The vivid pictures of the brutality in Madya still torment us. These are comparable to the catastrophe in Sialkot, where a Sri Lankan was burned and battered to death. Perhaps Madyan would not have occurred if the state had held those responsible for it to account.
There have been other instances where a civilian has been attacked and killed, like as the one that happened recently in Sargodha. I am not claiming that he was a Christian since in many situations like these, religion identity is irrelevant. Some accounts state that Muslims have been accused of blasphemy more than minorities. While a large number are incarcerated, several have died in mob violence.
The searing images of the Madyan barbarity continue to haunt us. These are at par with the Sialkot tragedy where a Sri Lankan was beaten to death and burnt. Had the state made an example of those involved, maybe Madyan would not have happened.
There have been other incidents, like the one in Sargodha recently, in which a citizen was assaulted and killed. I am not saying he was a Christian because religious identity in many such cases is unimportant. More Muslims, according to some reports, have been charged with blasphemy than minorities. Many are in jail, but some have been killed in mob violence.
A small news item in one of the papers today caught my attention. The police arrested a group of people in Okara who were getting ready to commit a blasphemous act and pin the blame on their opponents. This is not an isolated case. There is enough evidence that charges of blasphemy are often made to settle a personal score.
There are laws to check this, but they seldom work. Part of the problem is that statutes against false allegations are not the only ones that are expressly flouted. Many other laws exist on paper but are openly violated, often by the state itself. This creates a free-for-all atmosphere where breaches of the law become acceptable.
