Sri Lankan lynched, burnt alive in PAK's Sialkot; Islamist mob celebrate horrific incident [details]

Islamist mob in Sialkot in Pakistan on Friday tortured a Sri Lankan national man to death before burning his body, Dawn reported. A heavy contingent of police has been sent to the area to bring the situation under control.

Sialkot District Police Officer Umar Saeed Malik said the man, identified as Priyantha Kumara, was a Sri Lankan national, the report said.

The incident took place on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot, where reportedly the workers of private factories attacked the export manager of a factory and burnt his body, the report said.

Horrific incident caught on camera

Videos shared on social media showed hundreds of men and young boys gathered at the site.

Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the murder, terming it as a "very tragic incident", while the spokesperson for Sialkot police said details would be shared with the media after initial investigation.

Buzdar has summoned a report from the inspector general of police and ordered a high-level inquiry into the matter.

"Every aspect of the incident should be investigated and a report should be submitted. Action should be taken against those who take the law into their own hands," the chief minister said.

A similar incident in Sialkot in 2010 had shook the country when an angry mob had lynched two brothers in the presence of police, declaring them dacoits. The incident sparked shock and horror across the country as cellphone footage of the heinous murders was uploaded to video-sharing sites.

The cost of giving terrorists free rein

The Pakistan Punjab government has removed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi's name from the Fourth Schedule - a list of proscribed individuals who are suspected of terrorism or sectarianism under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The government had removed the TLP from the First Schedule of the Act as a proscribed organisation on November 7.

Taking inspiration from terror-linked Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), other extremist organisations have now also asked Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to remove the ban on their outfits. 

Allama Aurangzeb Farooqi, the leader of the anti-Shia militant organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), even referred to the "secret" deals made by the Imran Khan government first with the TLP after the thousands of violent supporters hit the road for the release of their leader and second was with the TTP for a month-long ceasefire with the help of the Haqqani Network.

(With inputs from IANS)