Islamabad: A brutal mob killing of a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has sparked protests in both countries, with Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan condemning the vigilante violence. Priyantha Diyawadanage, 48, a factory manager in the city of Sialkot, was beaten to death and his body set alight.
More than 100 people have been arrested so far, said Imran Khan. He has described the incident as a "day of shame" for his country. The victim's family in Sri Lanka said they are in despair. His wife, Nilushi Dissanayaka, called on both Pakistan and Sri Lanka's governments to conduct a full investigation to "bring justice to my husband and my two children. I saw that he was being attacked on the internet... it was so inhumane," she said.
The violence had begun after rumours spread that Diyawadanage had allegedly committed a blasphemous action, in tearing down posters with the name of the Prophet Muhammad, local police chiefs said. But a colleague, who rushed to the site in a bid to save him, said that Diyawadanage had only removed the posters as the building was about to be cleaned.
Pak to review counter-terror strategy
Pakistan’s human rights minister said that the government has decided to review the country’s National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism in the wake of the lynching. The implementation of a 20-point NAP, aimed at rooting out Islamist terrorism and religious extremism, was agreed between Pakistan’s military and civilian leaders after the 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar that had left around 150 people dead, 132 of them kids. Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Diyawadanage were sent to Colombo from Lahore airport on Monday.