Lately, disorder broke out over an incident of alleged desecra­tion of the Holy Quran in Hyder­abad. In the dead of night, enraged mobs torched several motorcycles and smashed the window panes of police mobile vans. The trouble started when a rumour about the desecration of the Holy Book by a suspect began making the rounds in the area, resulting in the loss of two young lives.

We are in a state of mind where anyone can kill another person without a legal trial. It has been witnessed over the years that un­ruly mobs grow in size and kill people without taking them to a police station or a court of law. Pak­istan’s image has already been tar­nished internationally since a mob lynched Sri Lankan man Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana in 2001, who had removed a religious poster due to pending renovation work in the building of his office. In the trial, it was officially declared in court that he was wrongly accused of blas­phemy by workers of the facto­ry. Nonetheless, he was set on fire, which showed the apathy and emo­tional emptiness of the mob.

No one has the right to hurt someone’s religious sentiments. In the same breath, no mob or indi­vidual has the right to lynch some­one. A fair trial in a court of law is the right of every accused. It is high time the law prevailed over mobs; otherwise, no one would feel safe in this country.

NASIR SOMRO,

Karachi.