PAKISTAN: Government has still not initiated enquiry in the case of a young Hindu labourer who was lynched for blasphemy
Jagdesh Kumar, a 27-year-old Hindu, was brutally killed by Muslim workers on the charge of Blasphemy on April 8, 2008 and to-date, no official inquiries have been initiated into this most brutal act. It was revealed after the incident by members of his family and close friends that he was in love with a Muslim girl who reciprocated his feelings. This was considered unacceptable by his fellow workers who are fundamentalist Muslims and they beat him to death over a period of one hour after putting his eyes out with a screwdriver. The murder took place in full view of the police and the management of the factory in which he worked, none of whom did anything to intervene. Please see our earlier statement http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1481/
Activists and concerned persons believe that the provincial government of Sindh is avoiding any action which might result in the arrest of the real culprits as they belong to a fundamentalist religious group which is associated with the ruling party.
The case of the killing of Jagdesh by the mob on the charge of blasphemy has exposed the weakness of the provincial government in upholding the rule of law and maintaining the rights and equality of every citizen, according to constitution of Pakistan. It is feared that the government is engaging in political expediency, avoiding applying the law against its political friends. In the meantime, the parents and family members of the victim have returned from their village after Jagdeshs burial and have been told by some police officials to remain inside the compound wall for the security reasons. They have told the family that Jagdesh was known to habitually use bad words against last prophet of Islam, which invoked the blasphemy law. The mother of the victim categorically said, after returning from the village, to the media and government officials that her son was never involved in any such thing and he that he was not even interested in his own religion.
At least one of the perpetrators, a person named, Begali, is hiding in the factory and management of the factory is providing shelter for him. It is believed that if he is arrested the modus operandi of the management will be exposed as only 10 percent of the 7000 employees are registered, whereas the others are on daily wages. The Bengali and his group and the militant religious party are working to prevent any action by the employees to urge for increased wages, medical allowance, legal structure of wages and most important to curb any activity for the formation of trade unions. It is widely believed that the Sindh provincial government knows all about the factorys management methods but cannot instigate an investigation because of pressure from militant religious organization. This kind of political expediency will ensure the insecurity of the minorities who live in constant fear of the use of the blasphemy law
It is the duty of the government to uphold the rule of law and start an official enquiry in the case of Jagdesh and provide protection to religious minorities who constitute more than six percent of the population of the country. The police must be brought to task for its negligence for not performing their constitutional and legal duties. The culprits must be produced before the law otherwise all militant groups will take law into their hands and the rule of the newly elected government will be no different from that of the nine years under an army dictator.
