NA condemns Mashal Khan's murder, calls for incorporating safeguards in blasphemy law

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday strongly condemned the murder of Abdul Wali Khan University student Mashal Khan and demanded of the government to award exemplary punishment to culprits.

On April 13, Mashal Khan was lynched at his university campus premises by an angry mob that accused him of committing blasphemy while another student Abdullah was injured.

The House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn what it called the heinous crime of killing someone in the name of blasphemy and called for incorporating certain safeguards in blasphemy law to avoid recurrence of such incidents.

The members resolved that nobody should be allowed to take the law into their hands and resort to the condemnable act of killing someone. The resolution was moved to the House by Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain.

"This House unanimously condemns the barbaric and cold-blooded murder of Mashal Khan and resolves to ensure that strong safeguards may be inserted into Blasphemy Law to prevent its abuse through such atrocities in future including by mobs involved in such crime," stated the resolution adopted by the House.

"This House strongly demand the federal and provincial governments to take strict action, in accordance with law, against the perpetrators and facilitators of this heinous crime, including those making hate speeches," the resolution further stated.

The National Assembly also condemned all those who take law into their own hands and engage in vigilantism, resulting in loss of innocent human lives.