PR LAHORE - Twelve former presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association have expressed their concern over the brutal lynching of Mashal, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University (AKWU).

According to a press release issued on Monday, Akram Sheikh, Abid Hassan Minto, Qazi Muhammad Jameel, Justice (r) Malik Muhammad Qayyum, Muneer A Malik, Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood, Aitzaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmed Khurd, Asma Jahangir, Yaseen Azad, Kamran Murtaza and Syed Ali Zafar said this incident has not only given pain and grief to the family of the deceased but it has also traumatised and disturbed every sane person in the country.

The killing of Mashal Khan is a clear wakeup call for every citizen who values diversity and protection from the state, they added. More voices should severely condemn such acts of violence. It is evident, from the reporting of this gruesome incident, that no one is safe from the rage of mobs that can be mobilised within no time to use the worst form of violence in the name of religion, they said.

It is alarming that in this case the law enforcement present at the site reportedly condoned the brutality, they added.

They said this has not been the first incident where mob violence has been incited to kill people in the name of religion but an end should be sought to it. The government should not only ensure that the perpetrators of this and other such crimes are brought to justice but that intolerance is strictly reprimanded in all centers of learning, they added.  They said that strict laws should be enacted and implemented against incitement to violence and exploitation on religious grounds.