In southern Pakistan, police officers last week were celebrated with flowers and chants after killing Shah Nawaz, a 36-year-old doctor accused of posting blasphemous content on social media. Authorities claim Nawaz was shot accidentally during his arrest, but human rights groups called it an extrajudicial killing. The case has sparked concerns over rising violence related to blasphemy accusations, a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, where even allegations can lead to mob violence.
Nawaz, who had gone into hiding, was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. He surrendered to the police, but officers later claimed he was killed while resisting arrest. Nawaz’s family insists he was murdered by police while in custody. Following his death, a mob attacked the family, seizing Nawaz’s body and setting it on fire.
This incident follows another killing just a week earlier when a man in police custody in southwestern Pakistan was shot dead by a police officer after being accused of blasphemy. These cases reflect the volatile nature of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and have raised fears that police, pressured by extremist groups, are bypassing the legal process.
Experts warn that the government’s tolerance of hard-line Islamist groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan has fueled a culture of vigilante violence around blasphemy accusations.