Hundreds of students lynch liberal journalism counterpart on campus

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published April 14, 2017

MARDAN – Hundreds of Pakistani students beat to death a classmate known for his liberal views on a university campus in the country’s conservative northwest Thursday police and witnesses said.

Mashal Khan, a journalism student, was stripped, beaten, shot, and thrown from the second floor of his hostel at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, sources at the university said.

Graphic video footage from the scene shows dozens of men outside the hostel kicking and hurling projectiles at a body sprawled on the ground.

The killing comes as authorities including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan have been increasingly vocal over blasphemy in recent weeks.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive charge in Pakistan and can carry the death penalty. Even unproven allegations can cause mob lynchings and violence.

“The student has been brutally murdered by his fellow students,” Niaz Saeed, a senior police official, told AFP.

“He was badly tortured after being shot at a close range. … He was beaten with sticks, bricks, and hands,” Saeed said, adding that hundreds of people had been involved in the attack.

At least 11 students have been arrested so far, police said, and the university was closed indefinitely, with the campus largely deserted late Thursday evening.

“We are investigating the case but at this stage, we cannot say anything” about the motive for the attack, Saeed said.

However, a police source told AFP that students had recently complained to university authorities about Khan’s alleged secular views.

The source said Khan and two friends had been in a debate with other students earlier Thursday about his religious views, which became so heated that teachers had to lock him in a room for his safety.

“But the enraged students grew to a mob and they attacked the room,” the source said.

A university official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed teachers had been forced to intervene in the debate “in a bid to save him and his two other friends, but the mob of students attacked the room and tortured and killed him.

Khan was “disliked by other students for being liberal and secular and not following a religious code of life and not attending Friday prayers,” the official said.

Last month Prime Minister Sharif ordered blasphemous content be removed from social media, and perpetrators punished.

The Interior Ministry also threatened to block all social media websites with blasphemous content and said Facebook was sending a delegation to Pakistan to discuss their concerns, although Facebook would not confirm that to AFP.

Rights groups have long criticized Pakistan’s colonial-era blasphemy legislation as a vehicle for personal vendettas.

At least 65 people have been murdered by vigilantes over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to recent think tank report issued before Thursday’s killing.

Activists have also accused religious conservatives of using blasphemy as a means of muzzling dissent. - AFP
 

Freedom of expression shrinks in Pakistan as PECA Amendments take toll: report

 April 30, 2025:  Freedom of expression in Pakistan is under threat, as the 2025 Freedom Network report reveals increased arrests, censorship, and legal restrictions following amendments to PECA, posing serious risks to journalists and democratic values.

Dawn urges Indian media to abandon war rhetoric

 April 30, 2025:  Dawn has criticized the Indian media's calls for war and condemned the banning of 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, urging a rational response after the Pahalgam attack that left 26 dead.

India bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels following Pahalgan attack

 April 28, 2025:  India has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including major news outlets and individual journalists, following the deadly Pahalgam attack. Tensions escalate as Islamabad demands a neutral probe.

Coordinated or coincidence? Identical tweets by Pakistani journalists raise eyebrows

 April 23, 2025:  Pakistani journalists respond in unison to a post hinting at a possible Indian military strike. Citing the 2019 ‘Swift Retort,’ they warn of a stronger response if provoked again.

Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists after PTI expulsion

 April 21, 2025:  After being expelled from PTI, MNA Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists and Aleema Khan, sparking outrage on social media over his offensive remarks.

Journalist Sanaullah Khan alleges FIA blocking accounts of YouTubers and families

 April 21, 2025:  Journalist Sanaullah Khan reveals that the FIA has launched a financial crackdown on YouTubers by freezing the bank accounts of journalists and their family members—raising serious concerns over freedom of expression and legal process.

A launch in style: Dr. Nauman Niaz unveils 'In A Different Realm'

 April 20, 2025:  Dr. Nauman Niaz launched his fifteenth book, In A Different Realm: Story of Quadruple and Triple Centuries 1876–2025, at an elegant Islamabad event, reflecting on cricket’s rarest feats and his journey as a scholar of the game.

Sindhi journalist AD Shar brutally murdered, PFUJ declares three-day mourning

 April 11, 2025:  Sindhi journalist AD Shar was brutally murdered in Khairpur, Sindh. His body was found dumped on Handiyari Link Road. PFUJ has declared a three-day mourning period and demanded justice.