Daily Times

SWABI/PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday said that the provincial government could go to any extent to provide justice to the family of Mashal Khan.

Addressing a press conference along with Muhammad Iqbal, the father Mashal Khan, the PTI chief said that investigations had confirmed that it was a well-planned conspiracy that was hatched against the Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU) student. Mashal – a 23-year-old student of mass communication department – belonged to Zaida city of Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who was brutally killed over blasphemy charges by an aggressive crowd at the campus on April 13.

The PTI chief, along with KP Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar and MNA Aqibullah Khan, reached Swabi in a helicopter on Tuesday to meet Mashal’s family.

Imran went straight to meet the bereaved mother and Mashal’s sister, who were sitting in a corner of the press conference’s venue.

A day earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Inspector General Salauddin Mehsud said that investigations into the lynching incident showed that nothing was found to suggest that three students of the AWKU – Mashal, Abdullah and Zubair – had committed blasphemy.

The PTI chief also said that investigations had made it clear that Mashal “never committed blasphemy and a conspiracy was hatched against him”.

He said the entire nation had witnessed how Mashal was killed. “Even animals cannot act in such a way,” he said, referring to the mob that killed the university student. Imran said that an example would be made of those involved in the brutal murder so that “no one could dare target anyone” in the future after accusing him/her of blaspheming.

“It (punishment) will become an example in Pakistan,” he said. He said that suspects belonging to any political party, including the PTI, would be punished in accordance with the law of the land. “No one would be spared.” Imran said the government would ensure all those involved in Mashal’s killing and those who hatched the conspiracy against him were held accountable. “As a father, I can understand the pain of Mashal’s parents,” he said, while gesturing to Iqbal who was sitting beside him. He said that political and religious parties had agreed on one point: all those involved in Mashal’s killing would be exposed before the entire nation and an exemplary punishment given to them. He lauded the role of KP Police, saying that the way they arrested the culprits and conducted investigation was praiseworthy.