The murder of Qutub Rind has attracted a lot of rumours on social media. The student, who originally belonged to Sindh, was based in Lahore. He was allegedly killed over blasphemy.
When they heard the word blasphemy, many people decided to share and push this news on social media without even investigating whether it was true or not. The Indian Times also published the news saying another student lost his life over blasphemy allegations.
The international media has reacted in the same way. However, no one is yet sure of what truly happened. In our country, blasphemy is being used as a weapon against victims, and people like Mumtaz Qadri are loved while people like Mashal Khan die.
The slain artist from Jacobabad was a student at NCA Lahore. He was killed over a rent dispute, and the murderers tried to use the blasphemy accusation to get away with what he had done. In the current environment, people are encouraged to use the allegation of blasphemy as a tool to defend their crime or frame someone else.
Qutub’s uncle confirmed that killers fabricated blasphemy allegations to justify the murder, while the dispute started due to rent. He also said that he filed an application against the three accused, but the police only registered a case against two, and protected the third person.
On July 17, the landlord of the flat, identified as Ahsan, approached Qutub and demanded next month’s rent. Qutub told him that he had already paid the rent and would pay the next month’s rent on the date given in the agreement. The landlord got angry. He called his brother, Waqas Ali, and another accomplice and started beating Qutub with a rod and later pushed him down from the third floor of the house. The victim suffered critical injuries and was taken to the Services Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The incident took place two weeks ago, but media was silent on the news because it was just another murder. However, when news broke that this was a case of blasphemy, people linked it to Mashal Khan. In reality, they have only helped the culprits.
In Pakistan, if you want to kill someone and walk away as a hero all you need to do is accuse the victim of blasphemy. The only problem with social media is that most people do not even try to understand the case and spread information like wildfire. By helping spread this information, they have turned Qutub’s murderers into heroes for many people.
If these allegations of blasphemy do not stop soon, Qutub’s family may also find itself in serious danger. I remember that after Mashal Khan’s death, his family was not allowed to go outside their home by locals. Mashal’s sisters could not continue their education due to the reaction of the society over the false blasphemy charges levied on their brother. Even now Mashal’s family cannot move freely in Pakistan. These cases are very much serious, and this issue should not be attached to anyone without solid proof.
The only problem with social media is that most people do not even try to understand the case and help information spread like wildfire. By doing so, they have turned Qutub’s murderers into heroes for many people
In Pakistan, the blasphemy law can be used against anyone easily. There are so many flaws in this law and if someone falsely adds this label onto any person, it becomes exceedingly difficult to free oneself from it. Secondly,our society does not look at the victim of such accusations as a victim, if anything even in death the people that are left behind by this person become targets.
A humble request to all social media users would be for them to stop using their platforms to spread information like this without any actual proof. Instead find constructive ways of helping the victims that are accused falsely.
Our blasphemy obsessed society will not let them live, and after our tweet or post is gone we will forget about the family we left in peril.
The writer is the student of Pakistan Studies at Government College Mansehra. He tweets @abidhashnagar and can be reached at [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, August 8th 2018.