On Sunday (August 21), a large mob of Islamists laid siege on the house of a Hindu sanitary worker after they falsely accused him of desecrating the Quran. The incident took place in the Saddar area of Hyderabad in Pakistan.
The victim, identified as Ashok Kumar, reportedly had a spat with a local shopkeeper named Bilal Abbasi. Following the heated argument, Abbasi filed a complaint against the Hindu man for committing blasphemy.
Soon after, Muslims in the area gathered outside Kumar’s residence and demanded that he be handed over to them. The violent mob also raised the slogan of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda (beheading)’ and called for the lynching of the Hindu man for supposedly insulting the Quran.
Hyderabad police dispersed a violent mob which was demanding handing over a Hindu sanitary worker accusing him of #blasphemy Police claims the sanitary worker was targeted because of a personal clash with a local resident pic.twitter.com/CnSFLNLqhH
— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) August 21, 2022
In a tweet, Dawn journalist Mubashir Zaidi said, “Hyderabad police dispersed a violent mob which was demanding handing over a Hindu sanitary worker accusing him of blasphemy.”
Citing the police, he pointed out that Ashok Kumar was targeted over a personal clash with Bilal Abbasi. As per a report in ANI, the act of burning a copy of the Quran was carried out by a Muslim woman while the Hindu man was falsely implicated in the case.
In visuals, Islamists were seen trying to break into the house of the Hindu man. However, their plans were foiled and the police was able to disperse the frenzied mob. The incident endangered the lives of 18 Hindus who were living in the building.
There were total 18 Hindus were living in Tibia center Saddar(Hyderabad, Pakistan), where a Muxs।im woman threw Isx।αmic pages but they are targeting Himndu family !!@UN @UNHumanRights @JoeBiden @POTUS @FLOTUS @AskAnshul #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/LqAqUtv4TX
— Ashwini Shrivastava (@AshwiniSahaya) August 21, 2022
Nonetheless, Kumar was arrested on Sunday (August 21) by the Hyderabad Cantonment police, based on the dubious complaint of the Muslim shopkeeper Bilal Abbasi. He was booked under Pakistani Penal Code (PPC) Sections 34 and 295B.
However, no action was taken against the mob that carried out violence and vandalism to ‘avenge’ blasphemy.
Hindu sanitary worker Ashok Kumar booked under 295B of blasphemy over alleged desecration of the Quran in Hyderabad. The allegation came after a brawl with a shopkeeper Bilal Abbasi who then lodged the complaint against Kumar.
— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) August 21, 2022
Instead, the police sounded apologetic and pleaded with the locals to not take law into their own hands. SSP (Hyderabad) Amjad Ahmed Shaikh said, “The sentiments of all the Muslims are hurt but we shouldn’t harm innocent people in the reaction.”
Blasphemy is often used in Pakistan to settle personal scores and intimidate minority communities including Hindus, Christians and Sikhs. In December last year, the Islamic country had drawn international condemnation after a Sri Lankan man was lynched to death over false allegations of blapshemy.
