A flame brutally put out: Mashal Khan

On April 13 2017, Pakistan witnessed the brutal lynching of a journalism student – Mashal Khan – by dozens of fellow students of Abdul Wali Khan University after being accused of blasphemy.

Blasphemy is an enormously sensitive charge in Pakistan and a criminal offence that can carry the death penalty. However, the state has never executed anyone under blasphemy laws.

Since 1990 vigilantes have been accused of murdering 65 people tied to blasphemy, according to research compiled by a Pakistani research centre.

Let’s take an in-depth review of the brutal lynching of Mashal Khan.

Who was Mashal Khan?

Mashal Khan was a resident of Swabi. He completed his college in the Institute of Computer and Management Sciences on a scholarship and received good marks.

The 25-year-old was studying mass communications at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan and was preparing for his civil services exam.

He described himself as a humanist and had plastered his room with posters of his political heroes – like Che Guevara and Karl Marx – and written slogans celebrating free speech on the walls.

Some rumours suggest that he had often been accused of holding “anti-Islamic” views. He was also known for his criticism of the university’s leadership.

What happened on April 13 2017?

On this day, rumours spread that Mashal Khan had posted blasphemous material online, a crime punishable by death in Pakistan.

Before his death, he criticized the Abdul Wali Khan University and termed every official of the university a ‘thief’. However, none of his comments mentioned religion or contained blasphemy.

Some reports also suggest that the day before he died, he had been engaged in a heated debate about religion.

A larger group of students and some university staff members marched through the campus searching for Mashal Khan. They broke into his room and dragged him out.

Widely circulated mobile phone footage showed him being beaten, stamped on and shot on his chest and head. The crowd continued to attack his body after his death. According to his mother, each of his bones was broken, and he was badly humiliated.

He was stripped naked, beaten, shot and thrown out of the second-floor of his University dormitory in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan.

Investigation and arrests

Mashal’s funeral prayers were offered under strict security at his native village, Zaida, in Swabi on April 14. According to details, an estimated 200 people were thought to be a part of the mob that attacked Mashal Khan.

During their investigation, police determined there was no evidence that Mashal Khan had committed blasphemy.

The Inspector-General of Police stated, “We did not find any concrete evidence under which an investigation or legal action can be launched against Mashal, Abdullah or Zubair.”

According to Abdullah, the AWK University’s administration summoned him to the Mass Communications chairman’s office, where they pressured him into accusing Mashal of blasphemy but he refused to do so.

Some of the 50 people who gave testimonies to the court said that Mashal Khan had angered the university administration by criticising their management in the weeks before his death.

Then on April 27, the Mardan police deputy inspector general (DIG) said that the student who shot on Mashal Khan has been arrested.

He said, “According to witnesses, Mashal’s classmate Imran opened fire and shot him twice. He has now been arrested.”

On 3^rd June 2017, the 13-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its final report. The report cleared Mashal of all blasphemy charges and termed his lynching a premeditated murder.

The report also cleared Mashal’s two friends, Abdullah and Zubair, of any blasphemy. According to the report, the two prime inciters of the lynching were Sabir Mayer, president of the Pukhtoon Students Federation, and Ajmal Khan, president of the university’s employee union.

Dozens of people were arrested after the incident, and on February 7 2018, a court sentenced one man to death and five to life in prison. Another 25 men were given three-year prison sentences, and 26 others were let go.

Reaction

Prime Minister of that time Nawaz Sharif issued a condemnation of the lynching of Khan.

He said, “I am shocked and saddened by the senseless display of mob justice that resulted in the murder of a young student, Mashal Khan, at Wali Khan University, Mardan.” He also directed the police to arrest those who were responsible and ordered action against them.

Protests were held in different parts of Pakistan over the murder of Mashal Khan. A large number of people took to streets in Khan’s village in Swabi.

According to media reports, it was probably for the first time that a large number of women participated in a mourning procession in the area.

Progressive students and youth organized protests and public meetings against this brutal killing in many cities across the country.