A Hindu man, Akbar Ram, hailing from the Punjab province in Pakistan has been arrested by the police after an allegation of ‘blasphemy‘ was made against him. The police said that the timely intervention by the police and his subsequent arrest ‘saved his life’ as he has been shifted to jail to protect him from an enraged mob.
Akbar Ram, from West of Rahim Yar Khan district, some 400 km from the provincial capital Lahore, was arrested by the police after a complaint was filed by Faisal Munir, a person from Ram’s area itself. He reportedly produced two witnesses before the police to substantiate his allegation. Faisal, who is a motor mechanic, claimed that Akbar Ram came to his shop and made “insulting” remarks against the holy places of Muslims and also Islam. Ram has reportedly been booked under Pakistan’s Blasphemy law and Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.
Inspector Safdar Hussain of Kotsamaba Police Station Rahim Yar Khan told PTI on Monday that police arrested suspect Akbar Ram under blasphemy charges on August 11 and immediately shifted him to jail on judicial remand fearing a law-and-order situation in the village.
“Had we kept the blasphemy suspect in the police station it might have triggered a law-and-order situation in the area as he was accused of hurting the sentiments of Muslims,” Hussain said. “Police reached the village after learning that a Hindu man had committed blasphemy and the people were gathering near his house. Police controlled the situation and took Akbar Ram into custody as the mob was demanding that he should be handed over to them,” he said to PTI.
According to reports, the family of Akbar Ram have fled the village to save their lives from the angry mob.
The power of street veto
It is evident from the statement of the police that far more than the alleged statements of the accused, the police was concerned about saving the life of the Hindu man after a mere complaint of comments allegedly made by him. The police categorically said that the mob was demanding that he be handed over to them and therefore, his arrest saved his life.
Further, the police also said that he was shifted to jail and not kept in the police station because they feared a law and order situation. The fact that Akbar Ram’s family has also fled the village, only goes to show the power of Islamic street veto and how it is wielded to ensure Hindus in Muslim majority areas are punished.
For now, there is no evidence that Akbar Ram insulted Islam or Islamic places of worship. However, on the basis of a mere complaint and threat of mob justice, the family had to flee the village to save their lives.
This pattern has been seen several times in such cases where a mere allegation leads to an Islamic mob threatening violence, leading to action against the accused simply to assuage the mob that is known to take to the streets, commit violence and dispense mob justice.
In India as well, such cases of street veto have been seen, especially in cases where an alleged comment against Islam has been made. Kamlesh Tiwari was brutally murdered in India in 2019 after he was accused of insulting Islam by an irate mob.
Kamlesh Tiwari was stabbed 15 times, and then was shot using a pistol by Islamists on 18 October 2019 at his house in Lucknow. His life was in danger from the radical Islamists since 2015, when he had made allegedly blasphemous comments while responding to derogatory comments on RSS by SP leader Azam Khan. Azam Khan had said that RSS is the organisation of homosexuals, because its leaders don’t marry. Responding to this, Kamlesh Tiwari had said that Prophet Muhammad was the first homosexual in the world.
This triggered massive protests by Muslims in various parts of the country, demanding the death penalty for Tiwari. Such a protest in Malda in West Bengal had turned violent in 2016, when the Islamists burnt down a police station, several vehicles, and assaulted people. Kamlesh Tiwari was arrested by SP led UP govt, and was charged under the National Security Act and other sections of the IPC. He had spent several months in the jail. While later he was out the jail, he was killed in 2019.
India saw several other “blasphemy” killings after an irate mob took to the streets chanting ‘Sar Tan Se Juda”. Kanhaiya Lal was recently beheaded by two Islamists after he had extended support to Nupur Sharma.