Govt decides to review NAP in the wake of brutal lynching of Priyantha Kumara: Shireen Mazari

ISLAMABAD, Dec 06 (SABAH): Human Rights Minister Dr. Shireen M. Mazari said on Monday that the government had decided to review the National Action Plan (NAP) on counter-terrorism in the wake of the brutal lynching of a Sialkot factory manager Priyantha Kumara — a Sri Lankan national — over blasphemy allegations last week.

In an interview with a private TV channel, the minister rued the recurrence of such incidents and called for “strict government action”, terming it the “need of the hour”. “This lynching was not the first of its kind. We have seen the case of Mashal Khan, and two of our Christian community members were burnt… it’s now time to take definitive action as the state”.

She said the distortion of religion and torture of people in its wake should be condemned in the strongest terms. The human rights minister also expressed worry over growing “extremism” in the country, saying the NAP had to be fully enforced to combat the menace.

“We need to review our laws for devising a comprehensive strategy to prevent such incidents in the future,” Shireen Mazari stressed. Specifically pointing to the NAP, the minister said it must be seen where the action plan had not been implemented.

She also called upon different parties within the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to “de-link” themselves from Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his leadership for his controversial statement in which he had said that if the state did not take action against those accused of blasphemy, then such incidents will continue to happen.

In the same breath, she defended Defence Minister Pervez Khan Khattak, saying he had already clarified on Twitter that he was misunderstood and that his remarks were reported out of context in sections of the media.

To a question whether the government planned to ban the TLP after the Sialkot incident, she said the federal cabinet would debate on it before reaching any final decision.