Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly members on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to condemn the lynching of Wali Khan University student Mashal Khan in Mardan.

The NA resumed its session with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in the chair during which Defence Production Minister Rana Tanvir moved the resolution and demanded that the federation and provincial governments take strict action against the perpetrators and facilitators of the heinous crime. The members resolved that nobody should be allowed to take law into his or her hands.

“This House unanimously condemns the barbaric and cold-blooded murder of Mashal Khan and resolves to ensure that strong safeguards may be inserted into Blasphemy Law to prevent its abuse through such atrocities in future including by mobs involved in such crime,” stated the resolution adopted by the House.

The resolution called for effective measures to ensure that the blasphemy law was not misused, including the imposition of “strong safeguards” into the blasphemy law “to prevent its abuse through such atrocities in the future including by mobs involved in such crimes”, read the resolution.

“This House condemns all those who take the law into their own hands and engage in vigilantism, resulting in loss of innocent human lives,” the resolution read.

Earlier, leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah called on lawmakers to present a united front against the barbaric lynching of Mashal Khan. He criticised the cabinet members for not issuing statements in the Mashal Khan case.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s condemnation of the lynching had come two days after the horrific incident.

“The parliament should stand united and present a unanimous front against a barbaric act like this,” Shah asserted.