Apr 15: Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has strongly criticised the cold-blooded murder of Abdul Wali Khan University student Mashal Khan, who was lynched by a mob over allegations of blasphemy on Thursday.
“This is an incident filled with terror and fear,” Yousafzai said in a video message.
Malala lamented that some Pakistanis have forgotten the message of peace given by Islam, saying: “This was not just the funeral of Mashal Khan, it was the funeral of the message of our religion Islam.”
She said the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had never advised his followers to “be impatient and go around killing people”.
Malala said Pakistani people often complain about the presence of Islamophobia in the West and that other countries are “maligning our name”.
“No one is maligning the name of your country or religion… we ourselves are bringing a bad name to our country and religion,” she said.
Malala, who was anointed a UN Messenger of Peace last week, said it is the right of every Pakistani to live a safe and peaceful life.
She urged the state institutions and political parties to take a stand in order to bring justice to Mashal's family.
The education activist also said she talked over telephone with Mashal's grieving father, who gave a message of “peace and patience”.
23-year-old AWKUM student Mashal was killed and another student, Abdullah, seriously injured on Thursday by a vigilante mob at the campus for allegedly “publishing blasphemous content online”, local police said at the time.
No case had been filed against the two students prior to the incident and police had not been investigating the two on blasphemy charges.
Malala's message (in Urdu) about the tragic assassination of Mashal Khan demanding the government for justice to the family.
Posted by Yousafzai Ziauddin on Friday, April 14, 2017
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