Daily Times

LAHORE: Rana Manan, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s lawmaker Thursday submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly to appreciate the court’s verdict on Christian couple lynching case in Kasur two years ago.

The resolution was submitted in the Notice Branch of the Punjab Assembly Secretariat. The resolution stated that the bold decision of court in Kasur tragedy case should be applauded in the House of the representatives of
the province.

In the Kasur Tragedy case, Anti-Terrorism Court-I (ATC-I) Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Azam sentenced five people to death over the killing of a Christian couple, who were lynched and burned in a kiln after being falsely accused of blasphemy, two weeks ago.

The court also awarded two-year sentence to eight other culprits, including Muhammad Hussain, Noorul Hasan, Muhammad Arsalan, Muhammad Haris, Muhammad Muneer, Muhammad Ramazan, Irfan and Hafiz Shahid involved in burning the couple alive before their children.

The deaths of Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi, the Christian couple, caused outrage and saw other Christian families living near their home in Punjab flee the area in fear.

Some of the human rights activists, who though do not support of the act of capital punishment, endorsed the court’s decision for curbing such kind of crimes in the society.

Sabiha Shaheen, a human rights activist and head of the Bargad – a non governmental organisation, has said that such decision of the court would restore confidence of minorities and promote inter-faith harmony and tolerance among different religious groups existing in Pakistan.

In November 2014, 28-year old Shahzad Masih and his five-month-pregnant wife Shama Masih, 24, were brutally tortured by an enraged mob before they were set ablaze at a brick kiln near Chak No 59, Kasur.

The mob, allegedly incited by a local cleric – who made incendiary announcement that a Christian woman had allegedly desecrated the Holy Quran – held hostage five policemen who tried to rescue the couple. The villagers also manhandled some media personnel and snatched their cameras.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, with allegations often prompting mob violence. Critics say the laws are abused to wage personal vendettas, often against Christians.

Witnesses described how an angry mob of hundreds of people set upon the couple near the town of Kot Radha Kishan in Punjab in 2014, attacking them and then throwing their bodies into a brick kiln.