindh 's Quetta city last week , a police officer shot dead Syed Khan, accused of blasphemy . Khan was rescued from a mob just hours before the incident . In that case , the officer responsible for Khan's death was arrested but later forgiven by the victim's family citing religious sentiments. Earlier in June this year , a mob in the northwestern city of Madian beat a tourist to death for allegedly insulting the Quran . Also last year , a mob in Punjab province attacked several Christian homes and churches after accusing a local man of blasphemy .
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