Nigar Alam was murdered by a mob who beat him to death with sticks and batons when he was accused of uttering blasphemies during a political party rally of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who was absent at the event, which took place on Saturday (06 ), in the city of Mardan, in the […]

Nigar Alam was murdered by a mob who beat him to death with sticks and batons when he was accused of uttering blasphemies during a political party rally of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who was absent at the event, which took place on Saturday (06 ), in the city of Mardan, in the ultra-conservative province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the northwest of the country, close to the Afghan border.

In a video widely circulated on social media, it is possible to see the police trying, in vain, to stop a crowd from frantically beating Nigar Alam. And according to the police, the victim, Nigar Alam, was invited to say the closing prayer of the rally organized by Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), when the crowd took offense at the comments.

According to the Pakistan Center for Social Justice, an independent group that advocates for minority rights, since 1987 more than 2,000 people have been accused of blasphemy and at least 88 have been killed in lynchings for allegedly offending Islam. Human rights groups say blasphemy accusations are often used in Pakistan to settle personal vendettas, with minorities largely targeted.