‘This is the era of science, don’t kill our youth for asking questions’

A verdict is in on the Mashal Khan lynching case. A Peshawar anti-terrorism court has jailed two suspects for life and two men have been acquitted. 

The verdict was announced on Thursday by Judge Mahmoodul Hassan Khattak. PTI tehsil councilor Arif Khan was sentenced to life along with Asad Katlang. Sabir Mayar and Azhar have been acquitted. Mayar was the president of the Pakhtun Students Federation at Abdul Wali Khan University.

Mashal Khan was a 23-year-old mass communications student at Mardan’s Abdul Wali Khan University who was beaten and shot to death by a mob on April 13, 2017, after being accused of blasphemy.
On Feb 27, his father Iqbal Khan spoke at length about the freedom of expression at the first international conference on media and conflict held at Bahria University in Islamabad. Iqbal Lala has been speaking about human rights ever since his son was murdered. The following is an English translation of his speech. It has been lightly edited for length:

We are going to talk about the role of social media today. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which is also signed by Pakistan. It talked about the freedom of expression and the right to democracy.  We are liable to follow them. However, we are neglecting the basic rights and have been trampling them underfoot.

How will a society become aware of its democratic rights? It is our duty to struggle for democratic rights, speak against violence and injustice, and to show a positive side of Pakistan to the world.

With advancements in science and technology, there is the addition of the existing forms of media. Along with electronic and print media, social media has also become a part of mainstream platforms. Social media has become highly powerful.

People who do not have the ability to come on electronic media (TV) or have access to it, express their opinion on social media. But it should not be used to express hate and bring someone down, but be used as a platform to improve society’s wellbeing.

All religious communities in Pakistan, including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, are all equally Pakistani. We should not consider anyone a stranger, as it would divide our society. All cultures, traditions and religions should be respected. We can solve many issues by keeping the Constitution of 1973 in mind. It provides all minorities fundamental rights. All citizens should be given awareness of their rights in simple language. Most of the people in Pakistan understand Urdu, so we should communicate their rights in simple language to them, so that even people in villages can understand. Only then will our society grow.

The media should educate and provide awareness to the people. Martyr Mashal Khan used to say, “Insani dimag par ba-amal aur ba-maqaas ko ilm kehte hain. Jadeed ka ilm aisa hone chahye jis pe amal karke hum mayari makasid tak ja paunchne.” When he died, I said that this is the era of science, don’t kill the youth for asking questions, but rather provide answers to their questions. My Mashal has gone, he cannot come back. But what will happen to the Mashals in the other houses of Pakistan?

Hatred has become widespread and we aren’t allowed to question anything. Why was Mashal killed? Just for wanting to change the curriculum? He talked about the rights of poor students in universities, spoke against fraud and embezzlement, against violence, and he supported women’s rights.

As you must be aware through pictures on social media, of how brutally he was killed. I would like to raise one question or even two.

He was not killed on a mountain, or a cave, but in broad daylight in Mardan University.

They tortured him for 5 hours, from 10am till 3pm. Police was present at the scene but nobody saved him. Even the professors were involved in this.

Mashal talked about the rights of the students in university, which were against the university’s traditions. In Mardan University, poor students were supposedly considered equals. However, political figures were earning from the bricks, the sand, the chairs, the oil and the cars of the university. They opposed Mashal’s actions.

They killed him because he was a youngster, a bright student and was succeeding. The students were sent to the university by their parents to gain an education. As Mashal has said, these students are not getting a ba-amal education. They killed him in a place of education.

We can’t argue with religious groups and extremists. However, the people who claim to be ‘peacemakers’ in the university were also involved in this gruesome act, and they were also the ones who had planned it.

We need to understand this. The professor’s statements in the interviews were shocking. We need to bring a change in the curriculum. We need to keep teachers and professors who are humanitarians.

This act was against the solidarity and the unity of Pakistanis. Students should be united. We need to be one. We need to support the laborers and the underprivileged. We need to bring about peace. There should be no difference in black and white. We should talk about friendship. Only then can we show a bright face of Pakistan to the world.

We don’t want this to happen to any other child in the country.

The protectors of the country are the ones who are behind the killings. There should be freedom of expression and room for debate. Violence, war and torture should be defeated; we should talk about love, friendship and peace.

Pakistan Zindabad, Pakistan Paindabad.

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/opinion/2019/03/this-is-the-era-of-science-dont-kill-our-youth-for-asking-questions/