Maulana Tariq Jamil says no one except the Almighty Allah had the right to burn anyone

ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 (SABAH): Renowned religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil on Wednesday met Sri Lankan High Commissioner Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama and expressed grief at the lynching of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara by a charged mob in Sialkot earlier this month, saying that the nation was “ashamed” at the act of “cruelty”.

Priyantha Kumara, a senior manager at a factory in Sialkot, was tortured to death on Dec 3 by hundreds of protesters, including the factory employees, and his body was later burnt over allegations of blasphemy. The brutal killing drew widespread condemnation from political circles and human rights bodies.

A first information report was registered against 900 workers of Rajco Industries on the application of Uggoki Station House Officer Armaghan Maqt under sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Scores of suspects have been rounded up by law enforcers since then.

Sitting alongside Wijewickrama and Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Hafiz Mohammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday, Maulana Tariq Jamil said no one except the Almighty Allah had the right to burn anyone. “It was [an act of] cruelty that what our people committed”.

“I told the [Sri Lankan] high commissioner that we are here to say sorry,” the cleric said, adding “I beg people to read the Holy Quran”. Jamil said that as per the Holy Quran, killing of an innocent person was tantamount to killing the entire humanity.

Meanwhile, Tahir Ashrafi said that the educational expenses of the slain Sri Lankan national Kumara’s children would be borne by the factory owners for whom he worked, while the man who has replaced him was also a Sri Lankan.

“We are thankful to the Sri Lankans that in this atmosphere of fear, one of them chose to work here,” he added.