Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for women education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace laureate strongly condemned the cold blooded murder of the 24 year old student, Mashal Khan, of Abdul Wali Khan University on Thursday over allegations of blasphemy.
Malala released a video message citing it as an, “incident filled with terror.” She said it was not only a funeral of Mashal Khan, this was a funeral of the message of our religion Islam. We have forgotten the message of our religion which propagates peace and tolerance.
“The Holy Prophet pbuh had never asked us to get impatient and go around killing people.”
Malala who was awarded with an honorary Canadian citizenship last week and is UN’s messenger of peace said it is the right of every Pakistani to live a safe and a peaceful life.
Malala said Pakistani people often complain about the presence of Islamophobia in the West and that other countries are maligning our name. “No one is maligning the name of your country or religion. We are enough to bring a bad name to our country and religion,” she said.
The education activist saluted the grieving father of Mashal, who gave a message of “peace and patience” in these trying times when she spoke to him over the phone.
She appealed to the state institutions and political parties to not stay quiet and take a stand in order to bring justice to Mashal’s family.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan pledged ‘firm action’ against the culprits assuring that the “law of the jungle can’t prevail”. The issue was also raised in the K-P Assembly with opposition lawmakers expressing concern over the incident.
Speaking on the floor of the house, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak condemned the killing as ‘barbaric’ and ‘brutal’ and announced an independent judicial inquiry into it. “We have yet not found any blasphemous material in the case,” he told the lawmakers.
